The True Reality of Sustainability

By Eric Rodriguez

A common misconception about sustainability is that it relates primarily to environmental issues. When I first interviewed to participate in the joint ASU/City University of Hong Kong Urban Sustainability Study, I already understood that environmental concerns are but one dimension of the study of sustainability. I knew that food and water supplies, medical needs and land use are other challenges that require sustainable solutions. Despite that understanding, when I arrived in Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, the true reality of sustainability hit me right in the face.

With so many people packed into a small area, it became apparent to me very quickly how much I took personal space for granted. I thought about how I and many of us live, particularly in the western United States, with large houses on big plots of land. Hong Kong has little available land, so the city has been built vertically, with thousands of people living in one 70 story high-rise apartment tower.

The scarcity of land allows few opportunities for agricultural endeavors, so Hong Kong must import most of its food. Despite having one of the most efficient public transportation systems in the world, traffic and congestion are problems that will only compound as Hong Kong’s population grows. Population growth along with development threaten Hong Kong’s dynamic but fragile ecosystem.

Returning to Arizona, the polar opposite of Hong Kong on the sustainability spectrum, I was now aware that we, in the United States (and in many parts of the world) have been unintentionally fooling ourselves. We continue to consume with reckless abandon because we live with the illusion that there is an infinite supply of resources and goods to consume. My experience in Hong Kong gave me the opportunity to exist briefly in a world that will soon be a reality in many parts of the world. It was a rude awakening to just how finite our resources are, and what my world may look like very soon.

While land currently is in not nearly as short supply in the U.S. as it is in Hong Kong, the growing global population will shortly impact how we manage land use and many other resources. While in Hong Kong, our class was divided into groups that focused on sustainable solutions in the areas of transportation, conservation/biodiversity, food security, land use and housing.

As a member of the transportation group, my assignment was to develop a solution to sustain efficient and affordable public transportation for Hong Kong. The government of Hong Kong already has a comprehensive plan in place to expand its public transportation network. But with an anticipated population growth of one million people over the next two decades, it is unlikely that the current plan will sufficiently alleviate the pressure on the already over-burdened MTR rail system, which is the backbone of Hong Kong’s public transportation system.

One of our faculty advisors was Professor Michelle Ma, who is an expert in transportation. She suggested that my group consider addressing the problem of demand, rather than supply, as it pertains to transportation. That suggestion was my “awakening” on how to truly address the problem of sustainability.

As an MPA student studying public policy and administration, much of my program focused on how government and non-governmental entities manage public resources. For too long it seems, policies have focused too much on ways to extend and increase supply, and on finding equitable ways to distribute goods and resources on a growing public with increasingly disparate needs. Therefore, I returned from Hong Kong with the knowledge that sustainable solutions and policies must focus on addressing demand and consumption, whether it concerns land, food, water, transportation or any other good or resource. This approach teeters between asking and likely requiring the public to change their consumption habits, which makes the political implications sobering, to say the least.

I also came back with a greater understanding of how complex and interrelated sustainable challenges are. Far beyond the political concepts of “winners and losers” that are often associated with public policy, many diverse political actors can and will be affected by a policy solution in a seemingly isolated issue. Those same actors can also influence policy development and implementation. My group’s transportation solution, for example, ultimately entailed land use, displacement of indigenous habitations, education, art, and bicycling, as well as the promise of economic development. This plethora of policy areas led me to another conclusion: if sustainable policy solutions are to invite political backlash (which they surely will), then economic development must be a primary driver to mitigate that backlash.

The urban sustainability study in Hong Kong was an amazing, life-changing experience. One of those experiences that change the course of one’s life. Besides meeting some amazing colleagues, making new friends and participating in amazing field trips and group experiences, I came back with a greater appreciation for how high the stakes are in developing sustainable solutions, not just in Hong Kong, but in the world.

In conclusion, the last and possibly most important thing that I came back from Hong Kong with is a way to properly articulate just exactly what sustainability is so that I can help mobilize others to take action and become involved in developing solutions. Sustainability for me, however, remains something that I cannot quite define. Rather, the study of sustainability is a question. That question is: As the population grows and occupies more land, consumes more energy, food, water and resources, all of which are already becoming scarce; as new health concerns arise as quickly as common illness are eradicated; as ecosystems disappear and species become extinct, how will we sustain our way of life for ourselves and our children, and what do we have to change now to ensure that we endure?