Chapter 7:Envisioning Sustainable Societies and Urban Areas

According to sustainable development goals set by United Nations, goal No. 11 is “sustainable cities and communities” with the aim of making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.If you’re like most people, you live in a city. More than half the world’s population now lives in cities, and that figure will go to about two-thirds of humanity by the year.
Cities are getting bigger. In 1990 there were ten“mega-cities”with 10 million inhabitants or more. In 2014, there were 28 mega-cities, home to 453 million people. Incredible, huh? A lot of people love cities; they’re centers of culture and business and life. The thing is, they’re also often centers of extreme poverty. To make cities sustainable for all, we can create good, affordable public housing. We can upgrade slum settlements.We can invest in public transport, create green spaces, and get a broader range of people involved in urban planning decisions.
This lecture will explore methods and approaches to envisioning a sustainable society, making particular reference to sustainable urbanism, social sustainability, the ageing population and past and present examples of Utopian thinking. In relation to this, the potential and significance of experiential examples, strategies and plans that focus largely on sustainable design and sustainable communities will be discussed.
Therefore, after you have learned this chapter , you can
1. Understand the potential and significance of experiential examples on sustainable design and sustainable communities
2. Know the strategies and plans that focus largely on sustainable design and sustainable communities

