The Sustainable City: Between Discourse and Representation

Abstract

Urban development over the coming decades will be decisive and will play a crucial role in how cities are produced, given that demographic concentration is increasing in urban areas, particularly in medium‑sized cities. The city’s appeal lies in its ability to offer economic and social opportunities to its inhabitants. However, the risk of urban disruption cannot be dismissed in the face of tensions generated by massive urbanization, the emergence of precarious neighborhoods, illegal land occupations, and unchecked urban sprawl.​  What consequences might this have for policymakers involved in territorial governance? Is it not often said that the twenty‑first century will be the century of cities? But what kind of cities are we talking about? Sustainable cities? And will they be cities made for people? The way cities have been approached is now obsolete and overtaken by the actual dynamics of urban production. Planning timelines have been linear, whereas growth has occurred and continues to occur in an exponential manner, and it is in this mismatch that the problem lies. Moreover, these approaches have been quantitative rather than qualitative, which has led to dehumanized urban spaces. ​ From 1972 to 2023, across various world capitals, what has been the real contribution of Agenda 21, and what will that of 2030 be in terms of sustainable development? Has adding the adjective “sustainable” to “city” and “development” truly addressed the ills of the city, or is it merely a matter of words that mask the underlying problems facing the very concept of sustainability?