SAJC H2 Geography Cluster 1 Lecture 1 (Sustainable Development; Definition and its Tenets)

St Andrew’s Junior College H2 Cluster 1: Development, Economy and Environment (Topic 1.1) H2_Cluster 1_Lecture 1_2024/pg 1 Lecture 1 Sustainable Development (I): Definition and its Tenets KEY QUESTION: What is sustainable development? With the completion of this lecture, attached readings and tutorial, you should be able to understand: - the concept of sustainable development, as defined in “Our Common Future” - the interdependence between economic, social and environmental dimensions - the possible trade-offs between economic, social and environmental dimensions - the limits on ability to meet present and future needs Lecture Outline 1.1 Introduction: The evolving meaning of ‘development’ (a) Economic Growth (b) Development (c) Sustainable Development 1.2 Sustainable Development: Definition and its underlying key tenets 1.2.1 The Brundtland Report – “Our Common Future” (a) The concept of ‘needs’ (b) The idea of ‘limitations’ 1.2.2 The Interdependent Dimensions of Sustainable Development 1.3 Summary Readings: (1) The Transboundary Haze in Southeast Asia (2) Chek Jawa The 2019 URA Masterplan, earmarked the 85-ha Clementi Forest for residential development. The forest is known to have a wide variety of flora and fauna, some of which are rare or threatened species. National Development Minister Desmond Lee explained that “after weighing the alternatives and trade -offs, there will be areas that we cannot avoid developing.” There are however no immediate plans to do so now for this forest. What are your views? Should the forest be conserved? Or perhaps, be cleared to make space for your housing in future?

St Andrew’s Junior College H2 Cluster 1: Development, Economy and Environment (Topic 1.1) H2_Cluster 1_Lecture 1_2024/pg 2 1.1 Introduction: The evolving meaning of ‘development’ • In general usage, ‘development’ refers to ‘a process of change operating over time’. Traditionally, in the study of development of countries, this would be synonymous with their economic growth (see Section 10.1a below), and is seen as the process by which countries advance and become richer. But, growth in average income alone does not guarantee that the full range of human needs and aspirations will be satisfied. In fact, more recent awareness of that the needs of future generations should also be taken into considerations have further challenged the notion of ‘development’. • Conceptions of what ‘development’ means have therefore evolved over time. In this section, we see how the concept of sustainable development (see Section 10.1c) builds upon, and extends, two other key concepts – economic growth and development (see Section 10.1b) – both of which are still widely used, and in fact, sometimes confused. Just as the concept of development was devised to overcome the limitations of economic growth, so the emergence of sustainable development reflects a similar frustration w