UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

The Perfect Community

The idealist view
Aneisha Samuels 0701287
1/30/2011

It was given as a class assignment in my third year of university to do a creative piece outlining
the attributes of a perfect community. Being as I am, I thought, can there be a perfect
community? and if so, a perfect community to whom?
 A great place to grow
By Aneisha Samuels

It was given as a class assignment in my third year of university to do a creative piece outlining

the attributes of a perfect community. Being as I am, I thought, can there be a perfect

community? Moreover, if so, A perfect community to whom? I have decided to write an article

on the attributes of a perfect community.

Traditionally a "community" has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a

common location. The word is often used to refer to a group that is organized around common

values and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in

social units larger than a household. Based on my knowledge and experience I would consider a

perfect community to be one with all its elements living together harmoniously: today, tomorrow

and forever. A perfect community would denote a situation where there is a harmonious and

symbiotic relationship between the natural and the built environment, humans being the sole

implicator. With this in mind concepts such as sustainable development, carrying capacity and

limits would come under the microscope. As a planner you cannot think of the perfect

community as a single place. But an ideal global situation. I was tempted to start by saying the

perfect community would be a flat, fertile, well drained area that……, but I had to rethink….. a

perfect community to whom?

1. A perfect community is one where there is sustainable growth and development. Sustainable
 development is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving

the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to

come. The term was used by the Brundtland Commission, which coined what has become the

most often-quoted definition of sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of

the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." this

is where economic social and environmental needs are met sustainably. All definitions of

sustainable development require that we see the world as a system—a system that connects

space; and a system that connects time. When you think of the world as a system over space, you

grow to understand that air pollution from North America affects air quality in Asia, and that

pesticides sprayed in Argentina could harm fish stocks off the coast of Australia. And when you

think of the world as a system over time, you start to realize that the decisions our grandparents

made about how to farm the land continue to affect agricultural practice today; and the economic

policies we endorse today will have an impact on urban poverty when our children are adults.

We also understand that quality of life is a system, too. It's good to be physically healthy, but

what if you are poor and don't have access to education? It's good to have a secure income, but

what if the air in your part of the world is unclean? And it's good to have freedom of religious

expression, but what if you can't feed your family? The concept of sustainable development is

rooted is this sort of systems thinking. It helps us understand ourselves and our world. The

problems we face are complex and serious—and we can't address them in the same way we

created them. But we can address them.

2. There must be governance. Public participation is the key to sustainable governance. Can we

plan for them? Or make practical laws for them? No….we cannot see the victim as being them
 instead we are the victims. We need to plan for us. People within the community will send in

ideas for rules then later vote on the ones they like. The final say being in the hand of a

body..........not individual political parties, but a team of people representing the people and the

law. I disagree with the privatisation of public services like electrification, water and health.

They are public services and thus should be government owned and thus non profit.

3. In a perfect community there must be population control mechanisms. Whether to increase the

population or measures to minimise or maintain a steady growth. The determining factor being

the threshold limit of that region, taking into consideration its carrying capacity and its limits

both its functional and its geographical limits. Lets look at the Malthusian theory and the idea of

the predicament that will arise if population continues to grows exponentially (2,4,8.16)while

food production grows geometrically (1,2,3,4). Therefore, we must maintain or population

growth rate in accordance with the carrying capacity of that community. To allow for harmony,

harmony with man and nature.

4. The location, layout and function of the community must be synonymous with nature as certain

landscapes and soil types facilitate different man-made developments and infrastructure. Like

you would not expect to build a wharf in the centre of a country as this would hinder transport

and this is the main function of a wharf. Depending on the function required suitable location

will be chosen. These locations will be developed using a sustainable layout.

5. In a perfect community there must be education and employment to suit the needs of the

population. Our education system is gym, religion, wood working, math, music, science. All

subjects are important. No one being stigmatised and no one being ignored or walked upon.
6. We must maintain our external links in this the perfect community. These external links are

important for trade and precedents.

7. There must be a reliable medium for transport preferably public transport, since it would result in

less traffic congesting, less air pollution, and a reduction in the fuel usage.

8. Having good role model and working together is another aspect of the perfect community. One

in which people talk…..not about each other harmfully…but with each other about pleasant

things, entertainment governance and possible new developments. Community centres and areas

for free expression and down time are attributes of a perfect community. There must be religion,

whether it’sv real or just a myth people need a higher being to believe in, someone to answer the

unanswerable.

So the question is can there be a perfect community? Alternatively, is this just an unrealistic

ideal? As planners it is somewhat our duty to work towards this ideal, but no man is an island no

man stand alone so we all need to work together to make our world a wonderful place to grow.
References

www.iisd.org/sd/ - Cached - Similar

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development

www.buzzle.com/.../thomas-malthus-theory-of-population.html

www.gdrc.org/uem/footprints/carrying-capacity.html