Sustainability, an inescapable global challenge

Abstract

When addressing the issue of Sustainable Development, a few prior remarks are in order by way of reminders, to stimulate memory and reinforce convictions. It may be inferred, from a planetary view of all the questions that affect human beings and their Societies, that the creation of an appropriate framework for cooperation must be generated on a global scale to eliminate .world-wide asymmetries.. Overall human progress must be harmonious, in keeping with .positive sustainable development., where Sustainable Development is defined to mean the ability to meet present needs without creating environmental stress or compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.
This involves an intrinsic, in-depth and comprehensive understanding of our Earth and its marine, biospheric and atmospheric components; and not only the planet itself, but also its surrounding environment: the Solar System, our Galaxy and the most immediate Cosmos. The rest of the Universe can obviously be an unending source of all manner of teachings and wealth, even material wealth. If a first glimpse is any indication, it is a door open to infinite promise.
Sustainable Development can only be achieved if it is a worldwide objective, the result of the present trend toward globalization. Fortunately, awareness of the problem is growing and with it social pressure to take the necessary measures. In this regard, a .tool chest. is needed: intellectual and cognitive as well as executive and material tools that must be politically accepted by the respective policy makers. Through them, rigorous scientific knowledge can be a safeguard against surprises and improvisation, lessening unfavourable situations and making it possible to anticipate and foresee future problems.
As never before in human history, the common destiny of the human species drives us to seek a .new beginning. for our ambitions and activities.
Human progress is in need of a change of mentality and of heart, as well as a new sense of global interdependence and holistically perceived universal co-responsibility. With some imagination, a new vision of .sustainable life. can be simultaneously drawn at the local, national, regional and world-wide levels.
We all have an important role to play in that regard, both individually and collectively, to inspire creative leadership. A universal alliance is essential to achieving the effective and planetary human governability required to build the .Sustainable Global Community. to which we all aspire, through legally binding world-wide procedures, resources and tools. Such tools will help us defend the environment as far as possible and attain genuine sustainability.
The apparent contradiction between progress and respect for the environment suggests a confrontation between the concepts of development and sustainability. Today.s global situation of environmental devastation, depletion of certain resources, reckless world population growth at a rate of 1.2% per year, injustice and economic imbalance, among other factors, have an adverse effect on the sustainability of human development from a world-wide perspective. Architecture and Urban and Territorial Planning are consequences of social demands and the socio-economic and political organization of Human Society and as such should contribute to the local or national dimension of Sustainable Development, always in keeping with a world-wide vision.