Redefining ‘sustainability’

A systematic approach for defining and assessing ‘sustainability’ and ‘social sustainability’

Bibliographic Data

ID20142223
AuthorsKarl De Fine Licht (0000-0001-6972-4814, Science, Technology and Society Chalmers University of Technology Gothenburg Sweden, corresponding author), Anna Folland (0000-0002-7350-4010, Department of Philosophy Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden)
Year2025
Volume91
Issue1
Pages45-59
Publication date2025-02-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTheoria (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0040-5825 • E-ISSN: 1755-2567
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/theo.12568
OpenAlexW4403488921
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited25

In recent years, the pursuit of social sustainability has intensified, especially in urban development. This has resulted in numerous definitions of ‘social sustainability’ from stakeholders including researchers, non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) and both private and public sector entities. These definitions vary widely, encompassing values such as well‐being, good governance, equality, trust, diversity, and accessibility. Despite extensive contributions, a universally accepted definition remains elusive, indicating the need for further conceptual work. The primary issue is the lack of explicit criteria for adequacy, leading to a stalemate in the literature. To address this issue, de Fine Licht and Folland, in 2019, proposed a framework with nine conditions of adequacy for evaluating definitions. Building on this framework, our paper systematically analyses and critiques existing definitions and proposes new, formal definitions for both ‘sustainability’ and ‘social sustainability’. Our approach identifies central challenges in existing definitions, demonstrates their inadequacy and presents an enhanced formal definition that avoids these pitfalls. Although our definitions do not specify particular values, they offer substantial results relevant to the sustainability discourse. The novelty of our work lies in our formal definition, engagement with the conditions of adequacy and systematic critique of existing definitions

Biology · Economics · Environmental ethics · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Geography · Social sustainability · Sociology · Sustainability · Sustainability organizations · Sustainability science · Ecology · Philosophy · Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy

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