Ecological worldview perspective on urban sustainability

Abstract

Many commentators suggests that in order to effect meaningful transformation of global development pathways, it is necessary to change the worldview that underlies the current development paradigm to a view that sees the world as a complex living system, i.e. an ecological worldview. This paper briefly outlines the key characteristics of this alternative, ecological worldview as it is emerging from the interactions between a wide range of knowledge sources, in order to develop a theoretical basis for a different approach to sustainability. It concludes by suggesting a notional point of departure to how this ecological worldview interpretation of sustainability would influence the understanding of and approaches to urban sustainability.