|
Workshop
on Sustainable Development Indicators
Chung-Li,
Taiwan, 17-19 November 2001
Sustainable
Development Indicators for Taiwan
Jiunn-Rong
Yeh1, Shang-Lien Lo2, Ling-Ling Lee3, Jin-Tan Liu4,
Juju Chin-Shou Wang5, and Shu-Li Huang6
4.
Social Pressure Indicators
4.1
Rationale for Social Sustainability
Sustainable
Social Indicators, as part of the whole evaluation system
including social, economic, ecological / environmental and
institutional categories, aims at measuring the social sustainability
of island Taiwan. By adopting the concept of "ecological
wings with social root", social category has reviewed
those major models for social sustainability and chosen
one (in bold) to be the rationale for sustainable social
indicators. They includes:
 |
Duncan's
POET (Population, Organization, Environment, and Technology),
Ecological complex; I (Impacts)=PAT (Population, Affluence,
Technology) (Erlich, 1991), I=PACT (Population, Affluence,
Consumption, Technology) (Durham, 1992);Extended Ecological
complex: E=f(PPSCT) (Environment, Population/Personality,
Social structure, Culture and Technology (Dunlap &
Catton ,1989; 1993); I=(V+C+M)A (Value, Consumption,
Market, Amplifiers) (Hempel, 1996); 3S model: E=S(living
space)*S(sink: waste repository)*S(source: supply depot)
(Schnaiberg and Gould , 1994);RS=F(O+W+P)*SM (Risky
Society, Organizational irresponsibility, Wealth distribution,
Personal reflexitivities, Simple modernization) (Beck,
1992; Holloway, 1999);EM=f(E+P+I)/SI: EM: Ecological
Modernization; E: Greenized economy; P: Preventive policy;
I: Causal relationship of impacts; SI: Super industrialization
as ecological switchover) (Spaargaren and Mol, 1992).
SO=F(P+S+A+T)/S¡"à1GSO: Social Pressure;
P: Population/Personality;
S: Space; A: Activities; T: Time;
SG: Social Grammars). |
Again,
these models could play a significant role in helping designing
ISDs, while they reflect western points of view. Thus, social
grammars underlying those indicators are crucial in analyzing
and presenting social characteristics of different nations
and societies. Identifying correct social grammars is an
important step closer to promoting "paradigm shift"
from unsustainable thoughts and actions to more sustainable
ones. In this sense, sustainable thoughts and actions in
the east should play much more important role to achieving
a sustainable world with her counterpart in the west.
4.2
Sustainability gaps
In turn, the East-West "sustainability gaps" checked
will then be addressed in terms of the conceptual and contextual
insights. Based on the checking of the sustainable window
above, sustainable gaps, in a qualitative perspective, are
to be identified in terms of how far from "genius sustainability"
(Maser, 1998; Rogers, 1998).
One
of the "sustainability gaps" would be the problem
engaged in system imbalance among environment, society and
economy (See Figure 4.1). In the first phase, each system
has its own indicators without any integration. For example,
GDP stands for economy sector and PSI for environment, while
social indicator movement works out for a better society.
First phase, thus, provided no integration among three sectors
and economy sector dominating over the two other sectors.
In the second phase, some integration appealed in terms
of quality of life (QOL). Indicators measuring QOL include
Borda Index of Quality of Life (Fred Gruen 1996), Calvert-Henderson
Quality-of-Life Indicators, CFI (Country Futures Indicators)
developed by Hazel Henderson, GPI (Genuine Progress Indicator),
HLE (Happy Life Expectancy) by Ruut Veenhoven, HSI (International
Human Suffering Index) by Population Action International
1992 and so on. Second phase involved anthrop-centered practices
without paying much attention to no-human aspects, so to
speak, environmental and no-human justice. In that stage,
attention on society was paid more than that in the first
phase. Still, environment earned less in the pie. Coming
to third phase, environment-based economy and society is
the central theme in achieving sustainable development that
would promote paradigm shift, from Social dominant Paradigm
to New Ecological Paradigm as Dunlap suggested. In this
stage, environment accounts for largest share and includes
social and economic parts.
3)
I + J = Paradigm: E > S > e
Figure
4.1 Concentric of Sustainability
Other
sustainability gaps include GNP's myth, particularly in
developing countries, signifying several new GNPs without
environmental concerns. They are: Gross National Pollution;
Garbage, Noise and Pollution; GNP=NG(Guns)+NP (Pollution).
(Wang, 1998). Similarly, the Index of Sustainable Economic
Welfare (ISEW), and a variation, the Genuine Progress Indicator
(GPI), has been calculated for a number of developed countries
including Austria, Australia, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands,
UK, and US. All tell a similar story: ISEW growth accompanies
GDP/capita growth until about the mid- 1970s when GDP continues
to grow but ISEW begins to decline. In addition, the "Happy
Life Expectancy" (HLE) indicator developed by Ruut
Veenhoven attempts to measure the degree to which a citizen
of a country can expect to live happily, using estimates
of longevity with survey data on subjective happiness. Surveys
have been carried out in 48 countries. Countries with a
high quality-of-life index do not necessarily have a high
happy life expectancy, for example Iceland, and vice versa
Bulgaria, which raises interesting questions about the relationship
between "quality of life" and "happiness",
and notions of progress generally.
4.3
Cultural Luggage as Amplify factors: Social Grammars
"Amplify
factors", such as island factor, city factor and Asian
factor, should be identified in justifying or adjusting
"sustainability gaps between the east and west. Integrating
concepts mainly from the island culture (Sachs, 1998), risky
society (Beck, 1992), cultural luggage and social grammars,
this section aims to identify spatial and socio-cultural
characteristics amplifying sustainability or unsustainability
in terms island factor, city factor, and human factors (Pugh,
2000; Beatley, 2000). For instance, does an Eastern father-son
axis or a western husband-and-wife axis make any differences
in amplifying the sustainability of a society being examined
(Milbraith, 1989; Schnaiberg, 1994; Martell, 1996)?
Amplifying factors embedded in long-lasting ways of life
have produced diversified "cultural luggage" having
impacts on thoughts and behavior of the different peoples
and nations. Two pieces of cultural luggage from Chinese
society can be addressed to displaying their potential impacts
on sustainability. First, father-son axis in the east, compared
with husband-wife axis in the west, put its emphasis on
continuing the family line by producing a male heir. In
a sense, female members are invisible in the family line
and their strength, particular motherhood-based eco-feminism,
cannot contribute to the environment among others. Besides,
male-centered patriarchy system and masculine orientation
has brought about destructive impact on the society including
war and ecological degradation. Second, vertical zoning
in the east, compared with horizontal zoning in the west,
has treated land use as intense as possible and further
created various forms of :friction of space. In other words,
vertical zoning has caused lots of disasters and nuisances,
such as fires, pollutions and so on and thus could be viewed
as "risk trigger". (Wang, 2001).
4.4
Development and Trend of Social Indicators
There are four versions of social indicators reflecting
the progress in measuring social sustainability based on
the model chosen and then the PSR system. First version
intended to cover three dimensions of the PSR system and
thus designed three categories including Environmental refugee,
social Footprint and Eco-Watch. Second version resumed to
the Pressure dimension of the PSR system to play a negative
part in addressing the cause of the state. Four categories
were proposed in order to display social pressure. They
are: Environmental alienation, friction of space, social
anomie and time compression. Third version, in particular,
put its emphasis on upgrading internal structural relationships
among categories and indicators. For examples, degree of
environmental alienation relies on physical and psychological
aspects, while degree of friction of space accounts for
land, seashore, hilly areas. Fourth version focused on dealing
with iceberg of indicator in addition to presenting headline
indicator.
Table
4.1 Trend of Social sustainability (1988-1998)
| Category
|
Weight
|
Score
|
Trend
|
| Environmental
AlienationFriction of spaceSocial anomie Time compression
|
0.362
0.163
0.326
0.148
|
83.3
75
66.7
75
|
↓
↓
↓
↓
|
| Social
pressure |
1.00
|
75.2
|
Against
sustainability |
4.5
Sustainability linkage: Deep sustainability Theory
"Sustainability
linkage" is presented to integrate the East-West disparities
on indicators and then provide the social mechanisms to
"empower" sustainable indicators and to approach
a sustainable society. For better promoting East-West dialogue,
the East side should provide its points of view toward a
sustainable whole world, instead of a half world mainly
based on the Western views. Thus, a "Dish Long Theory"
or "Deep sustainability Theory" is presented for
positive sustainability linkage through this project.
The
symbol, Dish Long, shown in Figure 4.2 is known to be one
of the eight treasures or auspicious in Chinese society
for years. Also, it could be the oldest ecological symbol
in Chinese context. Their intertwined relationships among
intestines (in Chinese) symbolize ecosystem or one-world
ethics. A proposed theory could be developed from the symbol
based on two dimensions, space and time. Dish signifies
space and Long represents time. "Time and space compression"
has brought about a lot of non-sustainable states over time.
Amenity, a western concept, emphasizes a sustainable state
of right time and right space, has coined with concept of
Feng shui in the east. Other linkages include:
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Amenity map or sustainability Map for Island Taiwan
and Urban Taiwan (social presentation); |
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Local initiatives for sustainability indicators (social
empowerment); |
Figure
4.2 Symbol of Dish Long (Sustainable Base)
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