**3. Sustainability: a new revolutionary definition**

Recalling the meaning of space highlights the necessity to underline the changing characteristics of space in social and physical aspects. To exemplify this abstract concept, space representation helps clarify this subject. Capturing a physical presentation of space, such as the city, seamlessly outlines how space is a lively non-static mass, rather a dynamic organism. The philosophical interpretation of the city concept asserts the need to understand the relationships carried out within this "closed container" before analyzing its components, and to accept that "the city" is not merely a container. Another pertinent explanation introduces the city as a place where there is still a recognizable concentrated, teeming, dynamic expression of urbanism. It is a place that becomes very enjoyable for its inhabitants and lots of visitors every year [11]. In theory, the fundamental meaning of space or place is a relative norm, which is highly correlated to social and cultural concepts; it depends on the cognitive images of a place

The interest in place and space has significantly grown during the last century; it is reflected by the development of the so-called new regional geography [12]. In consequence, presentations of space and the development of place related themes became far sighted during the 1980s and repeated invocations about spatial perspectives within the geographical imagination. The dialectic mode of thinking facilitates understanding the paradoxical nature of space. The corner stone of dialectics attempts to philosophize what the world is without detaching its components for the purpose of analysis and presentation [13]. Dialectical reflections commonly address the question of change regarding various spatial questions: interrelationships, interconnections and interactions, processes, activities, flows, relations, and eventually contradiction. Accordingly, dialecticians often conceptualize "dynamism" as the basic framework to all matter and thus "stability" is an irrelevant status that necessitates explanation.

Philosopher Sir Isaac Newton elaborated that space is absolute, proper to itself, and independent of the objects it contains. According to the dialectical mode of argumentation, the complex composition of space—notably spatial relations, power, politics, productions, and phenomena—is conceived just as a single entity, that is to say with the quality of wholeness. Wholeness (totality) could be demonstrated as "*the way the whole is present through the internal relations of each of its parts*" [14]. Although it is not possible to comprehend multiple interrelated elements of a whole without understanding how the elements relate to each other within this whole, totality is signified in its wholeness as: *"a need to look on the world as an undivided whole"* [15]. However, other philosophical approaches oppose dialectical thinking and contrast obviously with the notions of wholeness, considering separate objects by splitting thoughts and problems into parts and in rearranging these in their rational order. This mode of argumentation represents the Cartesian method, which is a scientific philosophy that explores the reality via mechanical and mathematical representations, and also perceived to be merely as the "method of doubt" [16]. From this regard, space could be perceived as being autonomous or a passive empty container independent of physical characteristics [17]. Wholeness, as such, amounts to nothing more than the sum of the parts. Conversely, dialecticians reject this approach of detaching the diverse features of reality. Instead, the dialectical philosophy confirms the unity of knowledge and the total character of reality. Space, there-

Needless to say, the border line between the total and the part is undetectable. Not only is the concrete character of space and place in terms of their real ontological status, therefore,

conceived by the manifold experiences and backgrounds of people.

220 Land Use - Assessing the Past, Envisioning the Future

fore, in this logic is a unity containing within itself different aspects.

Rethinking the traditional definition of sustainability, especially during the recurrent global and regional challenges—notably massive immigration, urban shrinkage, dissolving heritage, climate change, poverty, and injustice, etc.—has become more critical and progressively urgent. Spatial development could be addressed as a normative, but challenging, response to community and human needs. However, troubling debates have been gaining ground and therefore bringing attention to the multidimensional consequences presented during historical development of modern society. The Industrial Revolution witnessed rapid transformation in both the norms of knowledge and community urban growth patterns. Unfortunately, the fast mode of production and unregulated urban growth resulted, in many cases, in social degradation, poor living conditions, and environmental concerns [19]. Reconsidering the norms of urban growth and the models of development thus became an urgent issue. Consequently, the science of sustainability has shown up introducing significant challenges for planners and policy makers as well. Sustainable development is, therefore, a major concern with reference to the crucial need to protect the global environment while attaining a better life for people. The concept of sustainability continues to attract more attention; thus, sustainable development is presented in more than two hundred definitions, while featured on more than 8 million web pages and the number keeps rising [20].

Sustainable development is thoroughly tied to the environmental concerns that continue to introduce changes in knowledge and the sciences. The world has changed rapidly due to the conception of sustainability; however, most of the challenges that gave impulse to the introduction of the concept have not yet been solved. On contrary, the irreversible loss of natural resources, rapid depletion of certain energy resources, troubling climate change, and social injustices are observed. Originally, the interest about sustainability intensified in the 1980s. In 1987, the classical definition of sustainable development was drafted in "Brundtland Report - Our Common Future" as the paths of human progress that meet the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The Brundtland Report incorporated components of sustainability within the economic and political context of international development, as well as combining ethical norms of welfare, democracy, and environment [21]. Sustainability science has revealed advanced development over the last decade [22]. It explores long-term relationships and implications between large-scale socioeconomic and ecologic systems, the complex restructuring processes lead to degradation of these systems, and probable associated risks to human well-being. Hence, sustainability probes the natural and social systems, questioning their interactions, most notably achieving needs' balance of present and future generations while improving well fare and preserving the planet life support systems.

The interdisciplinary mode of thinking has recently succeeded in linking the traditionally separate intellectual fields of critical social theory and environmental science. However, responses to meet the increasing demands of a growing population in an interconnected but unequal world have undermined the earth's essential life-support systems. Sustainability is therefore a concept that provides new visions for the national and international development and formulates new solutions for the recurrent socioeconomic needs. Nevertheless, the world's present development path is not sustainable [20]. The ecological transformations accompanied by the development processes are considered chief global challenge along with the intense alterations underway in socioeconomic and cultural life. Key indications of such consequences are global climate warming, urban sprawls, degradation of biological diversity, deprivation and increase in poverty levels, and the excessive exploitation of resources with unmatched rates of pollution [23]. In this context, the current concept of sustainability is vulnerable to the same criticism of the vague idealism proffered against comprehensive planning [24].

The "classical" definition of sustainability, in that context, could be conceived as a guiding tool that connects the "present" of a spatially referenced activity into a "future" projected and thus desired, status. Still, classical sustainability does not cover *the past*, in particular, within its temporal analysis. Moreover, it could be debated that the aforementioned classical definitions for sustainability in both, be it theory-driven or action-driven directions, neither integrate nor incorporate the cultural and historical aspects of space and place within the framework of the development process. Thus, it is also arguable that adopting the "classical" norms of sustainability disregard the cultural identity and historical aspects and could, therefore, lead toward a critical cultural transformation, degradation, or even evanescence and disappearance.

to ensure balanced spatial sustainability creates a "critical conflictual zone" centered in the core of the orbit of sustainability, the SEEC. The proposed 4DSS model aspires to offer a fascinating, holistic way of evading these conflicts highlighting the time-factor and the gravity

**Figure 1.** The four-dimensional spatial sustainability (4DSS) model presenting the critical orbit of sustainability (SEEC)

Planning, Power, and Politics (3P): Critical Review of the Hidden Role of Spatial Planning…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.78779

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In order to understand the notion of spatial planning, it would be useful to begin by understanding a definition of this term. A brief review of the literature pertaining to "planning" in terms of physical development would immediately reveal that the word has a wide variety of meanings. Gradually, the terms "urban and regional planning" or "town and country planning" and "city planning" as they are called in the UK and North America, respectively, are ideally represented by the term spatial planning. Spatial planning is not a static notion that presents a single concept, procedure, or tool; it is rather a well-structured mix of all that must be comprehensively functioned if desirable outcomes are to be achieved [25]. From this regard, the perception of spatial planning indicates the necessity for integrating several spatial sectorial policies in order to create positive synergies. The emerging compound nouns of planning have attracted academics to explore the meanings and semantics of those flexible names. For instance, the terms "land use planning," "regional

scale, but they cannot be resolved so simply.

where tension zone located at center [author].

**4. Spatial planning**

To overcome the existing challenge and to recover that gap in the classical conception of sustainability, it is necessary to put forward a revolutionary model for spatial sustainability that not only conceives sustainability as a guidance tool aiming at steering the development wheel toward environmental protection, economic growth, and social equity but also at integrating the cultural-historical factors in a more holistic temporal analysis as well. In other words, this requires shifting the "classical sustainability" concept into a more comprehensive model, namely, the "four-dimensional" spatial sustainability (4DSS) presented in **Figure 1**. This adds a new comprehensive time-based dimension allowing the integration of the past of a referenced space by evaluating its cultural and historical identity and to assess the consequential cause-effect impacts of the projected, future development. Furthermore, considering the cultural-historic dimension within the development process enhances the integration toward a well-balanced time scale focusing on understanding a past-present trajectory before linking it into the future. Hence, the 4DSS considers the following four substantial dimensions for investigation and integration—social, environmental, economic, and cultural-historic—forming together the SEEC orbit of sustainability, centered by gravity zone of tension. In practice, considering the dynamic interactions while integrating these four-dimensional perspectives Planning, Power, and Politics (3P): Critical Review of the Hidden Role of Spatial Planning… http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.78779 223

**Figure 1.** The four-dimensional spatial sustainability (4DSS) model presenting the critical orbit of sustainability (SEEC) where tension zone located at center [author].

to ensure balanced spatial sustainability creates a "critical conflictual zone" centered in the core of the orbit of sustainability, the SEEC. The proposed 4DSS model aspires to offer a fascinating, holistic way of evading these conflicts highlighting the time-factor and the gravity scale, but they cannot be resolved so simply.
