Heterogeneity and scale of sustainable development in cities
Abstract
Most nations worldwide have recently committed to solving their most severe challenges of sustainability by 2030, including eradicating extreme poverty and providing universal access to basic services. But how? Rapid urbanization is creating the conditions for widespread economic growth and human development, but its consequences are very uneven. We show how measures of sustainable development—identified by residents of poor neighborhoods—can be combined into a simple and intuitive index. Its analysis reveals that challenges of development are typically first addressed in large cities but that severe inequalities often result as patterns of spatially segregated rich and poor neighborhoods. A new systematic understanding of these processes is critical for devising policies that produce faster and more equitable universal sustainable development.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1606033114
Entities
People
- Christa Brelsford
- Joe Hand
- José Lobo
- Luís M. A. Bettencourt
Organizations
- Arizona State University
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- Santa Fe Institute
- United States Army Research Laboratory