Contents


**Chapter 7 99** An Empirical Study on Environmental Sustainability in Melaka City *by Noor Mohammad*

Preface

As a simple interpretation, sustainability can be described as either a process or a state that can be maintained at a certain level for as long as it is wanted. The term is associated with that proposed by the Bruntland Commission as "Sustainable Development," which is defined as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Thus, "sustainability" is the study of how natural systems function, remain diverse, and produce everything they need for the ecology to remain in balance. However, in addition to natural resources, we also need social and economic resources; sustainability is not just environmentalism. Maintaining sustainability in any economic system is very important, and even more so in the context of developing countries. This book presents some case studies and methodological issues with a focus on developing countries. Part 1 includes studies on conceptual frameworks related to sustainability as well as methodologies relevant to its investigation. Part 2 includes case studies dealing with sustainability applications. Chapter 1 is a description of the people-centered social totality approach, which was applied to low-income housing policy. Since sustainability has three pillars (economic, social, and environmental), use of a multi-criteria decision-making tool is very appropriate. Chapter 2 examines such a tool. Chapter 3 presents an integration of the water-food-energy nexus, since natural resources are used for more than one purpose in an economic system requiring their integration. Chapter 4 examines the use of natural resources in rural areas, using herbicides as a case study. Part 2 begins with Chapter 5, which describes the issue of governance. Chapter 6 describes some of the activities that might lead to sustainability, and finally, Chapter 7 provides a description of sustainability status. The editor hopes that contributions would be of some interest not only for professional in developing

> **Dr. Surendra N. Kulshreshtha** University of Saskatchewan,

> > Saskatoon, Canada

College of Agriculture and Bioresources,

Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics,

countries but also in developed countries.
