Eco-restructuring: Implications for sustainable development (UNU, 1998, 417 pages): Part II: Restructuring sectors and the sectoral balance of the economy: 10. The restructuring of tropical land-use systems: Notes

Eco-restructuring: Implications for sustainable development (UNU, 1998, 417 pages)

Part II: Restructuring sectors and the sectoral balance of the economy

10. The restructuring of tropical land-use systems

		(introductory text...)
		Introduction
		Models of rural development
		The need for integrated solutions in tropical land use
		Strategic issues
		Concluding remarks
		Notes
		References

Notes

1. This overview based on Lopez Cordovez (1993).
2. I am indebted to Dr. Filemón Torres for his inputs.
3. For instance, "development" is often described as a permanent increase (usually of GNP); expressions such as "target," "optimal path," or "trajectory" resonate with ballistic analogies. The word "sustainability" suggests reaching a state of constancy, preserving an existing situation. Therefore the phrase "sustainable development" intuitively sounds contradictory. The argument here is not that sustainable development is inherently contradictory (I believe it is not) but that the wording and conceptualization we use are not well suited to the new concepts being generated.