Participation and sustainable development

This review is drawn from (Hasan, Sacha. 2012, Civil Society Participation in Urban Development in Syria)

Sustainable development has become a ‘must present’ concept in contemporary planning theory, development studies and international development policy and practice. Development literature has viewed sustainable development to have three dimensions - social, environmental and economic (Campbell, 2003). The social dimension of the concept looks at social justice, economic opportunity, income equality and the provision of services among different social groups. It further concerns levels of social inclusion and exclusion as indicators of sustainable development. The economic dimension looks at issues of production, consumption distribution and innovation with the competitive market. Moreover, this dimension relates to access to adequate income and issues of poverty, while the environmental dimension focuses on natural resources, waste management and possible threats to nature in general (Campbell, 2003 pp. 437-438).

Another dimension has been added to the concept and this concerns the political area in society. This includes issues of administration and institutional capacity, “arguing that sustainability is reflected by the levels an organization is capable to function over the long term, providing services or assuming tasks that lie within its responsibility” (Weber, 2007 p. 37, drawing from Romaya, et al., 2002 p. 4 and Edén, et al., 2000 pp. 260-261). The political dimension further includes issues of procedural equity, participation and public engagement in decision-making processes, arguing that participatory development leads to more sustainable outcomes (Weber, 2007, drawing from Kothari, 2001 and Rydin, 2003 p. 263). In this, and according to Folger et al (1995), “for a society to function effectively, it must keep its membership, engage in efficient and effective production, and sustain the well-being of its members”.

In agreement with this, it is recognised by the international development policies that “good urban governance is characterized by the interdependent principles of sustainability, equity, efficiency, transparency and accountability, security, civic engagement and citizenship” (UN-HABITAT, 2008). Thus, the UN emphasises that “participation is a fundamental prerequisite of sustainable development” (UN, 2011c). Furthermore, UN development experts agree that a non-transparent, closed style of policy making “could threaten the consolidation of the new democracies of the developing world”. In contrast, “a more inclusionary approach involving, at a minimum, consultation with affected groups was thought to affect the sustainability of policies and improve the prospects for their design and implementation” (Bräutigam, 2004 p. 4).