Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development (CENGM0071) 2 Coursework, 2020-21

Department of Civil Engineering 1
Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development (CENGM0071)
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Coursework, 2020-21
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Student Number: P 2027571
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ABSTRACT
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This paper is divided into two parts. In the first part, I evaluate the resilience and recovery of the case study of
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Wenchuan by analysing the knock-on effects of the earthquake on infrastructure system to propose a strategy for
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optimising risk assessment by refining the disaster chain model. In the second part, I begin with a historical review
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of sustainable development and then use the Japanese post-war housing model as an infrastructure theme to
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illustrate how engineering can have an impact on it. Finally, I conclude with three propositions based on my own
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insights into sustainable development from an engineer's perspective: promoting communication and cooperation,
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taking responsibility and valuing reginal dignity.
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1. HAZARD, RISK AND DISASTER RESILIENCE
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The case study I have chosen is the earthquake that occurred on 12th May 2008 in Wenchuan County, Sichuan
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Province, China. It is the most devastating and widespread earthquake disaster since the founding of New China
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in 1949. It is called the “2008 Sichuan Earthquake” or “5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake”.
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1.1 Brief Description of the Disaster
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The Earthquake has measured 8.0 on the Richter scale and its intensity reached 11 on Chinese intensity scale. The
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epicentre was 19km below the surface, locating in Yingxiu Town within Wenchuan County, only 79 km away the
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capital city of Sichuan. 417 counties, 4,656 towns and 47,789 villages were directly affected by the earthquake,
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forming the disaster area covers 440,000 km^2, with 46.24 million people affected. By 12:00 on 23 June, a total
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of 13,685 aftershocks had occurred, of which 33 were of magnitude 5 or higher. The intensity distribution of
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earthquakes is shown below:
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Figure 1: Macro Seismic Intensity Map (Source:USGS,Scale based on Worden et al 2012)
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Total direct economic loss reached ¥845.1 billion (£
93 billion) (United Nations Centre for Regional Development
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2009). About 80% of the structures within the hard-hit areas such as Yingxiu and Beichuan were completely razed
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to the ground. About 24,590,000 buildings including key such key infrastructures as government offices, hospitals,
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schools and factories collapsed and almost 90,000 people were killed or missing and 375,000 injured in the
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earthquake. 2473 reservoirs and dams were in varying degrees of danger for such secondary hazard as landslides.
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Sixteen national and provincial highways and six railways were compromised. Since the hardest hit areas were
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mainly mountainous and local traffic was interrupted, rescues and supplies failed to enter in time. Moreover,
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almost 200 rescuers were confirmed died during the operations. Farmland and agricultural facilities were
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destroyed with 4.62 million livestock and poultry lost. (State Council of the People’s Republic of China 2008)
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The intangible losses cannot be neglected either. Electricity and water supply systems were extensively disrupted
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around the epicentre, causing serious health and life challenges for local residents. Most of the communications
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offices and base stations suffered varying degrees of damage as the following table:
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Table 1: Amount of Damaged Communications System Infrastructure
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Damaged Infrastructure Sichuan Province Gansu Province Shaanxi Province Total
Communication Office 3,092 462 426 3,981
Base Station 21,739 4,396 3,974 30,109

Communication Line (Km) 27,343 7,001 2,408 36,752
Telecommunication Pole 152,394 36,890 6,983 196,267
Direct Economic Loss (billion RMB) 6.023 0.385 0.386 6.794
Source: Chen 2017
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Along with the malfunction of the local administration, co-ordination and command of the rescue effort were
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placed at a standstill. Medical and education services were also crippled with the collapse of the corresponding
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infrastructure and did not restore until the military arrived to set up a field hospital and open-air school.
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Apart from the above elements, the natural environment was seriously impacted by the earthquake either.
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Wenchuan is a very important resource-rich area of China, containing rich hydro-energy resources in the world.
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It is also the main habitat of rare flora and fauna as well as an indispensable ecological barrier in the middle and
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upper reaches of the Yangtze River. (Gao 2014) The soil and water conservation have been obviously weakened
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causing a significant continuous change to ecology functions’ spatial pattern. (Wang, Fu and Xu 2012) In Wolong
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Nature Reserve, some of the arrow bamboo on which the giant pandas depend was buried and destroyed by mud
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and gravel, and the water was polluted as well, posing a direct threat to the health of the pandas and other wildlife.
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(Xu et al 2008) Fortunately, the carbon-conservation capacity was not seriously damaged for the vegetation’s
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roots and underground component was not threatened by the mudslides. Moreover, the regrowth of plants can also
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somehow strengthen the carbon storage function. (Wu et al 2008)
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1.2 Resilience and Recovery of Wenchuan
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Due to China's special economic system, the vast majority of essential supplies were provided by state-owned
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enterprises serving as the same stakeholder group as the government. Many private commercial companies have
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also donated free supplies to the affected areas. The response of the Chinese government, as the main stakeholder
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for the earthquake, could be divided into three time periods as follow, and I prefer to call it “3R model”
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Table 2: 3R model shows the main actions of Chinese government toward Wenchuan
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Period Action Notes
May Rescue Local and national firefighting, medical and military systems were organised to provide life-saving, food,
temporary housing and facilities to the affected areas.
Jun-Aug Research Comprehensive on-site researches were organised in June, and such regulations as Regulations on Post-
Wenchuan Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (Decree of the State Council No. 526) and related
reports were issued based on the findings. Between June and August, post-earthquake reconstruction plans based
on regulations and reports were developed.
Sep- next
year
Recover Local councils prepared the detailed plans and start the reconstruction of residential buildings and the restoration
of public facilities and services.
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The following points are worth noting about the Chinese government's action and perspective:
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1. The majority of relief projects were led by the central government: Key government officials in China are
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often technocrats from scientific and technical backgrounds instead of lawyers or businessmen; and unlike
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Western officials who are only accountable to constituents, Chinese officials are accountable to both the top
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and the bottom. As a result, large government-led disaster relief projects run very efficiently, as was evident
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in the first stage of the disaster. For example, the authority was able to deploy paratroopers as a rescue force
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by airborne in the first instance. However, the shortcomings were evident at the lowest level. The grassroots
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management of the affected areas was the village committees, which were the organisations between the
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township council and the rural residents, supposing to play a leading role in community rehabilitation.
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However, regardless of the detailed relief plan produced by the central government, the communities still
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faced challenges in implementation for lacking of management and technical skills. Additionally, the village
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committees failed to carry out a proper job in disseminating disaster-preventing knowledge to the villagers
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after the earthquake.
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2. Reconstruction of the community: The main purpose is to maintain a social circle as it before the disaster.
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For instance, residents of a temporary village in Shifang City were all transferred from the same village and
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were not cut off from the community as a whole. Shared rooms like kitchens, toilets and showers were set in
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the temporary house. Public facilities such police stations, recreations and clinics were also set up within the
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village. This was not only a continuation of pre-disaster habits, but also helps to keep victims' mental health,
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for many people lost loved ones used to live together. Group housing was a convenient solution yet not a
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permanent one for life resumes and next generation is born, and people will inevitably prefer independent
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housing. How to deal with the low occupancy of temporary housing economically and sustainably in the
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future shall be a major challenge.
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3. Peer-to-peer support: Chinese government has adopted a model in which a large administrative region being
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responsible for the relief and supply of a small region within the disaster area. A clear and reasonable match
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of regions minimised the financial pressure on the whole country and ensured identified duty bearer for each
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disaster area. The support included labourers, their desire to return home as soon as possible had made the
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reconstruction very fast. Unmanageable debris could be seen in the collapsed houses in June 2008, and by
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December more than half of the houses in the countryside had been rebuilt. The complete reconstruction was
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finished in the summer of 2009, with the direct financial assistance to the households. But this support lacked
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the consideration of geographical differences, including climatic, cultural and social contexts. For example,
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double windows from warm area have no insulation in between. Furthermore, due to the long duration of the
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support and the economic resources consumed, the conflicts between counterpart regions had to be addressed
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later on. This is why self-reliance were also emphasised in the regulations, which should be the key idea for
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future disaster recovery, like the old Chinese saying: Do not give him fish, teach him how to fish.
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In my opinion, a disaster is a disaster because of its impact on human society. Therefore, even if relief activities
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take place after an earthquake, they are an important resilience capacity and probably the most significant one
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based on the Wenchuan Earthquake case, given the strong social resources that enable people to recover quickly.
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By the end of the day, we cannot alter nature, we can only save ourselves. In terms of the resilience of
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infrastructure and buildings, structure is the decisional factor. According to the survey done by structural
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engineering team from several universities, the damages to different structures are shown in the table below:
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Table 3: Statistics on earthquake damage to buildings (by structural form)
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Structural Form Can still be used Can be used after fixing Need to be abandoned Need to be demolished
Brick-Timber 0% 67% 0% 1%
Brick 22% 36% 27% 40%
Brick-Frame 61% 18% 4% 2%
Frame 60% 32% 8% 0%
Frame-Sheer Wall 72% 14% 1% 0%
Steel 50% 50% 0% 0%
Source: Civil and Structural Groups of Tsinghua University,Xinan Jiaotong University and Beijing Jiaotong University 2008
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We can easily find out that frame structure performed quite well in terms of seismic resistance. It should achieve
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the expected seismic performance targets for medium and large earthquakes with the guaranteed construction
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quality. Enclosure and earthquake-resistant construction between infill wall and main frame need more future
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attention. The sheer wall structure including frame- sheer wall showed an even better performance due to its
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great lateral stiffness. But it was mainly in the areas with lower intensity, so its seismic performance under large
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earthquake has not shown enough and need further research. Nevertheless, according to the current outcomes,
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sheer wall is a better structure form in responding to the earthquake.
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1.3 Risk Assessment and Future Strategy
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Seismic disaster risk assessment refers to classify the hazards according to the risk level of acceptability to
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measure the rank of hazard risk accordingly, which is usually based on the such outcomes as risks of disaster-
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causing factors, disaster-bearing factors and disaster resistance (e.g. vulnerability of buildings) from risk analysis.
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Figure 2: Relationships between Earthquake risk analysis,assessment and management
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Based on China's past experience in responding to earthquake, hazard risk analysis can be essentially regarded as
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the loss prediction in the narrow sense and the ultimate goal of assessment is to realize the risk management. (Ma
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and Zhao 2008) In my opinion, the elements in a risk analysis often constitute an important content of a risk
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assessment because they are a direct source of data. Lots of papers related to risk assessment also focus on risk
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analysis section as a central entry point. The causing factors and the vulnerability assessment of the hazard-bearing
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bodies are the basis of comprehensive risk assessment, while the loss assessment is the core of a hazard risk
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assessment. The aim of seismic risk management is to reduce unacceptable risks to acceptable levels, using
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engineering and non-engineering measures and other management tools to produce the requested seismic
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mitigation effect with the lowest possible costs.
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Risk assessment of disaster often follows the following steps: defining objectives - collecting data - building an
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assessment system - selecting a model - determining risk levels - testing results - analysing conclusions. Currently,
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the available risk assessment methods are summarised in the following four categories:
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(1) Indicator systems based: Its data information is easily accessible hence it is used in many international
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research programmes such as the Disaster Risk Index (DRI) and Natural Disaster Hotspots. However, its
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inability to model the uncertainty and dynamics of complex hazard systems may lead to some valuation bias.
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(2) GIS-based: This method visualises and simulates the distribution of disasters through spatial analysis. Based
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on the causing factors and bearing bodies, a system of assessment indicators is set as well as proper scales
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and layers. The disaster risk is calculated and visualised according to certain calculation methods.
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(3) Scenario-based: This modelling allows for the construction of several scenarios from hazard types, bearing
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bodies and spatio-temporal perspectives to achieve a dynamic and intuitive assessment of regional disaster
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risks based on the dynamic assessment models.
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(4) Probability-based: After an in-depth analysis of the interrelationship between probability, intensity and loss,
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a functional relationship and curve between probability and loss is established to model and assess risk (Zhang
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2014)
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In the case of the Wenchuan earthquake, various risk assessments used the hazard chain model, an assessment
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method applicable to large-scale disasters (LSD) which have common feature of cascading effects (Delmonaco et
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al 2006) and triggering effects (Carpignano et al 2009). Zhou, Wang and Yuan (2015) conducted the risk
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assessment for the case of Wenchuan Earthquake by proposing a new conceptual disaster chain model based on
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the status quo of disaster risk assessment theories. It considered the disaster chain involving landslide, rain fall,
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debris flows, flooding as well as other ecological and social factors. I believe that disaster chain model is quite
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suitable for the LSD like Wenchuan Earthquake and worthy for further research, however the object of study of
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disaster chains can be further expanded. In other word, I would like to propose a strategy of using similar chain
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model to analyse and assess the bearing-body within the disaster impact. Factors within this chain model could
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correspond to the factors from the origin disaster chain model.
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Figure 3: Proposed strategy for conceptual model of disaster chain risk assessment
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The original disaster chain model emphasized the direct effect caused by each hazard lies in the disaster chain on
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each exposure elements and the causal relationship between each disaster. Yet the bridging element between each
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exposure ones should be considered further either for they tend to be intangible social factors easily overlooked
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by engineers. Therefore, the specific strategy I would like to propose is to set up multidimensional assessment
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teams in disaster assessment specifically for the new chain in the figure above. Their role is to provide the basis
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for the design of specific disaster relief measures and resource allocation plans by analysing and predicting the
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impact of individual bridging elements, and to make more specific engineering requests and ethic requirements to
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the engineers. More accurate resource allocation could work well with the Peer-to-peer counterpart support
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mentioned in 1.2.
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Take Wenchuan Earthquake as the example, the collapse of school buildings not only stopped general education
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services, but also seriously affected the college entrance examination for this national examination is the only
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entry route for the vast majority of high school students in China and only held in June once a year with unified
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exam papers and time across the province, which means that it has very high requirements for examination
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facilities and process management. If local university enrolment is forced to be delayed, local educational facilities
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and policies come under greater pressure and even threaten the local industrial structure by impacting the local
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employment. Therefore, in disaster resilience practice and policy development, it is significant to consider how to
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ensure the running of examinations for local freshers. As a result, the response was to delay the college entrance
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examinations in the severely affected areas of Sichuan province by about one month in a unified manner, and to
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use separate examination papers and admissions. At the same time, most national universities across the country
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have set up a certain number of mobile places for students from the affected areas and financial assistance. This
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is only a small example of one bridging element. In real disaster cases, more complex issues concerning financial
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systems, real estate markets, property rights and employment for disaster victims, etc. require more detailed
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modelling to analyse and assess.
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2. ENGINEERING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
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Sustainable development (SD) lies in the broad concept of international development (ID) traced back as far as
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the first industrial revolution when political and sociological theory of development economics was established
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by “classical economists” like Adam Smith, Ricardo and Malthus. Their nationalist world view and focus on the
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internal relations within economic system were the cornerstones of later international development. (Voth 2004)
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With regard to ID, it is difficult to find a clear definition, but I can surmise that the first international development
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assistance action should be the European Recovery Programme. Because the brutality of World War 2(WW2) as
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well as the dreaded cold war made the post-war public generally no longer saw invasive war as an honour to
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expand territories, but a tragedy to exterminate lives. This important paradigm shift led to a growing worldwide
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call for peace, establishment of the United Nation (UN), independence of Third World countries and led to a
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greater attention on humanitarian issues such as famine, pestilence and poverty, which laid the conceptual
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foundations for the SD. Broadly speaking, ID is to support administrative, health, educational and infrastructural
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systems in certain areas through sustainable projects to meet the development goals proposed by UN. It is
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important to note that the "dignity" is explicitly stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, thus, the
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colonial practices were not good examples of international development, although they were accompanied by the
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building of infrastructure, health, education, etc. in the colonies. The act of colonisation brought bloodshed far
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beyond development. The main body of ID action evolved from US-Soviet dominance to global participation,
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and the goal changed from a single economic growth to an integrated social development.
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2.1 The evolution of sustainable development
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The evolution of SD can be divided into three main phases by two major events: the United Nations Conference
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on the Environment (UNCE), held in Stockholm in 1972, and the World Commission on Environment and
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Development (WCED) report entitled Our Common Future (1987)
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(i) Pre-Stockholm (before 1972): Lots of theoretical basis were proposed for the birth of SD. Malthus
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(1798) argued that it was inevitable that population growth would outstrip substance growth, resulting in
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overpopulation and food scarcity. In the meantime, people began to realized that the sacrifice of
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individual liberty is necessary in achieving a balanced and secure social life, which is similar to today’s
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DS principle (Neocleous 2000). Marsh(1864) suggested that changes made at the local level have
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worldwide consequences and therefore the ethic obligations of the present generation are valued for the
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impact to the life of future generations (Shaler 1905) As can be seen, the early theories focused on the
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trade-off between resources and development. It was not until 1962 that the book Silent Spring pointed
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out that humans should not see themselves as masters but a part of the earth (Rachel Carson 1962),
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drawing a huge attention to the environment. The American environmental movement also exploded in
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1960s, leading directly to the signing of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA 2009) by the
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federal government in 1970, setting the stage for the formal emergence of SD.
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(ii) Stockholm to WCED (1972-1987): At the UNCE in 1972, the importance of the natural environment
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was discussed in depth and taken into account. In the same year, Conference on the Ecological Aspects
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of International Development (1972) illustrated that technological progress can come at the expense of
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nature and that industrial development should take its environmental impact fully into account by
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showing cases of industrial damage to the environment. The Club of Rome concluded that industrial
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society would overstep ecological boundaries in the coming decades without slowing down the economic
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growth rate. The term Sustainable Development was finally formalised in a written document called
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World Conservation Strategy by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (1980), but the
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accepted definition of SD was formalised by the Brundtland Commission (1987, p41) as:
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“…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
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own needs.”
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(iii) Post-WCED (1987 to the present): The definition of SD was not immediately accepted by everyone,
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and dozens of different interpretations of SD were produced before 2000, sparking intense debate. The
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classic ones, such as Redcliff et al (1987), see SD as a truth; O'Riordan (1985) sees it as a contradiction;
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and Holmberg (1992) argued that the concept was constantly evolving and needed to be refined according
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to spatial and temporal changes. In the academic debate, the United Nations Conference on Environment
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and Development (UNCED), also known as Earth Summit, was held in Rio in 1992, to promote the
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concept of SD on a worldwide scale. However, the conference also revealed significant differences
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between developing and developed countries on the distribution of responsibilities. After entering
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21century, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were established by the UN summit in 2000
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focusing on poverty and hunger etc. However, SD is still not considered "specific" enough. Public
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policies discussed on the basis of SD often point to ambiguous conclusions, and SD is therefore criticised
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for being too vague and idealistic to be practical. (Bressers and Rosenbaum 2003) The new field "
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Sustainability science " has therefore been created and become another major milestone for SD. It aims
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to establish a platform for cooperation and communication, and to develop strategies and mechanisms
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for sustainable development through the intersection of natural and social sciences. (Kates et al 2001)
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Despite the ongoing debate, unprecedented outcomes were achieved by 2015, especially in anti-poverty.
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The success of the MDGs led to the establishment of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by
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the UN in the same year, and SD has started to become more and more refined into various disciplines.
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In general terms; sustainable development has evolved from a focus on limited resources to equity in development,
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and then to the natural environment and climate; only since the new century has it been systematically divided
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into a number of detailed areas involving natural and social development. It is easy to see from UN development
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policies and activities after 2015 that the international community has developed a situation of complicity, which
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is also a new trend and feature of international sustainable development.
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2.2 Civil buildings and sustainable development
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I would like to choose the infrastructure theme of Housing to illustrate how engineering affect SD as well as the
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role of engineer for civil housing is the most common engineering facility as well as the basic guarantee of human
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activity. The case study I would like to refer is the Japanese housing model called “ikkodate” which means
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“detached house” which unexpected became popular in the post-war period for economic reasons. It is interesting
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to note that although the idea of eco-building was only introduced by Paolo Soleri in the 1960s and the criteria for
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green buildings were only established in 1990, the ikkodate unexpectedly have many similarities to them in terms
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of promoting SD. In simple terms, ikkodate is a two-storey dwelling built using timber as the main building
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material and mortise and tenon joints as the construction method.
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Hanging-wood* serves as the component to connect upper beam and roof. Space column* specifically refers to invisible ones encased in
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walls. Koyaduka* refers to a type of joint in mortise and tenon construction. Omoya*is the the central part of a residential building.
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Figure 4: Major construction of a typical ikkodate house and how SDGs to be achived
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Ikkodate was built almost entirely in timber, not only because of economic constraints, but also as a reflection of
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the Japanese pursuit of natural elements under the influence of the trend of the environmental movement in 1960s.
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The construction uses mortise and tenon joints, derived from ancient China, where timber components bite into
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each other, together with the installation of right-angled metal members to cope with lateral force shear. Evenly
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distributed and densely packed columns act as supports to enable the vertical forces more even and stable. The
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result is a relatively light and resilient timber structure, which increases the seismic resistance of the house and
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reduces the risk of disaster. In product stage, timber material shows advantages on carbon storing ability, realizing
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the carbon-balancing over life-cycle. Moreover, buildings made with CLT generally possess the highest carbon
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storage. (Kuittinen 2021) This model is not set in stone either, with the cast-in-pace reinforced concrete frame
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adopted into the lower structure, seismic performance has been significantly improved and the reliance on timber
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has been reduced. (Shi 2018) Thermal insulation inside the wall can improve air tightness, and the use of double-
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glass window is able to realize the energy-saving by 50% with 10% by solar reflection (Okubo 1996). Generally,
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the house will be dismantled into parts for secondary use when it reaches design life.
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In addition to the benefits directly brought by the construction practice, the support provided by the Japanese
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government should not be overlooked: In the 1950s, the government enacted the Government Housing Loan
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Corporation and the Publicly-Operated Housing Act, which allowed a large proportion of Japanese residents to
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borrow enough money to build their house at a very low interest rate. In the 1960s, as Japan's economy recovered,
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the authority introduced the Construction Planning Act, which led to cooperation between the central government
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and local councils to promote ikkodate housing through the Housing Construction Five-year Programs. (The
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Japan Federation of Housing Organizations 2017) In the social context of the time, it was common for families to
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have an independent home as an important criterion for living well, which is what SDG1 requires. The impact of
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this housing model on SD has not been entirely positive either. This housing model has resulted in less and less
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usable housing being built in cities, leading to extremely high prices in urban today and forcing new high-rise
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flats to reduce the amount of interior space. Young generation in Japan have thus to face greater financial pressure
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and a more uncomfortable housing experience. In addition, although Japan's forest storage is high, maintaining a
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high intensity of timber output still has a negative impact on forest and ecological sustainability.
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2.3 Thoughts on the role of engineer
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I believe that engineers should not only focus on better engineering design itself, for that would be the job for AI
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in the future. More attention should be placed on how to better involve the users and beneficiaries of the
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engineering project, i.e.to encourage partnerships between private, public, NGOs, social groups and other
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stakeholders on global scale, as well as technical exchanges between engineers and urban planners, architects,
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ecologists, sociologists and other disciplines. (Peter 2009) Since we are talking about cooperation, we have to
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emphasise the issue of the responsibility. Civil engineers, as key leaders of infrastructure projects in sustainable
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development, should therefore play a leading role of "problem-solving" rather than "engineering-designing"
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within the multi-disciplinary team, especially on building the operational mechanisms which we are currently
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weak in, for managing complex system and achieving SDGs through life-cycle management and design-and-
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performance specification. The same applies to other disciplines, which should also take on leadership
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responsibilities in their specific projects.
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Another dimension of responsibility is to take a more macro and international view of sustainable development,
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which means that SD projects developed for a specific area should not create negative knock-on effects or
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unsustainability elsewhere since from the perspective of a community of human destiny. Therefore, one way to
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take responsibility as an engineer is to adopt a more global perspective and an equitable principle to regional
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issues, fitting in with the objectives of international cooperation mentioned in SDG 17. In international
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engineering activities, it is also important to maintain a balance between the rights and obligations of different
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interest groups and deal with the historical differences and cultural diversity.
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Finally, I would also like to re-emphasize "dignity", especially in the less developed regions that are supported.
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Smallest unit that makes up any society is the human being, and just as Karl Marx argued that labour is the essence
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of humanity as well as the method of the realisation of human values in Capital, I believe that the sustainable
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development of a society is also achieved through the 'labour', i.e. the contribution of that society itself, which is
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the “dignity”. In other words, engineering practices used to achieve SD should not deprive or hinder the local area
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of the opportunity to achieve its own development. To give a simple example, when assisting in the construction
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of water purification facilities in poor areas, the first thing to consider should be whether it is possible to make the
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best use of local resources, rather than relying solely on imported materials. Secondly, the local people should be
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guided, as far as possible, on how to maintain or build their own projects. Finally, rather than thinking about how
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to improve the performance of facilities, it is better to think about how to solve the problem of clean water scarcity
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at the root of the problem. As an engineer, or as an ordinary person, I would prefer that poor people make more
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use of knowledge to make a living on their own resource and wisdom, rather than relying on outside assistance to
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make ends meet. Sustainability of dignity is also sustainability of humanity, unfortunately, many people don't
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seem to notice this. Although this is similar to the sustainable economic growth mentioned in SDG 8, what I
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emphasise here is the active will and determination of the people themselves to keep developing, that is, a
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“spiritual sustainable development”. Consequently, we should always evaluate the 'sustainability' and
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'adaptability' of existing resources in a given area before introducing engineering projects and remember
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promoting the concept of SD to the public is as necessary as introducing new technologies.
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