Need Limit

Need should be quantified and within a set limit. Need cannot be provided unlimited. For example, when we talk about basic need such as water consumption of 165 liter/person/day, we are talking about the habit of average person in the World to fulfill their daily routine include some luxury habits or items. However, if we go about fulfilling biological need for water, it might be able to reduce and below that figure. In Singapore, for instance the average consumption is 156 liter/person/day and nobody claims that their quality of living has been affected. Thereby, need should be quantified and limited under local circumstances. A city pursuing for sustainability should set the need limit in parallel with the sustainability principles and bottom lines. No point of talking about sustainability on social dimension such as political, economy and cultural as highlighted in the Circles of Sustainability under the Global Compact Cities Programmes but sidelined the ecological aspect. As Gandhi once said, the World can fulfill the need of everyone but the not greed of people. A balancing act must be done, and it is long way to go, I believe.