Some Social Aspects of Sustainability

Some Social Aspects of Sustainability

7 January 2015

Some Social Aspects of Sustainability

The Meaning of Sustainability

“Sustainable architecture. Sustainable planning. Sustainable construction. Sustainable tourism. The “S” word appears almost everywhere, but what does it mean? The use of the adjective to describe many built environments and other activities where efforts are made to reduce the impact of human activities on the environment denies or ignores other important and essential dimensions of a more sustainable life. It overlooks the wider socio-economic and equity dimensions identified in the context of general human development….”

S.R. Curwell and M. Deakin, Building Research & Information, Special Issue, Sustainable Urban Development: BEQUEST, Volume 30, No. 2 March-April, 2002, p.79.

Sustainable Development:Learning from the Discourse

on Social and Economic Development

“Outer” City “Inner” City

Some Criteria for the Sustainable “Outer City”• Mixed-use • Rich street life based on pedestrians and public transportation • New green city infrastructure for water and waste • A net zero energy and water community• Agriculture imbedded into the community

Some Criteria for the Sustainable “Inner City”• On-going Capacity Building• Individuals who are constructive, responsible protagonists • Communities that are originators and encouragers, that work together with a common purpose • Institutions that provide for meaningful participation

Architects grow in Discourse “A” but the inclusiveness habit spreads the search, and Discourse “A” begins to merge with Discourse “B”.

We observe:

1. Profound changes in the world, a rapidly evolving global community2. Advances in knowledge across an ever-expanding range of disciplines, 3. The emergence of international mechanisms that promote collective decision-making

and action.4. The increasing ability of the masses of humankind, including women, to articulate their

aspirations and needs.

Ref: Science, Religion and Development: Some Initial ConsiderationsPrepared by the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity

Empire/Nation

City/City-State

Tribe

Family

World Community

The Evolution of Social and Political OrderGreater and greater release of human capacity

Globalization

Cities are nodes of the global village.

Social Character

Characteristics World View Emotional and Intellectual

Characteristics

Relationships with Others

1. Authoritarian Power- oriented DichotomousPerceptions

Rigidity Authoritarian Submission

2. Indulgent Pleasure-oriented Indiscriminate Perceptions

Promiscuity Anarchic Relationships

3. Integrative Growth-oriented Unity in Diversity Creativity Responsibility and Cooperation

Three Kinds of Social Relationships

Challenge: To Mature from authoritarian to “integrative” social relations

Chart by psychologist Dr. Hossain Danesh

三种社会关系

人格类型( 民族性

格）特征世界观情感与理智特征与他人的关系

专制型以权力为导向二元分立的感知刻板僵化屈从于专制

放纵型以享乐为导向不加分辨的感知混乱无法无天的关系

整合型以成长为导向存多样求团结有创造性负责与合作

社会演变 Social Evolution

A New Definition of the INDIVIDUAL, COMMUNITY, and INSTITUTIONS 个人 , 社区 , 机构的新定义

时代

古代

转变周期新世界秩序

Why has the number of International Non-Governmental Organizations Exploded since 1960?

Edward Turner, Cliodynamics: The Journal of Theoretical and Mathematical History, 2010 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/97p470sx

"The Age of Nations is past. The task before us now,

if we would not perish, is to build the Earth.”

T. de Chardin

The Great Unity, All Under Heaven is One Family (China)Maturation of Humanity (Baha’i)All-inclusive Family (Toynbee)Omega Point (de Chardin)Grand Synthesis (Lazlo)Majestic House (Du Fu)Global Village (McLuhan) New World Order

India

Chi

na

Indigenous North America

Jew

ish

/ Chr

istia

n / W

este

rn

IslamA

frica

A Shared DreamA Common History

A Common HeritageA Common HomeA Common Future

Evolution: Family, Tribe,City, Nation-state, Global Community. Each step has released greater amounts of human capacity.

"Heaven is my father and earth is my mother..all people are my brothers and sisters, and all things are my companions...“Zhang Zai (1020-77)

McGill Poet, Frank Scott “The world is my country

The human race is my race”

Map of Human MaturationHumanity is consciously or unconsciously, willingly or unwillingly, entering its collective adulthood.

This relatively recent surge

of change implies social

evolution has a goal.

China was the leader of our collective

development until about AD1300.

Global Unity / Peace / Social Evolution / Cultural Diversity

Development continued with Islam, from about 600

to 1500, building a civilization, a knowledge

bridge, that stretched from Fuzhou to Seville. The fruits of the Chinese,

Hindu, Jewish, and Greek worlds – and everything in between – was absorbed

and shared across all that same territory.


Islam’s turn to lead exactly corresponded with the

Dark Ages of the West. Islamic civilization caused

the Renaissance in Europe. The west has led

us into the 20th century.Its materialistic consumer

paradigm currently dominates the globalization

process.


The world is challenged to build a civilization that is

both materially and spiritually advanced, and

that draws on our collective heritage.


"Much like the role played by the gene pool in the biological life of humankind and its environment, the immense wealth of cultural diversity achieved over thousands of years is vital to the social and economic development of a human race experiencing its collective coming-of-age. It represents a heritage that must be permitted to bear its fruit in a global civilization. On the one hand, cultural expressions need to be protected from suffocation by the materialistic influences currently holding sway. On the other, cultures must be enabled to interact with one another in ever-changing patterns of civilization. The Prosperity of Humankind, Baha'i International Community, 1995.


Sustainable Social Development Requires(among other lines of action): • Promote World Citizenship Education• Develop Pro-active Community Life• Increase the Influence of Women• Improve Physical Mutual Access• Build Institutional Capacity/Civic Centers



.

Sustainability requires we build human capacity for constructivepersonal, community and institutional growth.

The enterprise of building human capacity, of fostering constructive

• individual, • community and

• institutional change,

is increasingly being recognized

as the fundamental purpose of

development.

机构

The Individual has a two-fold purpose: Individual transformation and social transformation;

Deeds performed in the context of a moral purpose, as acts of service toward the construction of a peaceful world, contribute both to spiritual and material progress and, as expressions of individual initiative, are a

source of learning and growth for the individual as well.

“Advances in knowledge across an ever-expanding range of disciplines, the emergence of international mechanisms that promote collective decision-making and action, and the increasing ability of the masses

of humankind to articulate their aspirations and needs, portend a great surge forward in the social evolution of the planet.”

Science, Religion and Development: Some Initial Considerations, Prepared by the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity

服务 SERVICE

A New Definition of the INDIVIDUAL (The Responsible Protagonist) 个人的新定义（负责任的主人翁）

A sign of maturity is the capacity to be of service to others.

成熟的标志是有能力为他人服务。

Served by Others接受他人服务

Serving Others服务他人

The very young and the very old rely on the service of others.

Infant / Child / Youth / Adult / Senior

幼小的和衰老的依靠他人的服务

婴儿 / 儿童 / 青年 / 成年 / 长者

当我们对“发展目标”再下定义的时候﹐重新审视当事人在发展过程中所扮演的角色是很必要的。各层政府机构在社会发展方面的重要作用不言而喻。然而﹐在一个称颂平等主义原则以及相关的民主原则的时代里﹐发展规划应把广大民众视为援助和训练的接受者﹐远而我们的后代将会对此感到不可理解。尽管“民众参与”是公认的原则﹐然而留给世界绝大多数人民的决策范围充其量是次要性的：他们的抉择范围被高不可及的机构所规定﹐并常常受那些与他们的现实观背道而驰的目标所制约。

The Prosperity Of Humankind, A Statement Prepared by the Baháí International Community's Office of Public Information

“Future generations, however, will find almost incomprehensible the circumstance that, in an age paying tribute to an egalitarian philosophy and related democratic principles, development planning should view the masses of humanity as essentially recipients of benefits from aid and training. Despite acknowledgement of participation as a principle, the scope of the decision making left to most of the world's population is at best secondary, limited to a range of choices formulated by agencies inaccessible to them and determined by goals that are often irreconcilable with their perceptions of reality.”

A New Definition of the INDIVIDUAL (The Responsible Protagonist)

个人的新定义（负责任的提倡者）

个人的作用个人的知识水平越高、学科面越广，促进集体决策和集体行动的国际机制越多，个人表达自身志向和需要的能力越强，公民就越容易参与公共计划和政策的观念形成、具体实践和效果评估方面，成为积极的参与者。

Science, Religion and Development: Some Initial Considerations, Prepared by the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity

The Role of the Individual“Higher levels of knowledge across an ever-expanding range of disciplines, increasing international mechanisms that promote collective decision-making and action, and increasing ability to articulate their aspirations and needs, makes it increasingly possible for citizens to become active participants in the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of public programs and policies.”

A New Definition of the INDIVIDUAL (The Responsible Protagonist)

个人的新定义（负责任的主人翁）

一个成熟和谐的社区定义为：“ 文明的综合单位，由个人家庭和机构组成是对体制、部门和组织的发起者和激励者、机构和组织等为一个共同的目标、为内部和外部的福祉而协同运作的个人、家庭和机构组成；由多样化的、彼此互动的、在为灵性和社会进步而不懈追求中实现团结的参与者组成。

The Universal House of Justice, The Four Year Plan, pp.34-35

社区的新定义

A New Definition of COMMUNITYWe can define a mature harmonious community as….

“a comprehensive unit of civilization composed of individuals, families and institutions that are originators and encouragers of systems, agencies and organizations working together with a common purpose for the welfare of people both within and beyond its borders; it is a composition of diverse, interacting participants that are achieving unity in an unremitting quest for spiritual and social progress.”

世界正义院《四年计划》 34-35

A New Definition of INIVIDUAL and COMMUNITY Relationship

The Human Body: A Unified System

人体 : 一个统一的统系

Society is also a Mutual Helpfulness System社会也是一个相互帮助的统系

“If governing institutions do, in fact, provide for the meaningfulparticipation of citizens in the conceptualization, implementation and evaluation of public programs and policies, then a community's capacity to effect and manage change will indeed be greatly enhanced. This is true whether the institutions operate at the village or international level”.

A New Definition of INSITUTIONS

Science, Religion and Development: Some Initial Considerations, Prepared by the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity 摘自《科学、宗教与发展，最初始的考虑》全球繁荣研究所

“如果统治机构确实能够为公民提供机会，使他们有意义地参与公共事务和政策的观念形成、具体实践和效果评估，那么社团影响和应对变化的能力必将大在增强。事实就是如此，无论机构是在村庄还是国际范围内运行。”

机构的新定义


“Despite the competitive aspects of any society, there must be a bedrock modicum of cooperation for society to exist at all. (I define cooperative as behavior that aids and enhances the development of other human beings while advancing one's own.) It is certainly clear we have not reached a very high level of cooperative living. To the extent that it exists, women have assumed the greater responsibility for providing it. Although they may not label it in large letters, women in families are constantly trying to work out some sort of cooperative system that attends to each person's needs. Their task is greatly impeded by the unequal premise on which our families are based, but it has been women who have practiced trying.

“.......until recently, few opportunities for simultaneous self-development and service to others have existed; there were virtually no social forms in which this combination could be put into operation.... For men the prospect of combining self-development with service to others seems an impossibly complex proposition. For women this complexity is not so great.

Dr. Jean Baker-Miller, Towards a New Psychology of Women, Beacon Press, Boston, Second Edition, p.62-3.

"Women do have a much greater and more refined ability to encompass others' needs and to do this with ease. By this I mean that women are better geared than men to first recognize others' needs and then to believe strongly that others' needs can be served - that they can respond to others' needs without feeling this is a detraction from their sense of identity.

"Men are more burdened with the more adolescent attitudes and habits of competition and control. Maturity for a man is autonomy and separation from others, independence and individual achievement. A concern with relationships, and co-operation appear as weaknesses.Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice, Harvard Press, 1982.

Dr. Jean Baker-Miller, Towards a New Psychology of Women, Beacon Press, Boston, Second Edition, p.62-3.

"Given the vital role of economic activity in the advancement of civilization, visible evidence of the pace at which development is progressing will be the extent to which women gain access to all avenues of economic endeavor. This challenge goes beyond ensuring an equitable distribution of opportunity, important as that is. It calls for a fundamental rethinking of economic issues in a manner that will invite the full participation of a range of human experienceand insight hitherto largely excluded from the discourse.

The classical economic models of impersonal markets in which human beings act as autonomous makers of self-regarding choices will not serve the needs of a world motivated by ideals of unity and justice. Society will find itself increasingly challenged to develop new economic models shaped by insights that arise form a sympathetic understanding of shared experience, from viewing human beings in relation to others, and from a recognition of the centrality to social well-being of the role of the family and the community. Such an intellectual breakthrough - strongly altruistic rather than self-centered in focus - must draw heavily on both the spiritual and scientific sensibilities of the race, and millennia of experience have prepared women to make crucial contributions to the common effort.

Baha'i International Community, Office of Public Information, The Prosperity of Humankind, pp.16.


The Emperor, the Representative of Heaven, (spiritual and temporal authority combined as one)is located at the center of the city. Old Beijing’s city plan and the Forbidden City are based on this model

. In the Chinese model of an ideal city, there is a coherence of spiritual and material authority.China did not experience the same early rupture of reason and faith, “church” and state as in the West.

历史先例 Historical Precedents

Community Centers in Guizhou, Dong Minority Village

The drum towers provide venues for the whole village to discuss and settle important matters, hold important festivals or entertainments such as singing and playing wind instruments. A leather drum is placed in the drum tower. When there are important things to talk about, the drum is beaten by a respected village leader to summon the villagers. There is a fire on the ground where a fire burns almost all year round.


Drum Tower

Drum Tower

Drum Tower

Drum TowerDrum Tower

Drum Tower Community Centers in Guizhou, Dong Minority Village


Civic Center in Ancient Athens (Greece), The Agora A cluster of spiritual, political , educational, and commercial institutions


Civic Center in Ancient Athens (Greece), The Agora


Civic Center in Ancient Rome, The Forum


Gur, Iran. Founded by Ardeshir I ( 224-651 CE), the founder of the Sasanian Dynasty

Gur city is a circle-shaped city with diameter of 2 kilometres. The city is divided into 61 parts by 20 radial walls and 3 concentric circles. The core circle is 450 meters in diameter. Most probably important

buildings such as ceremonial, religious, and governmental departments were in this area, remains of two of which can still be seen in the area. One of them is the famous mihrab (altar) which is located just in the centre of the circle and the other is known as the seat monument which must have been a big Zoroastrian

temple.


Gur, Iran. Founded by Ardeshir I, the founder of the Sassanian Dynasty ( 224-651 CE).


City of Al- Mansoor, Baghdad (762)


City of Al- Mansoor, Baghdad (762)


Institutions of Spiritual and Temporal Authority

Residential

Commercial(assumed)

English Medieval Monastery

Devotion

Education


English Medieval Monastery


Venice: Institutions of Authority: St. Mark’s Church and the Palace of the Doge


Palmanova, Italy (1593)






Karslruhe, Prince’s Palace (1752-81), center of 32 radiating roads, Germany


Ince Madrassah (1260-65)

Devotion

Education


The Süleymaniye Mosque was built on the order of Sultan Suleyman (the Magnificent) and designed by Sina Pasha. Construction work began in 1550 and was finished in 1558.

Suleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey (1558)



Mec

ca



1

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6

15

5

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1413

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巴哈伊灵曦堂 The Baha’i Mashriqu’l-Adhkar


巴哈伊灵曦堂建筑群，包括礼拜堂及其周围的附属建筑The Baha’i Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, A Temple surrounded by “dependencies”


阿博都巴哈提到，灵曦堂建筑群应包括即将建立的附属建筑，包括：

•医院•救济穷人的药房•接待旅人的馆舍•教导孤儿的学校•老弱病残者之家 •高等研究的大学•及其他慈善建筑

所有这些都将向所有种族、民族和宗教的人开放。 The Baha’i Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, including a central House of Worship, or Temple, and the complex of buildings surrounding it, is to be at the heart of every Bahá’í community. The surrounding buildings, or “dependencies” are to include educational and humanitarian service institutions open to people of all religions: a hospital, drug dispensary for the poor, travelers’ hospice, school for orphans, home for the elderly, infirm and disabled, university for advanced studies, and other philanthropic buildings; in addition, community administration offices with a secretariat, treasury, archives, library, publishing office, assembly hall, and council chamber. The dependencies surrounding the Temple link worship to service to humanity; the prayers …. within the Temple are translated into deeds of compassion, care, and education in the world outside.


The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár Temples built so far, such as this one in New Delhi, India,

allow for expansion, for the addition of the dependencies. 灵曦堂用以扩建其附属建筑的土地


花园城市图，埃比尼泽 ·霍华德设计的花园城市


Ebenezer Howard and the Garden City

Schools are located along the Grand Avenue or in the surrounding countryside.Social and humanitarian institutions are located in the surrounding countryside.


Schools are located along the Grand Avenue.The Culturally-oriented Civic center includes:

Town Hall, Museum-Gallery, Hospital, Library, Theater, and Concert Hall


Senior High School

Elementary School

Junior High School

Plan by Jose Sert

A hierarchy of community centers organized around education


加内施纳格尔社区： 5.3 公顷， 1200户居民，人口总数 7000 人 /5.3 化顷＝ 1300 人 / 公顷

Temple

Kindergarten

Center for Elderly

Map of Ganeshnagar, Pune, drawn in 1989.


加内施纳格尔社区：当地居民历史先例 Historical Precedents

Qiang MinorityYang Liu Village (Reconstructed 2010) Sichuan

Research and Culture Center

School学校

研究与文化中心

四川羌族杨柳村（ 2010 重建）


Nan Mo Fang Residential Community, Beijing, 1995. Planning law requires community service buildings, particularly for education.

Kindergarten

Elementary School

Central Green Space


“Civic Buildings should be grouped together…….

‘It has too often been the case, in the history of cities, that their Cultural Institutes have been

postponed until adequate sites for them are no longer obtainable. Modern cities (British and

American especially) are thus discovering their needs when too late adequately to supply them at

great expense, and then in too scattered locations.’

His point is that it was vital to ensure the

proximity of these institutes, so as to prevent their mutual forgetfulness, which in time hardens

into exclusiveness, and thus to failure of usefulness all round: and just when duly intelligent and

understanding and sympathetic cooperation are most required. This condition of proximity, and for

mutual interaction, is fundamentally necessary.’

Helen Meller, Patrick Geddes, Social Evolutionist and City Planner, Routledge, 1990, p.280.

PROXIMITY of INSTITUTIONS

On January 7, 1913, Abdu’l-Baha visited the "Outlook Tower”, an educational institution in Edinburgh, Scotland, guided by the learned scholar, Prof Patrick Geddes. Prof. Geddes gave Abdu’l-Baha a rousing reception. The Master praised his energy and patience.

What is Synergy?

很多老年人选择在此居住，他们通过与孩子们交往找到了新的快乐。由此得享天伦之乐。Many elderly choose to live here; they find a new happiness through their association with the children.

The family circle is complete again.

举例：机构统筹：东京江户川区老人院与幼儿园相结合

An example of Institutional Synergy:Kotoen, Tokyo, Edogawa district combines a home for the elderly and a kindergarten.

一起锻炼



Exercise together

机构统筹“ 我们发现一旦把两种设施结合起来，儿童就开始学习如何照顾他人，比如陪老人聊天。我们从这个经验中看到，儿童正成长为更温暖、更仁爱的人。对于老人来说，我们意识到通过与儿童交往，他们正变得富有生气，其健康也在好转。看着这些老人，很多我原以为已经失去欢笑能力或思想表达能力的人，开始拥抱儿童，跟他们快乐地笑谈，让我们意识到两个有关怀心的人群建立令人感动的关系是多么重要。Maeda Takumi, Kotoen Director

INSTITUTIONAL SYNERGY

“We found that once the two facilities were joined together, the children began learning how to care for others by talking and being who her older co-residents. We could see that through this experience the children were growing into warm and compassionate human beings. For the elderly, we realized that through her association with the children,They were becoming more alive and their health was improving. Seeing these aged people, many of whom I thought had forgotten how to laugh or even express their thoughts, holding the children and happily talking with them, brought home how important a touching relationship can be between two caring people”Maeda Takumi, Kotoen Director



爷爷给孩子们讲述过去的美好时光Grandpa talks to the children about the good old days.

儿童为老奶奶画像The children draw a picture of Grandma.



The children help take care of Grandma



儿童帮助照顾老人

Civic Centers A Proposed Physical and Institutional Structure for the Social and Environmental Sustainability of Human Settlements2013 02 25

市民中心为了人类居住点的社会和环境的可持续发展而建造的实体结构和制度结构

2013 02 25

市民中心在组织小区、城镇、城市时提供如下功能：1. 提供机构框架，使服务型社会释放出来的能量得到和谐输导。2. 提供社会结构，使社会理想转化成行动。3. 提供社区建设途径，以实现城市发展。4. 提供与中国思想更相符的发展模式，例如：

a) 个人进步和社会进步依赖于生命中物质与精神双方面的动态的、共同发展（修身、齐家、治国、平天下）。b) 个人内在生命的发展需要通过与社会的互动、通过为社会服务来实现。c) 天国与尘世的和谐

5. 提供机会，使各机构之间实现一体性。

The use of Civic Centers to organize communities, towns, and cities provides: 1. The institutional framework to channel harmoniously, the energy released by a service-oriented society. 2. A structure for the translation of social ideals into action. 3. A community-building approach to urban development.4. Opportunities for synergistic relations between the assembled institutions.

.

市民中心 : 社会发展与社区建设CIVIC CENTERS: Social Development & Community-Building

Calculation of Convenient Community (POD) SizePOD= Pedestrian-oriented District

以步行为导向的便捷社区规模的计算

City of 300,000 people organized around Civic Centers and PODS

play

集中的商务区Concentrated CBD

30万人口的城市

城市级市民中心

市区级市民中心步行导向型市区的市民中心

垃圾处理

City of 300,000 people organized around Civic Centers and PODS

城市级市民中心

A conceptual plan of a city organized around Civic Centers

一个围绕着市民中心安排的城市的概念性规划

30万人口的城市

街区市民中心步行导向型市区的市民中心

街区

步行导向型市区

市区市民中心

Example: Seven New Districts, One Existing District (white) and a City-Level Civic Center

CBD

Managed Growth: An original town becomes a District of the new City; original villages become Communities within a new District

City Civic Center

DistrictCivic Center

Industry

Ind

us

try

Ind

us

try

Urban Forest

Original Town

1,2,3, and 4 are Original Villages

1

2

3

4

可控增长：一个现有的城镇发展成为一个新城市的社区；现在的村庄发展成为一个新市区里的小区。

1,2,3,4 原来都是村庄

例子：七个新市区、一个现有市区（白色）和一个城市级市民中心

Walking-Distance Community with Civic Center

步行距离的社区 + 市民中心

市民中心小区及

市民中心城市级

Walking-Distance Community with Mashriqu’l-Adkar

TownMashriqu’l-Adkar

Industry

Urban Forest



Industry

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