Published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the 2002 Human Development Report emphasizes the importance of politics to successful human development and urges the creation and maintenance of potent forms of democratic governance at all levels of society. Entitled "Deepening democracy in a fragmented world," this 292-page report contains five chapters -- The state and progress of...

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) provides regional plans for the entire Chicagoland area and they work on housing issues, transit, and much more. The GO TO 2040 Plan is designed to help the seven counties around Chicago plan for "sustainable prosperity through mid-century and beyond." On the site, visitors can look over detailed sections that holistically address topics such as...

The notion of human development is one that is quite old, even if it has not always gone by that name. The United Nations understands human development to be about “creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests”. In this way, of course, many ancient city-states and other such communities of...

Presaging the movements of political ecology, "smart growth", sustainable development and other trends of the past three decades, R. Buckminster Fuller remains one of the most misunderstood Renaissance individuals of the 20the century. Today, Mr. Fuller is most well known for inventing the geodesic dome, which he hoped would become a model for low-cost housing across the world. Over his life, Mr....

UNRISD is an organization with roots going back to 1963. Its mandate is to study the relationship between social and economic development. This takes the form of multi-country research (with an emphasis on developing countries), as well as "action research" in the areas of "integrating gender into development planning and rebuilding war-torn societies." The main site also offers information about...