32
develop a 10-year program of action to identify
alternatives to the then-present-and-projected
nature of growth and development. The first of
four conferences was convened in the Houston
region in 1975. The conference featured prominent experts in development services such as
Dennis and Donella Meadows, Lester Brown,
Herman Kahn, Ian McHarg, and Herman Daly.
Donella Meadows authored a paper for the conferences titled “Equity, the Free Market, and the
Sustainable State.” The second conference was
convened in 1977, co-sponsored by the Club of
Rome. The conference was titled The Nature of
Growth in Equitable and Sustainable Societies.
The third conference in 1979 was titled
Management of Sustainable Growth. Finally, the
fourth conference was convened in 1982 titled
Role of the Private Sector (Schmandt 2010).
The second and third major regional efforts of
note were both initiated in 2010. The Houston
regional council of governments received funding from President Barack Obama’s national sustainability enhancement program, Partnership
for Sustainable Communities. The grant was
awarded to develop a regional plan for sustainability (HGAC 2011). That same year the City of
Houston, the most populous city in the Houston
metro region, created a position for a sustainability director.
The fourth major effort actually started prior
to efforts two and three cited above, but is presented as number four to contextualize this
author’s affiliation and the study that is the focus
of the rest of this chapter. In 2002, Rice University
launched the Shell Center for Sustainability, to
foster and develop interdisciplinary research
partnerships to evaluate sustainable development
in the region. Over the course of 15 years, the
research think tank convened business, government, and civil stakeholders authoring numerous
studies and reports on sustainability in the region
(SCS 2017). This author and the Rice University,
Sustainability Solutions Lab, are both birthed
from that effort. Beginning in 2011, we published
reports comparing the City of Houston to peer
cities in the USA on key sustainability indicators
(Blackburn 2011). Several sustainability indicators reports and articles were published, analyzing the City from varying units of geography
(King 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017). In
2018 our research team developed partnerships
with the Center of Sustainability and Resilience
at the University of Houston and with the
International
Institute
for
Sustainable
Development, to expand our research and reporting capabilities to address the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) for Houston
(Sustainability Solutions Lab 2018; Abraham
et al. 2019). The research partnership team’s goal
is to convene industry and the civil sector in the
region, to collaboratively develop policies and
programs for the Houston region to meet the
SDG 2030 goals.
4.3
Sustainability and the State
of Growth and Development
in the Houston Region
The Houston metropolitan region in Texas is
composed of nine counties: Austin, Brazoria,
Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty,
Montgomery, and Waller counties (Fig. 4.1). The
total population was 6,482,592 in 2016 and the
total land area is 8261 square miles (ACS_16).
Houston is the sixth most populous metro in the
country behind New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA;
Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; and New York,
NJ. Since Houston has relatively the same land
size as the New York metro, it is approximately
half as dense as New York (1613/sqml in
New York compared to 785/sqml in Houston).
From a sustainability perspective, this immediately signals issues for Houston, stemming from
sprawl. Issues such as the higher infrastructure
management burden for Houston and the emissions generated from moving people and goods
across a much larger geography are all issues
Houston has to manage compared to New York
(Table 4.1).
The Houston metro is a large geographic area
with 1000s of individual and overlapping governance bodies. The primary sustainability challenge and major constraint for the Houston metro
region is one of governance. Houston is also
widely considered to be the least planned, least
D. B. Abraham
develop a 10-year program of action to identify
alternatives to the then-present-and-projected
nature of growth and development. The first of
four conferences was convened in the Houston
region in 1975. The conference featured prominent experts in development services such as
Dennis and Donella Meadows, Lester Brown,
Herman Kahn, Ian McHarg, and Herman Daly.
Donella Meadows authored a paper for the conferences titled “Equity, the Free Market, and the
Sustainable State.” The second conference was
convened in 1977, co-sponsored by the Club of
Rome. The conference was titled The Nature of
Growth in Equitable and Sustainable Societies.
The third conference in 1979 was titled
Management of Sustainable Growth. Finally, the
fourth conference was convened in 1982 titled
Role of the Private Sector (Schmandt 2010).
The second and third major regional efforts of
note were both initiated in 2010. The Houston
regional council of governments received funding from President Barack Obama’s national sustainability enhancement program, Partnership
for Sustainable Communities. The grant was
awarded to develop a regional plan for sustainability (HGAC 2011). That same year the City of
Houston, the most populous city in the Houston
metro region, created a position for a sustainability director.
The fourth major effort actually started prior
to efforts two and three cited above, but is presented as number four to contextualize this
author’s affiliation and the study that is the focus
of the rest of this chapter. In 2002, Rice University
launched the Shell Center for Sustainability, to
foster and develop interdisciplinary research
partnerships to evaluate sustainable development
in the region. Over the course of 15 years, the
research think tank convened business, government, and civil stakeholders authoring numerous
studies and reports on sustainability in the region
(SCS 2017). This author and the Rice University,
Sustainability Solutions Lab, are both birthed
from that effort. Beginning in 2011, we published
reports comparing the City of Houston to peer
cities in the USA on key sustainability indicators
(Blackburn 2011). Several sustainability indicators reports and articles were published, analyzing the City from varying units of geography
(King 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017). In
2018 our research team developed partnerships
with the Center of Sustainability and Resilience
at the University of Houston and with the
International
Institute
for
Sustainable
Development, to expand our research and reporting capabilities to address the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) for Houston
(Sustainability Solutions Lab 2018; Abraham
et al. 2019). The research partnership team’s goal
is to convene industry and the civil sector in the
region, to collaboratively develop policies and
programs for the Houston region to meet the
SDG 2030 goals.
4.3
Sustainability and the State
of Growth and Development
in the Houston Region
The Houston metropolitan region in Texas is
composed of nine counties: Austin, Brazoria,
Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty,
Montgomery, and Waller counties (Fig. 4.1). The
total population was 6,482,592 in 2016 and the
total land area is 8261 square miles (ACS_16).
Houston is the sixth most populous metro in the
country behind New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA;
Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; and New York,
NJ. Since Houston has relatively the same land
size as the New York metro, it is approximately
half as dense as New York (1613/sqml in
New York compared to 785/sqml in Houston).
From a sustainability perspective, this immediately signals issues for Houston, stemming from
sprawl. Issues such as the higher infrastructure
management burden for Houston and the emissions generated from moving people and goods
across a much larger geography are all issues
Houston has to manage compared to New York
(Table 4.1).
The Houston metro is a large geographic area
with 1000s of individual and overlapping governance bodies. The primary sustainability challenge and major constraint for the Houston metro
region is one of governance. Houston is also
widely considered to be the least planned, least
D. B. Abraham