Spaces of Sustainability : Geographical Perspectives on the Sustainable Society

ISBN-13: 9780415358040 / Angielski / Miękka / 2006 / 242 str.

Mark Whitehead

Opis

If we look carefully enough we can discern facets of the sustainable society all around us. The ecologically-sensitive design of the buildings we work in, the green goods we routinely consume in the high street, and the ways in which development in our towns and regions is being planned all reflect a desire to live in a more sustainable way. But the question remains, can we as a global society really change the old unsustainable habits of the industrial era and create a society which more effectively balances economic need with social justice and environmental protection?
"Spaces of Sustainability" provides the first integrated geographical analysis of the sustainable society. Combining case study material on urban health movements in Poland, agricultural practices in India, environmental legislation in the USA and ecological planning in the arctic amongst others, "Spaces" "of Sustainability" considers the opportunities and barriers which exist to sustainable development within different parts of the world.
In addition to exploring sustainability in the spaces of the developed, developing and post-socialist worlds, this book also considers the role of geographical scale within this newly emerging society and critically analyzes the ways in which contemporary strategies for sustainable development are responding to the complex global, national, regional and local processes which will ultimately determine how sustainable our societies are.

Recenzje

'This book is about ideas and approaches to sustainability [...] it is an excellent introduction to the topic for geographers' - Ian Gordon, University of Manchester Geography (Journal) 2007.

'Whitehead has envisioned Spaces of Sustainability as an introduction to the key debates and philosophical principles surrounding sustainable development and, in this regard, he succeeds admirably. In a concise fashion, he provides the reader with a well-informed and eminently readable overview of the key debates, theories and philosophical concepts, and policy initiatives in the realm of sustainable development. Furthermore, throughout the book he synthesizes a diverse collection of literature from both academia and the mass media and provides an eclectic and interesting array of real-world case studies drawn from a host of more and less developed countries [...] As a consequence, Spaces of Sustainability will serve as a valuable introduction for upper-level undergraduate students in geography, planning, public policy, and other social science disciplines in a wide variety of geographic settings' James, J. Biles, Indiana University, Growth and Development (November 2007)

 'What is sustainability from a geographical point of view? Whitehead, in Spaces of Sustainability aims to answer this question through a review of the roots of the concept of sustainability...' - Giuseppe Pellegrini Masini, University of Glasgow (2008) 

'The book is at its best when we encounter the realities of these sustainable societies - in the Body Shop, films, Mexico City and the everyday encounters of the author - and are given the analytical perspectives through which to understand the processes at hand. The detailed use of case-studies, the accessible text and the use of figures and text boxes all help with this endeavour.  It deserves to have pride of place on reading lists across the social sciences and to be taken seriously by the research community.' - Harriet Bulkeley, University of Durham, UK 2008

Spis treści

1. The Geographies of the Sustainable Society  Part 1: Spaces of Sustainability  2. Ecological Modernization in the West: Making Business Sense out of Sustainability  3. Sustainable Development in the Post-Socialist World  4. The Pollution of Poverty: Sustainability in the Developing World  Part 2: Scales of Sustainability  5. Sustainability in a Global Era  6. The Sustainable Region  7. Sustainable Cities  8. Localizing the Sustainable Society: Between Citizenship and Community  9. Conclusions: Reflections on Actually Existing Sustainabilities

O autorze

Mark Whitehead is a lecturer in human geography at the Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.