Sustainable urban development: Definition and reasons for a research programme

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development is steadily approaching recognition, if not full disciplinary autonomy, becoming the focus of new theoretical and normative reflection. However, the same cannot be said of a more specific field of application of that same concept-the urban environment. In our opinion, this has been hindered until recently by some unresolved problems-of definition, methodology and epistemology-intrinsic in the more general concept, and also by some specificities of the urban case which have not been sufficiently borne in mind.