Societal premises for sustainable development in large southern cities

This article examines considerations related to the societal premises of a 'sustainable city' in the context of large southern cities. The article also reviews some alternative concepts to 'sustainable city' such as 'eco-city' and 'ecological city' and examines their suitability in the South. The article proposes that the greatest challenge of environmental urban development in the South is not necessarily the lack of environmental services and infrastructure, but the societal structures reproducing unequal distribution and malfunctioning of these services. The authors' empirical evidence and personal experience from Lagos, New Delhi, Cairo and Manila is presented to elaborate the argument. The article calls for locally defined 'sustainable city' models that consider local societal and cultural resources and constraints along with environmental improvements. In this process, sustainability is not regarded as a goal, but as a criterion for motivated and transparent administration as well as efficient, flexible and equal service provision and resource allocation.