Development by Design: Using a Revisionist History to Guide a Sustainable Future

The world is on the cusp of a sea change. World population is projected to grow to more than 9 billion by 2050 with rapid development to meet growing demands for food, water, energy, minerals, and other resources. The importance of economic development for improving human well-being means that society will likely value development over conservation if it is presented as an either–or option. Mitigation can minimize the impacts of development by applying a hierarchy: avoid, minimize, restore, or offset. Here we outline a Development by Design framework to address deficiencies in mitigation and mesh with existing regulatory approaches.

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