Sustainability
How planning choices about growth, land, and resources shape whether Florida stays livable, and what it takes to plan for the long term.
A Short History of Sustainability
Sustainability started as a rule for managing forests and grew into one of the central ideas in planning. These are the moments that shaped how the field thinks about it today.
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- Roots
- 1713
Sustained yield
Hans Carl von Carlowitz, a German mining official, argues forests should only be cut as fast as they regrow. His word, nachhaltig, is the origin of "sustainable."
- 1798
Limits of resources
Thomas Malthus warns that population can outpace food supply, starting a long debate about growth and natural limits.
- 1864
Man and Nature
George Perkins Marsh shows how human activity degrades land and water, one of the first systematic accounts of environmental damage.
- 1949
The land ethic
Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac argues people are members of a land community, not just its users.
- Environmental awakening
- 1962
Silent Spring
Rachel Carson documents the effects of pesticides, helping launch the modern environmental movement.
- 1968
Tragedy of the commons
Garrett Hardin argues shared resources get overused when individuals act in their own interest.
- 1969
Design with Nature
Ian McHarg layers maps of soils, water, and habitat to decide where development fits. It's a direct ancestor of GIS-based planning.
- 1972
The Limits to Growth
A computer-modeling study for the Club of Rome projects that unchecked growth will hit planetary limits. The UN holds its first environment conference in Stockholm the same year.
- Sustainable development
- 1987
The Brundtland definition
The UN report Our Common Future defines sustainable development as meeting present needs "without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
- 1990
Governing the commons
Elinor Ostrom shows communities can manage shared resources well without privatization or top-down control. She later wins the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics.
- 1992
Rio Earth Summit
Nations adopt Agenda 21, which pushes sustainability down to local governments and planning.
- 1994
Triple bottom line
John Elkington frames sustainability as balancing economic, social, and environmental outcomes.
- Planning and justice
- 1996
The planner's triangle
Scott Campbell's "Green Cities, Growing Cities, Just Cities?" shows planners are caught between economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity, and that these goals often conflict.
- 2003
Just sustainabilities
Julian Agyeman, Robert Bullard, and Bob Evans argue sustainability can't be separated from equity and environmental justice.
- Today
- 2009
Planetary boundaries
Johan Rockström and colleagues identify nine Earth systems, from climate to nitrogen cycles, with limits humanity shouldn't cross.
- 2015
Sustainable Development Goals
The UN adopts 17 goals for 2030, including clean water, sustainable cities, and reduced inequality.
- 2017
Doughnut economics
Kate Raworth pictures a safe zone between meeting everyone's basic needs and staying within planetary limits.
In Florida
Florida keeps growing, and every new neighborhood, road, and treatment plant commits land and resources for decades. Sustainability in planning means weighing those long-term costs before they’re locked in.
- 1972
Areas of Critical State Concern
The Environmental Land and Water Management Act lets the state protect places like the Florida Keys and Big Cypress from harmful development.
- 1985
Growth Management Act
Every city and county must adopt a comprehensive plan, with state review and a requirement that infrastructure keep pace with growth.
- 2011
Community Planning Act
The state scales back its oversight of local plans and eliminates the Department of Community Affairs, shifting more control to local governments.
- 2016
Springs and Aquifer Protection Act
Florida designates Outstanding Florida Springs and requires recovery plans for springs harmed by pollution and over-pumping.
Key Readings
- Agyeman, J., Bullard, R. D., & Evans, B. (Eds.). (2003). Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World. MIT Press.
- Campbell, S. (1996). Green cities, growing cities, just cities? Urban planning and the contradictions of sustainable development. Journal of the American Planning Association, 62(3), 296–312.
- McHarg, I. L. (1969). Design with Nature. Natural History Press.
- Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D. L., Randers, J., & Behrens, W. W. (1972). The Limits to Growth. Universe Books.
- Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge University Press.
- Rockström, J., et al. (2009). A safe operating space for humanity. Nature, 461, 472–475.
- World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our Common Future. Oxford University Press.