9.3 City Sustainability
What, then, is meant by city sustainability? To make this concept easy to understand
without making the sustainability of cities the subject of discussion, I will assign a
definition in the context of sustainable cities. Because this understanding is vital, it
should be remembered that the concept of the sustainability of cities is not a question
as to whether a city itself is sustainable but whether humankind is sustainable. A
sustainable city is a city that maximizes economic and social net benefits (degree of
satisfaction) while meeting on a permanent basis any limiting conditions of the
environment as well as limiting conditions of economic and social equity in both
opportunities and distribution (Mori and Yamashita 2015).
While this definition of sustainability of cities covers the triple bottom lines
including the environment, economy, and society, it also contains one further
separate axis, that is, the axis for distinguishing any limiting conditions and conditions of maximization. Priority regarding the sustainability of cities is assigned based
on this axis. Therefore, this axis is more important than the triple bottom lines.
Limiting conditions are assigned to environmental aspects and equity. Regarding
limiting conditions of environmental aspects, conditions are assigned from the
planetary boundaries if the limitations are on a global scale, for instance (Rockström
et al. 2009). Regarding equity, in income distribution, there may be minimum
conditions to meet both in the method of distribution itself and in the level of
absolute poverty. Furthermore, there probably will be conditions for guaranteeing
equal opportunity. These limiting conditions of the environment and equity may
become minimum necessary conditions for the sustainability of cities.
However, the story does not end there. It is insufficient to merely fulfill these
conditions. A city exists for the pursuit of economic and social prosperity based on
accumulation effects, and this point cannot be viewed lightly. So long as it fulfills
conditions of limitations regarding the environment and equity, economic and social
benefits must be increased as much as possible. When maximization has not
occurred in this area, it means that there is still leeway for further pursuit of benefit
and that the city has not reached optimal conditions. In summary, there is a hierarchy
between the limiting conditions and the maximization conditions. While there is an
argument that there is a hierarchical relationship among the three elements (environment, economy, and society) of the triple bottom lines (Fischer et al. 2007), here,
rather than in the triple bottom lines, there is a hierarchical relationship between the
limiting conditions and maximization conditions, and the former are the minimum
necessary conditions for the sustainability of cities.
9 The City Sustainability Index (CSI): How Should the Sustainability of. . .
169
What, then, is meant by city sustainability? To make this concept easy to understand
without making the sustainability of cities the subject of discussion, I will assign a
definition in the context of sustainable cities. Because this understanding is vital, it
should be remembered that the concept of the sustainability of cities is not a question
as to whether a city itself is sustainable but whether humankind is sustainable. A
sustainable city is a city that maximizes economic and social net benefits (degree of
satisfaction) while meeting on a permanent basis any limiting conditions of the
environment as well as limiting conditions of economic and social equity in both
opportunities and distribution (Mori and Yamashita 2015).
While this definition of sustainability of cities covers the triple bottom lines
including the environment, economy, and society, it also contains one further
separate axis, that is, the axis for distinguishing any limiting conditions and conditions of maximization. Priority regarding the sustainability of cities is assigned based
on this axis. Therefore, this axis is more important than the triple bottom lines.
Limiting conditions are assigned to environmental aspects and equity. Regarding
limiting conditions of environmental aspects, conditions are assigned from the
planetary boundaries if the limitations are on a global scale, for instance (Rockström
et al. 2009). Regarding equity, in income distribution, there may be minimum
conditions to meet both in the method of distribution itself and in the level of
absolute poverty. Furthermore, there probably will be conditions for guaranteeing
equal opportunity. These limiting conditions of the environment and equity may
become minimum necessary conditions for the sustainability of cities.
However, the story does not end there. It is insufficient to merely fulfill these
conditions. A city exists for the pursuit of economic and social prosperity based on
accumulation effects, and this point cannot be viewed lightly. So long as it fulfills
conditions of limitations regarding the environment and equity, economic and social
benefits must be increased as much as possible. When maximization has not
occurred in this area, it means that there is still leeway for further pursuit of benefit
and that the city has not reached optimal conditions. In summary, there is a hierarchy
between the limiting conditions and the maximization conditions. While there is an
argument that there is a hierarchical relationship among the three elements (environment, economy, and society) of the triple bottom lines (Fischer et al. 2007), here,
rather than in the triple bottom lines, there is a hierarchical relationship between the
limiting conditions and maximization conditions, and the former are the minimum
necessary conditions for the sustainability of cities.
9 The City Sustainability Index (CSI): How Should the Sustainability of. . .
169