Spaces of Sustainability: Geographical Perspectives on the Sustainable Society

If we look carefully enough we can discern facets of the sustainable society all around us. The ecologically-sensitive design of the buildings we work in, the 'green' goods we routinely consume in the high street, and the ways in which development in our towns and regions is being planned all reflect a desire to live in a more sustainable way. But the question remains, can we as a global society really change the old unsustainable habits of the industrial era and create a society which more effectively balances economic need with social justice and environmental protection?Spaces of Sustainability provides the first integrated geographical analysis of the sustainable society. Combining case study material on urban health movements in Poland, agricultural practices in India, environmental legislation in the USA and ecological planning in the arctic amongst others, Spaces of Sustainability considers the opportunities and barriers which exist to sustainable development within different parts of the world.In addition to exploring sustainability in the spaces of the developed, developing and post-socialist worlds, this book also considers the role of geographical scale within this newly emerging society and critically analyzes the ways in which contemporary strategies for sustainable development are responding to the complex global, national, regional and local processes which will ultimately determine how sustainable our societies are.

Mark Whitehead is a lecturer in human geography at the Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth