Sustainable transportation Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Sustainable transportation - Dissertation Example This paper shall discuss sustainable transportation, including its essential elements and applications in the current society where oil fuelled transport is the dominant form of transport. This portion of the research seeks to link the previous elements on sustainable transport in the Riyadh region, where the first part discussed scenarios, Delphi and the strength of combining them. This paper is being undertaken in order to establish the importance of sustainable transportation including its application in Riyadh and how improvements in its application can be implemented. Body Definition In general, it is easy enough to understand what sustainable means. If something can be sustained, it can also be maintained and it can therefore endure. At present, sustainability is about establishing a balance between economic, social needs, and the environment in the hope of securing healthy and equitable lifestyles and tools for future communities (Deakin, 2001). Sustainability also highlights the importance of environmental quality, economic wellness, and social equality. Economic and social development must not impact on the environment within the worldwide context, instead, such developments must improve it (Deakin, 2001). Sustainable economics ensure that there is a distinction between growth or increased quantity and development of increased development; in other words, the notion of quality over quantity. Under this context, sustainable transport refers to transportation which fulfils mobility needs while preserving and supporting human and environmental health, economic progress, as well as social justice not just for the current, but also for the future generation (Deakin, 2001). Planning for sustainable development seeks to achieve these three goals all at the same time in a just manner, ensuring access and mobility in the process (Deakin, 2001). The idea of sustainability came from various meetings and reports in the 1970s and 1980s where in 1972, at the UN Stoc kholm Conference on the Human Environment, the first international meeting was set discussing the impact of human activities on the environment and humans (Hopwood, et.al., 2005). The 1980 World Conservation Strategy set by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as well as the UN Environment Program and the World Wildlife Fund established the idea of environmental protection. In 1987, the UN supported Brundtland Commission published the report Our Common Future where they discussed concerns related to the environment and poverty in various parts of the globe (Hopwood, et.al., 2005). The report expressed that although economic development cannot be stopped, its course must be changed in order to fit environmental and ecological limitations. The report also gave credence to the term sustainable development which the commission defined as: development which supports current needs without endangering the ability of future generations to secure their own purposes and need s (Hopwood, et.al., 2005). Much attention on sustainability was seen at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro (Sustainability Report Program, 2000). This conference gathered senior officials from 179 countries; this conference also included the Earth Summit which is considered to be the largest ever gathering of world leaders (Sustainability R