Growth management as practised in the United States has demonstrated a decidedly pro-growth bias. The American management movement's historical focus on continued growth accommodation and its suggested form for future growth are portrayed as a backdrop to the consideration of the nature of a...

This article approaches sustainability study via geospatial analysis. By mapping two sustainability datasets (Ecological Footprint, 2003 and Environmental Sustainability Index, 2005) the article first assesses the current state of sustainable development world wide. The incompatible pictures...

This introductory article presents the general theme studied in this special issue of the IJSD, concerning the relations between proximity economics and sustainable environmental management at local level. Interest in this research theme has grown significantly in recent years because of the...

This paper presents an integrated assessment study into global change and sustainable development. A global, integrated assessment model called TARGETS, is used to develop a range of global futures. The model is intended to assess a number of the most important links between social, economic and...

This paper explores what a critical commentary on micro principles texts might look like, examining what is to be critiqued and how to do it.

This essay will consider the relevance of the social sciences - especially economics - to the foundations of sustainable development. Looming environmental crises have served as a prime motivating force for reevaluating fundamental principles. In particular, the concept of sustainability,...

The need for monitoring countries’ overall performance in Sustainable Development (SD) is widely recognized, but the methods for aggregating vast amounts of empirical data remain rather crude. This paper examines the so-called ‘benefit-of-the-doubt’ weighting method as a tool for...

Australian, state and territory regimes came under review for the Commission’s inquiry into native vegetation and biodiversity regulations. The Commission’s preliminary findings were released for public comment in December 2003. It found that the cost of farm regulations could be reduced if...

Current regulating policies are aimed at eliminating negative effect of market failures and at controlling macroeconomic stability, but they do not sufficiently facilitate long-term aims of human being. A method of soft economic regulation making use of endogenous nature of preferences is...

Sustainable development actions should create a link between the scale of policies, institutions and regulations and the local level of the action. A good knowledge of the local environment is a necessary prerequisite, but not always sufficient, to guarantee the success of the action. This is...