CITIZEN ACT - season 2011-2012A Sustainable Town

CITIZEN ACT – SEASON 2011-2012

SOCIETE GENERALECITIZEN ACT

A Sustainable Town

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A SUSTAINABLE TOWN

SOCIETE GENERALECITIZEN ACT

_ What is a sustainable town?

A Sustainable Town is a political project, a global objective to guide global town planning and urban development policies, but also local authority policies as a whole: education, training, solidarity, employment, etc.

Certain aspects of a sustainable town are not always part of a local authority’s domain of responsibility.

Theses aspects also involve all of society’s players, and notably private companies.

A SUSTAINABLE TOWN

SOCIETE GENERALECITIZEN ACT

 _ The main principles of a sustainable town

A SUSTAINABLE TOWN

For over 20 years, major principles have set out the ambitions for becoming a sustainable town. Such a town must be:

• interdependent in terms of space (development costs shouldn’t be transferred onto other populations and ecosystems);

• interdependent in terms of time (development costs shouldn’t be passed on to future generations).

This solidarity entails:

• strategies for saving natural resources (energy, water, space, materials) and managing flows;

• strategies promoting social equality, resulting in actions to counter marginalisation, poverty and unemployment, as well as other actions in favour of education, training, etc.;

• applying the principle of caution in order to avoid irreversible choices and local or global risks (greenhouse effect and biodiversity, for example).

SOCIETE GENERALECITIZEN ACT

 _ A town based on Three Pillars

A SUSTAINABLE TOWN

A sustainable town also has to define decision-making and learning procedures.

These procedures lead to continual improvements in the situation, whether on a local level or on a global level, in the all three domains :

• Economic, • Social • Environmental.

SOCIETE GENERALECITIZEN ACT

Lastly, a sustainable town must focus on five strategic objectives that reflect sustainable urban development that doesn’t jeopardise other populations or future generations:

• sustainable preservation and management of the planet’s resources (energies, air, water, climate, material, biodiversity);

• improvement in the quality of the local environment (sanitary quality, reduction in noise, pollution and risks);

• improvement in social equality by increasing accessibility to employment, housing, education, healthcare, local services and local equipment to all, and by fighting against social and ecological inequality;

• improvement in equality and cohesion between different parts of a same town, but also between different towns and within the framework of decentralised cooperation;

• improvement in the efficiency and appeal of the economic fabric.

 _ The main objectives of a sustainable town:  

A SUSTAINABLE TOWN

SOCIETE GENERALECITIZEN ACT

On an international level, as laid out in the Leipzig Charter signed by European countries in 2007, one has to go beyond sectorial approaches (transport, urbanism, energy, etc.) to emphasise synergies and promote an integrated mode of governance.

 _ On an International level 

A SUSTAINABLE TOWN

SOCIETE GENERALECITIZEN ACT

In a sustainable town, various economic objectives can be sought after:

• ensure the long-term viability of local businesses;

• develop short marketing chains: local agriculture , direct sales, local eco-material business, etc;

• favour the setting up of companies committed to sustainable development (respecting the environment, social objectives, etc.) This objective can, for example, involve the certification of businesses, but also their commitment to social integration;

• favour fair trade, with a decent level of income and personal development (education, culture, etc.) for the entire production chain and reduce the excessive margins of some middlemen.

 _ The economic objectives of a sustainable town:  

A SUSTAINABLE TOWN

SOCIETE GENERALECITIZEN ACT

 _ Conclusion

 

A SUSTAINABLE TOWN

In terms of urbanism and architecture, the economic pillar of sustainable development leads to viewing a project in terms of the global cost:

• Reducing the resources (energy, material, water, soil, etc.) necessary for the project over its entire life cycle

• Optimising the budget to avoid excessively high costs

• Retaining a high-quality objective.

SOCIETE GENERALECITIZEN ACT

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www.developpement-durable.gouv.frwww.lemoniteur.frwww.wikipédia.fr 

 _ Sources 

A SUSTAINABLE TOWN