Meeting Human Needs, Transforming Community Systems
By Gwendolyn Hallsmith

Most of the world‘s population now lives in cities, but despite
wide agreement on the core values of sustainable societies,
municipalities are so busy solving current problems they don‘t
have the time or resources to plan effective action for sustainability.
The Key to Sustainable Cities uses the principles of system dynamics to
demonstrate how today‘s problems were yesterday‘s solutions.
The book points to a new approach to city planning that builds on assets
as a starting point for cities to develop healthy social, governance,
economic, and environmental systems.

Gwendolyn Hallsmith has worked on sustainable development in many
different capacities, including positions such as Deputy Secretary of
the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, the Town Manager of Randolph,
Vermont, as the Regional Planning Director in Franklin County,
Massachusetts, and as a Senior Planner for the Massachusetts Office of
Energy Resources. She has a Master‘s degree in Public Policy from
Brown University, and has had over twenty years of experience working on
environmental issues. She is currently the director of Global Community
Initiatives, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting
sustainable community development based in Marshfield, Vermont.