Sustainability decision-making frameworks and the application of systems thinking: an urban context

The literature cites the importance of systems thinking to operationalise sustainability. However, the application of a systems approach for sustainable development is not widely applied. The failure to take advantage of systems thinking results in decision-making processes being less effective than they could be. As the complexity of decision-making for built environment professionals becomes more challenging with increasing pressures, such as population, climate change and greater resource use efficiency, more robust frameworks are required to inform decisions-making processes for a sustainable future. This paper proposes a decision-making framework for sustainability embedded within an interpretative approach to systems thinking. This conceptual framework is applied to evaluate planning/development decision-making processes for sustainability available within the public domain.