Sustainability Assessment: exploring equity in strategic land use decisions

Sustainability Assessment: exploring equity in strategic land use decisions In the sustainability debate, a key role is played by the consideration of equity in the distribution of the expected effects of decisions on present and future generations. However, the concept of equity can be shaped in several, and very different, ways, given the presence in the literature of divergent positions on how the various dimensions of equity should be interpreted. This paper explores this multi-faced concept by analysing how different approaches to equity may be relevant in implementing sustainability-led assessment in land use decisions. A framework for identifying the different implications related to the use of alternative values and perceptions on equity is proposed, drawing on the literature in different fields, including environmental justice, resilience thinking, and ecological economics. Examples of the applications of the framework, and the implication for land use decisions, are presented and discussed. Finally, some conclusions are drawn on how to include in a more comprehensive way intra- and inter- generational equity considerations to support decision-making processes in land use planning.