Implications of Urban Sustainability, Socio-Ecosystems, and Ecosystem Services

Urban Sustainability

The new development path supports economic growth, social inclusion and equality, and environmental sustainability, in such a way that ensures the greening of a more inclusive growth. Urban green growth strategies aligned economics with sustainable development to foster environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive development. Sustainability emerged from the global development context (Adams & Jeanrenaud, 2008; Mebaratu, 1998) and is considered as a process or trajectory (Childers et al., 2014). Two pioneering works to sustainability are Design for Human Ecosystems and Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development of John T. Lyle (1999, 1994) (McHarg, 1994; McHarg, 1969).

The founding concept of sustainability is equity across time and space defined as the capacity to support the quality of life of the current generation without impairing the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs for well-being. That is, the well-being of one person, place or region should not be at the expense of the well-being of others. The concept of sustainability is based on ecological principles of resource conservation in ecosystems, mass balance in systems and assimilated resources in allocation trade-offs of closed systems (Gunderson & Holling, 2002; Ostrom, 2009). Sustainability is the core concept of sustainable ecosystem management aimed to balance human needs in the long-term sustainability of ecosystems. Procedural sustainability is essential to sustainable ecosystem management (Binder et al., 2010).

The sustainability goals of an urban area promoting environmental integrity and resilience of the ecosystem, economic feasibility, social inclusion and cohesion lead to the adaptive processes and a cycle of human institutions (Ernstson et al., 2010). In short, sustainable economic growth, increasing resilience and reducing poverty.