tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590586963527058601.post7157079771141273782..comments2023-04-01T16:31:54.668+02:00Comments on sustainable options: Cities, Complexity and Natural Resource ManagementMartin de Withttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16750080245346504969noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590586963527058601.post-65289823629564058642008-01-28T08:02:00.000+02:002008-01-28T08:02:00.000+02:00Thank you for the contribution James. I agree that...Thank you for the contribution James. I agree that leadership brings responsibility. (City) leadership have to acknowledge and be sensitive to an increasingly complex world. That may well mean to be to stick to a policy of building resilience of their populace. Authorities are much needed (possibly more then avoiding a Hobbesian war) to provide a context for a sensible response to a complex and dynamic world. This does not mean that authorities or their advisors should be able to pretend to comprehend complexity and prescribe a particular way of action. Unintended consequences will become more and more of a pressing concern in a connected, globalised world with larger scale and longer term feedbacks.Martin de Withttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16750080245346504969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590586963527058601.post-87818040060731818532008-01-25T07:31:00.000+02:002008-01-25T07:31:00.000+02:00MartinI'm obviously not as well-versed in this sub...Martin<BR/><BR/>I'm obviously not as well-versed in this subject as you guys are, but the city authority, albeit locked into an increasingly complex, dynamic and connected world, does have the responsibility to decide upon a future development pathway or trajectory for the city and stick to that. They cannot just be saying we're lame and sitting ducks and are being governed by the world and external pressures. If that was the case then the city authority should be dismantled, something that is obviously not feasible. No, the city has a role to play in opting for a sustainable pathway and then to formulate strategic actions around that. One useful way to think about this is to seek sustainability in the face of the 5 forms of capital, namely:<BR/>1) financial capital, i.e. money or substitutes,<BR/>2) manufactured capital, i.e. buildings, roads and other human-produced fixed assets,<BR/>3) human capital, i.e. individual or collective efforts and intellectual skills,<BR/>4) social capital, i.e. institutions, relationships, social networks, and shared cultural beliefs and traditions that promote mutual trust, and<BR/>5) natural capital, which is an economic metaphor for the stock of physical and biological natural resources that consist of: <BR/>a) renewable natural capital (living species and ecosystems),<BR/>b) non-renewable natural capital (sub-soil assets, e.g., petroleum, coal, diamonds, etc.),<BR/>c) replenishable natural capital (e.g., the atmosphere, potable water, fertile soils), and<BR/>d) cultivated natural capital (e.g., crops and forest plantations). <BR/><BR/>Theoretically and conceptually this is not new stuff, but its application in a city will require some very bold decisions.James Blignauthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06135474722144382462noreply@blogger.com