Sustainability and the post-modern city: some guidelines for urban planning and transport practice in an age of uncertainty

Summary Sustainability is one of the key concepts that is associated with post-modernism. The old world with its modernist assumptions was based on increasing consumption of fossil fuels and other resources, reducing the natural and the diverse to simple, American-style mass production, with a strong state-based, large-scale approach to providing infrastructure. That old way no longer works but no way forward is obviously apparent. This paper looks at how the uncertainties produced by post-modernism can be put to advantage in providing a more sustainable postmodern city. It is suggested that the key principles are recognizing values, maximizing diversity and crossing boundaries. These are developed into some guidelines for urban planning and transport practice.This paper was delivered at the Global Forum '94 Academic Conference, Manchester, UK.