Sustainable development (Brundtland)

What it is

In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by the Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, published its report Our Common Future for the United Nations. It defined sustainable development as development that 'meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. The report linked environmental protection, economic growth and social equity into a single agenda. Its definition was widely adopted and helped set the stage for the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

Why it matters

It gave planning a central modern goal and supplied the vocabulary behind compact, transit-oriented and ecological urbanism that seeks to reconcile growth with environmental limits.

Plans it shaped

• Portland UGB + Metro 2040 (1979/1995)
• IBA Emscher Park (Ruhr) (1989–1999)
• Turin Lingotto & Spina 3/4 Redevelopment (1990s–)
• Hammarby Sjöstad (Stockholm) (1990s)
• Tübingen Südstadt/Loretto (1990s–)
• Frankfurt Green Belt (1991)
• VINEX (1991)
• Vitoria-Gasteiz Green Belt (1993)
• Freiburg Vauban (1993–)
• Vancouver Livable Region Strategic Plan (1996)
• Third Regional Plan for New York (1996)
• Munich Perspective Munich (1998/2013)