47
The Detroit, Michigan metro area leads the nation
with 226 square meters of open space per person.
The average among US metros with reported data
was 84.5 square meters per person. The 2030
SDG target is to reach 187 square meters of open
space per person. There was no reported data for
the Houston metro on this measure.
The average metro area in the USA has a
reported 0.1 EPA Brownfield or Superfund Site
per square mile. Three metro areas have no
reported EPA Brownfields or Superfund Sites;
those are Provo, Utah; Bakersfield, California;
and Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Houston
metro area has a reported 0.04 Brownfield or
Superfund Site per square mile. Houston ranks
49th in the nation on this measure. The 2030 target is to reduce this number to 0.004 sites per
square mile.
4.4.15 SDG16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
SDG16
Data
N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Houston
Violent
crimes
1/100000
92
8.5
1262.3
425.3
578.2
Firearms
deaths
1/100000
100
2.1
25.6
10.3
11.6
Source: (Espey et al. 2018). Violent crimes 2016 data. Firearm deaths 2014 data
The average number of violent crimes per
100,000 people in the USA was 425.3 in 2016.
The Houston metro reported 578.2 violent
crimes, which was above the national average.
The best performing metro was Youngstown,
Ohio which reported only 8.5 violent crimes for
every 100,000 persons. Houston ranks 75th in the
nation on this measure. The 2030 target is to
reduce the number of violent crimes per 100,000
persons to 71.3.
The average number of deaths by firearms per
100,000 people was reported at 10.3 in 2014. The
Houston metro area reported only slightly higher
than this number with 11.6. The best performing
metro area in the country was Urban Honolulu
with 2 deaths per every 100,000 persons. On the
mainland, the Boston, Massachusetts metro
reported the next lowest number of 3.56 deaths
per every 100,000 people caused by firearms.
Houston ranks 66th in the nation on this metric.
The 2030 SDG target is set at 3.5 deaths for every
100,000 people.
4.5
Conclusion
To develop solutions for living and managing a
sprawl region, we should actually revisit the
quandary, which propelled George Mitchell to
convene sustainability leaders in Houston back in
1974. The quandary was the question of growth
vs development. Herman Daly suggested that an
economy based on endless growth in physical
production was impossible, because the world is
finite, and therefore a steady state is a physical
necessity. To attain the proposed state of economy, Daly suggested his concept of a steady-state
economy based on qualitative but not quantitative growth, taking into consideration four important questions: (1) At what levels should the
stocks of wealth and people be maintained constant? (2) What is the optimal level of maintenance throughput for a given level of stocks? (3)
What is the optimal time horizon or accounting
period which population and wealth are required
to be constant? (4) What is the optimal rate of
4 The Idea of Sustainability to Evaluate Growth and Development in the Houston Region
The Detroit, Michigan metro area leads the nation
with 226 square meters of open space per person.
The average among US metros with reported data
was 84.5 square meters per person. The 2030
SDG target is to reach 187 square meters of open
space per person. There was no reported data for
the Houston metro on this measure.
The average metro area in the USA has a
reported 0.1 EPA Brownfield or Superfund Site
per square mile. Three metro areas have no
reported EPA Brownfields or Superfund Sites;
those are Provo, Utah; Bakersfield, California;
and Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Houston
metro area has a reported 0.04 Brownfield or
Superfund Site per square mile. Houston ranks
49th in the nation on this measure. The 2030 target is to reduce this number to 0.004 sites per
square mile.
4.4.15 SDG16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
SDG16
Data
N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Houston
Violent
crimes
1/100000
92
8.5
1262.3
425.3
578.2
Firearms
deaths
1/100000
100
2.1
25.6
10.3
11.6
Source: (Espey et al. 2018). Violent crimes 2016 data. Firearm deaths 2014 data
The average number of violent crimes per
100,000 people in the USA was 425.3 in 2016.
The Houston metro reported 578.2 violent
crimes, which was above the national average.
The best performing metro was Youngstown,
Ohio which reported only 8.5 violent crimes for
every 100,000 persons. Houston ranks 75th in the
nation on this measure. The 2030 target is to
reduce the number of violent crimes per 100,000
persons to 71.3.
The average number of deaths by firearms per
100,000 people was reported at 10.3 in 2014. The
Houston metro area reported only slightly higher
than this number with 11.6. The best performing
metro area in the country was Urban Honolulu
with 2 deaths per every 100,000 persons. On the
mainland, the Boston, Massachusetts metro
reported the next lowest number of 3.56 deaths
per every 100,000 people caused by firearms.
Houston ranks 66th in the nation on this metric.
The 2030 SDG target is set at 3.5 deaths for every
100,000 people.
4.5
Conclusion
To develop solutions for living and managing a
sprawl region, we should actually revisit the
quandary, which propelled George Mitchell to
convene sustainability leaders in Houston back in
1974. The quandary was the question of growth
vs development. Herman Daly suggested that an
economy based on endless growth in physical
production was impossible, because the world is
finite, and therefore a steady state is a physical
necessity. To attain the proposed state of economy, Daly suggested his concept of a steady-state
economy based on qualitative but not quantitative growth, taking into consideration four important questions: (1) At what levels should the
stocks of wealth and people be maintained constant? (2) What is the optimal level of maintenance throughput for a given level of stocks? (3)
What is the optimal time horizon or accounting
period which population and wealth are required
to be constant? (4) What is the optimal rate of
4 The Idea of Sustainability to Evaluate Growth and Development in the Houston Region