The Urban Land Institute was founded in 1936. They operate in over 95 countries and have over 40,000 members. The institute is mainly focused on researching land use trends and proposing solutions based on their research. They are well respected and utilized around the world for their ground breaking research. According to their website they document best practices and publish books to impart cumulative knowledge to help the development community continuously improve its performance [1]. This means they are committed to being on the forefront of the developing world. Sustainable development is the future, in order for it to be taken seriously an organization like this must believe in pursuing it and work to achieve it. Sustainable development means taking sustainability (positively impacting society, the environment, and the economy all at the same time) and merging it with development (building stuff for us); specifically, building stuff for us that positively impacts society, the environment, and the economy. This is a very difficult way to develop and will take a combined effort of a bunch of experts to make it a reality.MISSION
The Urban Land Institute’s mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide [1]. Having a mission that directly mentions sustainability demonstrates that this research institute is working hard for our future. It will take a combined effort of experts to achieve sustainable development and thankfully The Urban Land Institute is stepping into that role to push development closer to being more sustainable.
OBJECTIVES
Their objectives focus on making their institute more effective and efficient. In the Strategic Directions section of their website they mention increasing effectiveness locally, creating a strong network of communication, improving coordination, reorganizing staff to increase efficiency, and devising a more enabling leadership structure [1]. These goals are about gaining more from what they already have. These goals will improve their efficiency so they can harness their unique composition and generate solutions with increased speed. Making goals about doing more with what they have will help them to research more efficiently and bring about change in urban development faster. Another goal is to accelerate its global expansion. The more prolific the institute is the more effective they will be at promoting world-wide sustainable development. All of their goals work together to produce a better research institute so they will still be on the forefront of the development community in the future.
WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO HELP PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?
Currently the Urban Land Institute is working toward educating city leaders. They are holding forums on sustainable development and on the implementation of this type of development. In one of these forums that will be held in Atlanta on September 28th they will teach about the context of sustainability at the community level, provide policy tools, present business case studies aimed at identifying local sustainable projects that can work in Atlanta, and inform the city leaders on the best practices of sustainable communities [2]. These forums and conferences get the message across to the decision makers. Informing a leader that if they continue to do the same thing they are doing now, their city will not last is a powerful message. But it is a necessary one in order to promote change. After the need for change is established, the Urban Land Institute uses their research and expertise to provide effective solutions.
This video is a forum that was held in 2008 [3]. It demonstrates the passion and drive that the Urban Land Institute is employing to reach city leaders. Many issues are brought up about the tremendous lack of safety and sustainability in our current city structures. A point that was raised was that we, as a society, are “coasting” on these structures. That is not sustainable.
Sustainable development is a vision. Visions need leaders to promote them into the minds of others and leaders need support in order to make those visions a reality. The Urban Land Institute has taken the role of one of the leaders of sustainable development, but they still need support in order to make their vision a reality. Support must come from the people. Their vision is a global one, but also a local one. Don’t be one of the people who rely on others to support their vision. We will never achieve true sustainable development until it becomes our vision, not just theirs.
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