JHB
City-States
INNER CITY
How cities are vital to the future of sustainability
In the 21st century, cities will increasingly be
the frame through which we understand and
shape our shared economic, political and
cultural circumstances. They will also be
ground zero for the collision of economic,
environmental and social imperatives that
de?ne sustainability. Together, these facts
suggest that in proactively addressing the
challenge of urban sustainability, business
and others may have an opportunity to
harness the power and positive
characteristics of cities to drive sustainability
more widely.
It is in this context that Citystates proposes a pair of related
hypotheses :
(1) sustainability needs cities as much as cities need
sustainability, and
(2) business and others should view cities as an
increasingly crucial and constructive frame through
which to understand and pursue sustainability.
Speci?cally, we see cities as both linchpins and levers
for sustainable development, and a source of potential
lessons for how to drive the sustainability agenda
forward.
Linchpins As cities come to house more and more people,
metabolize a greater share of resources, and further shape
the broader physical, economic and social landscape we
inhabit, their sustainability becomes key to planetary
sustainability.
Levers As hotbeds of innovation, cities could effect the
speed and ef?ciency with which we develop new
sustainability solutions. Furthermore, because of their
growing power and in?uence, cities may provide a crucial
means for replicating and driving successful solutions to
scale.
Lessons Many cities are setting the example for how to
confront challenging issues head-on. As such, they provide
numerous lessons for how to address sustainability
challenges more widely.
Photo: Chris Krichhoff
CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW
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