University of Latvia
Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences
Kristīne Āboliņa
URBAN SUSTAINABILITY INDICATOR DEVELOPMENT CRITERIA
Summary of doctoral dissertation
in Environmental Science, branch Environmental Management
Riga 2005
INTRODUCTION
Importance of the work
The desire on the part of human societies to improve their standard of living together with the growth in the global population has resulted in a rapid increase in resource consumption and adverse anthropogenic impacts on the global environment. As a result, there is a need for a new understanding and solutions to optimize the dynamics and character of development.
The «raison d'etre» of traditional development planning principles was to achieve progress in specific priority sectors, however, firstly, such an approach has proven to be ineffective and, secondly, it has retarded the pace of development and even created a crisis situation for society and the environment.
The concept of sustainable development as an alternative to the existing development models has as its goal to ensure progress in society, but at the same time reducing development inequities and resultant negative consequences. International conferences such as those held in Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg and attended by world leaders, the EU Lisbon Strategy and the UN Millenium Goals are just a few examples of this type of movement. The application of the concept of sustainable development for the purpose of managing development has been studied throughout the world. Even in Latvia, politically, there is a readiness to use the principles of sustainable development for the planning and management of national development.
At the same time it is worth noting that in Latvia there have been relatively few research studies undertaken, which are needed to underpin responsible and rational national level planning and management. To ensure implementation of sustainable development it is important that approaches and criteria are developed for the evaluation of the nature/character of development.
Therefore, an important goal of research is the formulation of sustainable development indicators, that reflect the effectiveness and positive aspects and negative impacts of development and that permit an evaluation to be undertaken of required changes in the way of doing things.
Sustainable development research can be especially relevant, if sizeable resources are to be invested in a development initiative and the possibility exists for significant adverse impacts, for example, to the urban environment.
Since it is necessary to understand the linkages that guide and impact urban development, and to be able to optimize development, research into urban sustainable development, including sustainable development indicators is relevant for development planning not only in Latvia, but also elsewhere.
Purpose of the Research
The purpose of the research was to analyse the opportunities to assess the sustainability of urban development in Latvia and to formulate criteria for the development of urban sustainability indicators.
Objectives of the Research
1.To characterize the process of sustainable development in Latvia.
2.To assess the relevant aspects of sustainable development in the cities
of Latvia.
3.To characterise different approaches to the development of sustainable
development indicators.
4.To analyse the opportunities to use development indicators in the largest
cities of Latvia for the purpose of assessing and planning sustainable
development.
5.To undertake an assessment of sustainable development in Riga using
previously compiled European Common Indicator data.
6.To formulate criteria for the development of sustainability indicators
for urban areas in Latvia.
7.To test the urban sustainability indicator development criteria against
existing urban sustainability indicator sets.
Sources of Information and Research Methods
The research was undertaken on the basis of data and information derived from published and unpublished documents and normative acts, and through interviews. The authors own observations of events and societal development processes, while working as a specialist in development planning projects throughout Latvia and actively participating in the work of a non-governmental organization, are the basis for some of the conclusions drawn regarding the nature of sustainable development in Latvia.
The Development Plans of the cities of Jelgava, Jurmala, Rezekne and Riga were used to analyse the opportunities that exist in the cities of Latvia to assess the sustainability of development. The coherence of the development planning policies of the four cities was analysed by comparing the development goals, priorities and actions defined in the Development Plans against selected sustainability issues in the transportation and green space sectors. Planning specialists were interviewed in the four cities to identify how the municipalities evaluate the implementation of their Development Plans.
Published statistical compilations were used to identify information on indicators in the transportation and green space sectors. Municipal specialists in Riga, Rezekne, Jelgava and Jurmala were interviewed to identify the types of urban development indicators that are used and their sources.
In the process of analysing opportunities and constraints to sustainable development in Mezaparks, the development goals of the residents of Mezaparks and the administration of the municipality of Riga, as compiled in the Mezaparks Neighbourhood Sustainability Plan and the Riga Development Programme, were compared. The possible impact of the two planning documents on sustainable development in Riga and Mezaparks was assessed.
Recognizing the important role municipal governance plays in the implementation of sustainable development, during the research attention was also directed to organizational aspects of decision-making. However, due to the large scope of this issue, a detailed analysis was not undertaken of the political dimension of municipal governance and decision-making.
The urban sustainability indicator development criteria were formulated using the principles of sustainable development as defined by Schleiser-Tappeser et al, the Bellagio Principles, the results of research undertaken by the author, as well as the practical experience gained by the author in the process of formulating the Mezaparks Indicators of Sustainability. The urban sustainability indicator development criteria were tested on the Mezaparks Indicators of Sustainability and European Common Indicators.
The principles of sustainable development and the Bellagio Principles that proved to be ineffective urban sustainability indicator development criteria during testing of the draft criteria on the Mezaparks Sustainability Indicators, were developed into Sustainability Evaluation Guidelines.
Novelty of the Work
•Sustainable development in Latvia and its urban areas is characterised.
•The problems associated with monitoring urban sustainable development have been denned.
•An assessment has been undertaken of sustainable development of Riga
using EU Common Indicator data.
•Recommendations regarding improvements to the utilization of European Common Indicators in Riga are formulated.
•A new tool, urban sustainability indicator development criteria have
been formulated and tested on existing urban sustainability indicator
sets.
•Shortcomings associated with the urban sustainability indicator
development criteria have been addressed by developing a new instru-
ment - Sustainability Evaluation Guidelines.
SUMMARY
1. Sustainable Development - its Necessity, Meaning, and
Character
By changing and developing the natural and man-made environment people have created many local, regional, as well as global scale problems - increased environmental contamination, depletion of the ozone layer, global climate change, reduction in biodiversity. At the same time, social equity is increasingly recognized as being important in ensuring human development, which includes improvement of quality of life for everyone. Sustainable development provides a possible way of balancing social and economic development, while providing environmental protection that can avert an impending ecological catastrophe and ensure the survival of humans.
Most definitions of sustainable development are based on that put forth in the Bruntland Report: «sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present generation, without limiting the ability of next generations to satisfy their needs». At the international level agreement regarding the need for sustainable development was reached for the first time in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, when 150 countries, including Latvia, signed the Action Plan for the 21st century - Agenda 21 - which defines the actions that are necessary to address global environmental and social development problems.
The three spheres without which the survival of mankind is not possible are a functioning economy, harmonious social relations and a healthy environment, all of which are the desired external preconditions for individual development (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Environmental, economic and social spheres of sustainable development.
Different types of sustainable development have been denned. In weak sustainability natural and/or human capital (nature and humans) are considered to be interchangeable with man-made capital - produced goods, and the total amount of capital must remain constant. Strong sustainability requires that each type of capital is maintained without any substitution.
A number of sustainable development principles have been formulated that reflect different aspects of sustainability. Holmberg et al. (1995) has developed socio-ecological principles1, that are based on an analysis of the interrelationship of social and natural processes:
Principle 1: Substances extracted from the lithosphere must not systematically accumulate in the ecosphere.
Principle 2: Anthropogenic substances must not systematically accumulate in the ecosphere.
Principle 3: The physical conditions for production and diversity within the ecosphere must not systematically be deteriorated.
Principle 4: The use of resources must be efficient and just with respect to meeting human needs.
The socio-ecological principles clearly show the interrelationships between development processes and, therefore, allow development goals to be clearly formulated. A number of transitions to more sustainable development exist and it is possible to make mistakes, however, precise goal formulation is a precondition for sustainable development. The advantage of the socio-ecological principles is that sustainable development is assessed from a systems perspective and proposed actions are identified closer to the underlying causes of the problems. The sustainable development principles developed by Daly (1991), define somewhat more narrowly the role of governance and equity in ensuring sustainable development, but emphasize the need to alter anthropogenic impacts on nature.
A group of European researchers propose ten sustainable development dimensions2, the last four of which answer the question concerning how to facilitate sustainable development:
1.Environmental component.
2.Economic component.
3.Socio-cultural component.
4.Inter-personal equity.
1 Holmberg J. (1995). Socio-Ecological Principles and Indicators for Sustainability, Institute of Physical Resource Theory, Goteborg.
2Schleiser-Tappeser R. and Stratti F. (1999). Sustainability- a new paradigm for research? In: Cattizone, M. (ed.). From Ecosystem Research to Sustainable Development: Towards a New Paradigm for Ecosystem Research. Ecosystem Research Report No 26; European Commission, Directorate-General Science, Research and Development, Brussels, pp. 45-58.
5.Spatial equity.
6.Inter-generational equity.
7.Diversity.
8.Subsidiarity.
9.Networking and Partnership.
10.Participation.
The problem with planning development in the long-term is that there is not a simple way to predict the results of the interaction of people, human societies and natural systems, because it is not possible to anticipate/predict human behaviour and, furthermore, people are part of the system being analysed. Therefore, it is not possible to base strategies that promote sustainable development on a specific model (the model cannot represent human behaviour). The approach to the formulation of sustainable development policy must be flexible in two directions - in space and time, therefore, accurate predictions or forecasting are basically impossible.
The consequences of this basic need for flexibility are:
1.Sustainability is a general idea that must be interpreted concretely in
specific contexts.
2.Sustainability cannot be achieved by a command and control approach
since we have no adequate causal models.
3.Sustainability can only be approached through a practical management
process that includes permanent learning.
These conclusions illustrate the diverse approaches that are used for the implementation of sustainable development in various parts of the world and in different cities. Sustainable development is particularly relevant for the developed industrial countries in light of their high consumption level, that together with free market economics and globalization processes, is one of the main causes of global environmental and development problems. The concept of dematerialization - decoupling of economic development and material consumption is an important strategic direction for sustainable development. Its necessity derives from the desire of many countries in Africa, Asia and South America, as well as many European citizens to quickly attain a standard of living equivalent to that of the industrialized nations. In the poorest countries in the world, the issues surrounding sustainable development are closely tied to free market economics and addressing the adverse impacts resulting from globalization, issues that in fact cannot be addressed at the local scale.
From the Rio de Janeiro Conference in 1992 until the Rio+10 Summit in Johannesburg in 2002, discussions regarding the need for sustainable development have been replaced by attempts to identify the most effective ways of implementing sustainable development and on undertaking studies of specific aspects of sustainability. Sustainable development research has developed as an independent research field dealing with various aspects of the sustainability
concept and the implementation of sustainable development in development planning. Even though some countries such as The Netherlands and Germany have formulated specific goals to implement Agenda 21 issues, in the ten years subsequentto Rio, the Rio Action Programme has not been implemented. The reasons are many, including inadequate financial resources, lack of political will, insufficient coordination of action and continuing unsustainable activities.
Nevertheless, sustainable development is still a powerful long-term vision for which new and effective tools and instruments are now available. The Summit in Johannesburg resulted in the adoption of a Sustainable Development Declaration, the definition of actions for the upcoming period, with particular attention being devoted to the following themes: water and sanitation, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity. The recommendations of the Johannesburg Summit should be considered as guidelines for policy development at all administrative levels.
Since 1992, the European Union has systematically introduced sustainable development into common policies, as well as in individual sectors in a coordinated way. In addition to the integration of sustainable development on a sector basis, sustainable development is also a priority of EU research programmes.
Progress Towards Sustainable Development in Latvia
In Latvia, implementation of sustainable development policy at the national level in a coordinated and systematic way began upon regaining independence in 1991. In 2001, the Sustainable Development Council was created by the Cabinet of Ministers, but in 2003 it was liquidated. Later in 2003, a new Sustainable Development Council was formed under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment with the goal of integrating the principles of sustainable development into the environmental, social and economic sectors and to coordinate the sustainable development process, to promote public participation, as well as to support initiatives related to sustainable development.
Presently, the Sustainable Development Council meets approximately three times a year, but it only has authority to make recommendations that are not binding. To ensure the proper coordination of sustainable development initiatives in Latvia would require a permanent institution. Such a body does not exist and the work of the existing Council is not adequately financed. The many functions delegated to the Council and the limited financial support partially explains the slow development of the sustainability process in Latvia.
The Strategy for Sustainable Development in Latvia (2002) defines the main goals and problems related to the implementation of sustainable development in Latvia. If the Strategy was used in developing and implementing policy at different administrative levels in Latvia, it could be a strong framework for development decision-making. Unfortunately, the Strategy does not define an implementation procedure. Similarly, the goals and actions defined in the
Strategy are without an implementation time-frame and targets, therefore practically rendering the document non-binding. A positive aspect of the Strategy is the definition of indicators to monitor the implementation of goals.
In contrast to the «Rio+10: Latvia's Report for the UN Sustainable Conference in Johannesburg" (2002), which emphasizes how sustainable development principles have been incorporated into sector and national legal acts, the NGO Report on Sustainable Development in Latvia (2002), prepared for the Johannesburg Summit, examines how sustainable development principles are being enlivened in practice in six sectors, and discusses the existing problems associated with cooperation between governmental and non-governmental sectors.
Implementation of sustainable development in sector activities has to date proceeded in a uncoordinated fashion and positive achievements can be attributed to robust and systematically implemented national environmental protection policies. In the previously mentioned documents dealing with sustainable development the accent is decidedly on environmental rather than social issues, and the dominant role of environmental NGOs in promoting sustainable development is evident. The ineffectiveness of the implementation of sustainable development is demonstrated by the fact that as the national economy has developed and per capita incomes have risen, household consumption has increased and the gap between the wealthy and poor in Latvia has increased.
The Millenium Development Goals defined specifically for Latvia provide a more precise framework for fostering sustainable development. The defined goals are supported by 18 specific objectives and 40 indicators to monitor progress towards the achievement of the objectives. A very positive aspect of this work is the attempt to address environmental sustainability in a systematic fashion.
A more quantitative characterization of sustainable development is presented in Indicators of Sustainable Development in Latvia. However, the selected indicators do not always coincide with the indicators defined in Strategy for Sustainable Development in Latvia (2002). Since the sustainable development goals that have been defined in Latvia do not have implementation time-frames nor set targets, the indicators presented in the Indicators of Sustainable Development in Latvia report cannot be used to assess whether defined sustainability goals are being achieved. The types of issues that have been selected in this report, reflect the leading role played by environmental specialists. This highlights the fact that a coordinated effort to balance the environmental, economic and social spheres of development is lacking.