The term “sustainability”, in the context of buildings and construction, emerged through architecture discourse in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, the effects are unmistakably pertinent, with high temperatures lasting for longer periods of time and a predicted increase in rainfall of 25% by 2070 among many other environmental challenges. 

But sustainability can also mean a measure of robustness and a continuity of a state of being. In our awareness of the need to address climate and physical change, are we just as sensitive to the evolution of people, of communities on a multitude of complex facets such as accessibility and equality, diversity and inclusivity? Is our existing building stock resilient to social, cultural and political change?

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