On Social Sustainability: Defining our Collective Identity as a Society

Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates is passionate about revitalising disenfranchised communities in the city’s South Side. And he is doing it building by building, some of which are utilised to capture the histories of the people who had arrived, lived, then departed. He is rebuilding communities — the crucial building blocks of society — through art, urban planning, and collaboration. (Photo from New York Times)

When kids grow up, they start asking questions. Many questions. And they can be adorable but also testing. So last night, my nephew — after quietly listening to a conversation I was having with my brother about a book I recently completed — presented this innocent (but of course nowadays, very loaded) curiosity: “What is sustainability?”. Myriads of possible answers…