Justification For Set-Up
UMSERGE is set up to develop multidisciplinary novel approaches to contribute towards sustainable development in the world today. The concept of sustainable development requires that we see the world that we live in as a system. The basic idea within sustainable development is to link the environment with development, because environmental problems are the result of poverty as well as of affluence (Zeiji-Rozema, 2007). Sustainable development interweaves the natural science principle of `sustainability’ – which can be described as the `capacity for continuance’ – and the social science concept of `development’ – which should be understood as the `progress of human systems’, and not simply associated as economic growth. Sustainable development is a normative concept, dealing with different temporal and spatial scales and with multiple stakeholders. Governance is then seen as a means to steer towards the process of sustainable development. It is often stated by writers that sustainable development cannot be achieved without good governance.
Space and spatial scales are central concerns for research under UMSERGE. Since the 1980s we have seen movement towards the development of social theory in which concepts of space play a central role. Philosophers such as Lefebvre and social theorists such as Giddens have rediscovered the importance of space in human society. Lefebvre suggested that social relations have no real existence except in and through space. Changes in the space and places where people live have profoundly affected the spatial organization of the social, economic, political, and cultural domains. Space hence provides the framework for the integration of different development processes. In the real world, these separate processes interact in a spatio-temporal context. Hence, the spatial approach is a novel approach for integrating various disciplines interested in studying processes of developmental decision-making. Furthermore, the growing importance of spatial information has been matched with the availability of techniques to be able to manipulate this information efficiently and effectively. Fortunately, rapid advances in modern geographic information systems (GIS) have simplified the collection, handling and analysis of spatial data. Large amounts of social data can now be studied using more sophisticated data handling methods.
There are many instances where the spatial approach is commendable. For example, the existence of regional and intra-urban concentrations of poverty lends itself to spatial analysis. Research has indicated, for example, that multi-generational poverty amongst the disadvantaged in many cities were due to their spatial concentration in urban ghettos. In terms of environmental change, remote sensing and GIS have been used to analyze the relationship between human activities and local environmental change, eg. in changing patterns of land use. In terms of community studies, as global forces create more interconnections between people, the interest in the local has exploded. Many researchers now are engaged in community-based research with a significant if not overriding spatial concern.
UMSERGE attempts to undertake some pioneering work in a specific area of governance. `Spatial-environmental governance’ is a new sub-field of study proposed by Jamilah Mohamad in 2009 to reflect the increasing importance of governance in bringing about sustainable development. The term `environmental governance’ is already in popular use. However, taking into account the importance of spatial scales when dealing with environmental problems as often espoused by physical planners in the Netherlands, as well as the increasing availability of spatial analysis tools such as GIS, remote sensing, etc., it is thought that a term such as `spatial-environmental governance’ has to be introduced and the sub-field developed, taking into account progress made in other areas of corporate governance, etc.
The use of the term `governance’ has been traced back to ancient Greek times with the meaning `to steer’. However, the term increasingly has broadened to take on board non-state actors such as civil society, the private sector and non-government organizations (NGOs) rather than simply government. There are, needless to say, various definitions of the term, but the majority seems to focus on three core concepts listed below (Lautze 2011):
1) Governance is consistently viewed as the processes involved in decision-making
2) The processes of decision-making take place through institutions (including mechanisms, systems and traditions).
3) The processes and institutions of decision-making involve multiple actors
UMSERGE has started research work in 2009 with an emphasis on four areas of spatial-environmental governance, i.e.:
1) Integrated watershed governance
2) Protected area governance such as National Parks
3) Urban transport governance
4) Waste governance
Many other areas can be developed depending on the nature of researchers’ interest and expertise as the group membership expands. It will however be undertaken under a common philosophy (most often in the case, the Islamic world-view), differing spatial levels (although mostly local and regional), various mechanisms of governance, etc.
Under UMSERGE, research will revolve under four main thrusts wherever possible incorporating:
1.Philosophy which sets the parameters of governance and conceptual framework, esp. the Islamic world-view
2.Levels of governance – existing state-of-the-art at the global level, and field study at local level
3.Areas of governance- determining natural systems, human systems such as urban
4.Mechanisms of governance-new modes of governance emerging from case-studies
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