Sustainable development is a burgeoning concept, a definition for which is currently being debated and discussed, and which varies from one organization or entity to the next. What does Sustainable Development really mean? 

Our current model of development seems practical at the surface, but when we begin to peel back the layers that make up our infrastructure, it becomes clear that our existing systems are not founded on a logical framework. Why would we design systems that were not sustainable in the first place? Why would we design systems to support our society that in turn require constant maintenance and vast resources to operate?

There is no doubt that the existing framework is a highly complex web of people, industries, ecosystems, resources, processes, and more. Furthermore it has and will continue to evolve and change over time. Perhaps a partial driver of this complex arrangement is the societal influence and demand from the public or community members, indirectly driving how our infrastructure systems should be designed and operated. Economics is another driver, based on consumerism, and again linked to people and their demands or requirements. 

It is difficult to define sustainable development, almost impossible to encapsulate all of the processes involved in our infrastructure and society in order to present a packaged concept. But trying to define it for generic utilization is, in a sense, a distraction from the real solutions that are needed for our society and surrounding environment. 

Sustainable development could be used interchangeably with responsible development or appropriate development. Because, what will sustain resources for a future generation is also the responsible and appropriate thing to do in the present. It comes down to intentional design.

At Regenerative Earth Design, our focus is on the development of sustainable infrastructure and we even take that a step further to develop regenerative infrastructure. This is public infrastructure that will integrate with a given site ecology and revitalize the degraded environment all while increasing the resiliency of our local communities.