Sustainable Growth?
Transition Towns is a grass roots movement looking to provide answers to the issues of peak oil. Its initial proposals have many things to commend including the focus on rebuilding community and localised food sources as proposed on our Creekside Arcade project. Although I agree with parts of the model, I'm not sure that the anti-growth idea as discussed in the video is realistic to the human psyche which is pre-programmed through curiosity to develop, grow and evolve. Maybe economic growth needs to be redefined around carbon reduction and not GDP? Quality over quantity?
The definition of Happiness is wanting what you've got, not getting what you want, but where is the balance to be struck between unsustainable growth and negative human inertia, as seen in the Dark Ages, in the quest for happiness and sustainability? Could growth and profit be encouraged but redistributed to benefit communities? And how does localism factor into the global network? Big ideas that will effect urban design and which I hope to develop at the RSA's Profit with Purpose working group this week.
