Is Hartford fulfilling the 4 keys of Agyeman’s just sustainability?
Improving people’s quality of life and wellbeing:
Depends on how you want to look at it. Improving the downtown area by making safe, complete streets, and promoting culture, arts and walking are all conducive to a higher quality of life, and iQuilt is truly committed to making downtown Hartford a more livable place. The issues arise when you start to question who is truly benefitting, and what the underlying motives for all these policies are. Residents do not live downtown; politicians and businessmen work there. While iQuilt’s efforts do have a positive effect on the city, you could also argue it is only improving the downtown where tourists and politicians travel to, not the inner cities that become isolated and hidden. The downtown is vastly different from the residential neighborhoods where there has not been nearly as much improvement; and this has been a topic of local discussion.
Meeting the needs of both the present and future generations:
In general, Hartford is taking greater steps toward sustainability. Walkability, and decreasing our demand for vehicles is conducive to meeting the needs of current and future generations. The less we consume now, and the faster we switch to renewable energy; the more resources we will leave for the next generation. But, can we really say the needs of the current generation are being met? Locals are excluded from politics and have policies imposed upon them. That, and the fact “inner cities” are isolated and outside the realm of policy attention. If downtown is enjoying new sustainable benefits, than the residential areas, consisting of 37% people of color, should enjoy them as well.
Justice and equity in terms of recognition, process, procedure and outcome:
In this category, Hartford has much to improve upon, but iQuilt is making progress toward inclusion and recognition. As with the highway plan, the needs and opinions of locals have yet to be recognized. We can no longer simply assume everyone will agree that a policy is “equitable” but claims like that must be proven. Will the target demographics see it as equitable, or does it simply sound appealing? Equity is not always the desired outcome either, it manifests as a bit of a side effect. If justice is being defined as basic inclusion and fairness in terms of policy implications, then there needs to be improvements as well. iQuilt recognizes and includes local minority artists in art projects; but that is a far cry from local inclusion in policy making.
Living within ecosystem limits or “one planet living”:
Once again, it depends on how you look at it. Hartford is working to be more sustainable, but we must not forget that all people are meant to have the right to consume resources. Given the rugged social and economic nature of cities as Mumford points out, and Hartford’s current financial strife, an equitable distribution of resources has been a challenge. At the time when Hartford was blatantly segregated, equal (or even a semi-egalitarian) distribution of resources was not in effect. Disparities and inequities are also reflected by Hartford’s varying attention to the different parks in the city. Some resemble lavish beauty, other are more modest and functional. In some places around the city, especially at Keney Park Sustainability, sustainability and inclusion are prioritized. Not only that, but KPS shares their harvests with the local community. Hartford and the nation may be making great strides in sustainability, but we need to create policies that ensure everyone is truly included, and provided basic necessities. That being said, local improvement efforts need to be expanded to more areas besides the downtown to ensure everyone is included, and afforded the right to consume.