Sustainability - A Matter of Choice

UNSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT



Picture the forest left alone. Plants and wildlife flourish. But human needs intrude. People want space, and they want progress. The forest is razed and a factory built. People have money and opportunities they didn't have before. But natural resources are destroyed, and cultural traditions may be lost.

On the razed land, a township emerges and then a city. The city still has 'green lungs', or areas given over to nature: public parks, a wildlife sanctuary, and forests nearby. But more land is needed for the housing, schools, and economic activities demanded by a growing population. They encroach on the green areas.

Picture the city with no green lungs at all. Even on the slopes of hills, trees have given way to apartment blocks. The only large green areas are golf courses. The elite have homes with gardens, and golf club membership. But the poor who have flooded into the city seeking work are not able to enjoy these things. They live in the worst areas of the city. Slums as well as gleaming new buildings emerge.

The city generates booming industry and a complex infrastructure linking it with international airports and ports. The economy is thriving, but the quality of life is poor. The city is polluted and health standards are low. People are working hard, but they cannot enjoy their earnings in an overcrowded, noisy, and noxious environment.

This is unsustainable development. It has promoted economic growth at the expense of the environment, which is irreparably harmed, and of the people, who are no happier for it.

The poor pay most of the cost of unsustainable development. But everybody pays in the end.



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Copyright 1996, The World Wide Fund For Nature