About Cultural Sustainability

Cultural Sustainability concerns the conservation and perpetuation of cultures.

  • People and communities are essential for full sustainability
  • The built environment is maintained over time, not regenerative or maintenance-free
  • Cultural Sustainability means consideration, understanding and respect for heritage - the identities and values that bind people to places with local, national, or ethnic relevance.
Concept & Purpose

Cultural systems of human existence concern people and their relationship to places and the built environment. Communities, campuses, cities, states and nations are pushing forward on many fronts for clean and renewable energy, efficient utilization of natural resources, and the overall care of the natural environment. These endeavors are essential, yet the full meaning and value of sustainability includes more.

People have heritage -- identities and values that bind them to places with local, national or ethnic relevance. The standard definition of sustainability must also include understanding and respect for cultural heritage. Future research needs to jointly consider issues of heritage conservation, environmental conservation and energy conservation, three common terms that are rarely seen in the same sentence. These fields of study belong together because everything built, past and current, must be maintained or recycled in the future.

Historically, people chose to maintain what they value. In order to design sustainable buildings and environments, one must understand the values of the culture and how the place or region came to be as it is. Ultimately, the thing to be sustained is the culture itself.

 

Why UTSA?

The combined strengths of UTSA and the City give rationale for why San Antonio is well suited to be the home of the Center for Cultural Sustainability. First, the School of Architecture + Planning at UTSA offers planning and design instruction with a strong focus on thoughtful consideration of place, the value of community and respect for cultural heritage. These are key elements of our strategic plan for the School, and are amply reflected in the curriculum as well as research interests of the faculty.

Second, San Antonio is a place known for rich heritage. The record of achievement shows San Antonio to be a consistently strong national leader in heritage conservation, with numerous exemplary efforts over the 20th century. As a result, San Antonio has a well-deserved reputation as a place of great historical significance, as well as a place that respects cultural heritage.

Finally, UTSA ranks sixth nationally in the number of bachelor's degrees conferred to Hispanics. This is an important factor given that the Hispanic population, currently 17 percent of the U.S. population, and the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S., represents only 7.9 percent of architects (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). Institutions such as UTSA have the responsibility to produce future leaders prepared to address the needs of a rapidly changing world.

A university engaged in research endeavors on cultural sustainability is one that offers relevant preparation to future leaders of the global environment. The UTSA strategic plan specifically calls for developing expertise and activities that address “issues of sustainability—the importance of preserving our resources, infrastructure, and heritage for future generations, while ensuring their present availability for all people.” The Center for Cultural Sustainability helps to achieve this goal.