Planning as sustainable development

This paper makes the case that planning should fully incorporate the notion of sustainable development (SD) and argues that SD is nor achievable in any real way without attention to the substance and process of planning as ir happens on the ground. Sustainable development should be a fundamental principle of planning bur the concept is ambiguous. This paper distills a working definition of SD suitable for planners in terms of process and substantive criteria. The definition is derived mainly from an analysis of recent literature and shows that ecological sustainability is a necessary bur nor sufficient condition for sustainability and that social and economic conditions must also be met. The highest priorities in planning for SD are to ensure that plans address ecological issues and co improve decision-making processes ro achieve vertical consistency between actions ar local, national, and even international levels and horizontal coordination between development actions ac all levels. Despite the limited effectiveness of local decisions, there is so much that local communities can do for SD in their own interest and for the long-term benefit of the planet.