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By Timothy Beatley and David J. Brower, AICP 1/ C ustainable" has become the decade's newest buzzword. The term came into wide use in the late 1980s with publi- cation of Our Common Future, the report of the World Commission on Environ- ment and Development (often called the "Brundtland Commission" after its orga- nizer, Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former prime minister of Norway. The idea was further spread by last year's Earth Sum- mit in Rio, sponsored by the United Na- tionsConference onthe Environment and Development. Speakers at these events made it clear that Planet Earth is in the midst of an ecological crisis. It is a mistake, however, to associate the idea of sustainability only with devel- oping countries and global issues. It can and must be accepted by developed coun- ~ries because they (we) are the major consumers of the world's resources and the major producers of its waste and pol- lutants. They are the countries most in need of what has come to be called "sus- tainabledevelopment"-development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future gen- erations to meet their own needs. In the U.S., the concept of sustainable development has been advanced by sev- eral recent developments. The idea has become the focus of the National Com- mission on the Environment, convened last year by the World Wildlife Fund, and it was highlighted by Vice President Albert Gore in his 1992 book, Earth in the Bal- ance. In cities across the country, infor- mation networks and "sustainable com- munity" coalitions have been formed to promote the concept. The planning and design professions have begun to pay more attention to these subjects, too, as reflected by articles in planning journals and by a growing list of books reflecting the various perspectives on sustainability. The topic is beginning *o show up in planning curriculums as ell. The University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina offer courses on sustainable development. Conference programs are beginning to reflect the new interest, too. APA's national conference this month includes a panel on the topic, +k .,,f ~. '~ . and the overall theme of next month's American Institute of Architects national meeting is sustainable communities. We believe that ,the planning profes- sion should be paying even more atten- tion to the concept of sustainability. The idea has the potential to make connec- tions between the traditional concerns of city and regional planning and more re- cent concerns about such issues as the global environment and social inequity. sustainability is a fundamental orga- nizingprinciple against which to evaluate all of a community's proposed actioris and policies. It implies a search for cre- ative ways of accomplishing change. It also suggests that public programs and policies will be viewed in an integrated fashion. Sustainable communities can no longer treat land use, the environment, housing, transportation, social services, ~_ ~, '~ A Bay Area ecology group has proposed that a model sustainable community be built at the Presidio, the San Fran- ciscoarmy base slated to become part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. and safety as isolated issues. Rather, they will be viewed as overlapping issues that require integrated strategies. In its most basic meaning, the word sustainability implies "lasting." And for us, sustainable communities are com- munities that will create places of endur- ing value. The ecological city Sustainable communities acknowledge environmental constraints-from limited groundwater and wetlands to global climate change. Current patterns of ur- ban development and growth, and cur- rent strategies for organizing and operat- ing human settlements, are wasteful, environmentally damaging, and ecologi- cally unsustainable. Sustainable commu- nities work to live within physical and biological limits.