DEFINING SUSTAINABILITY AND EQUITY
Sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability is about sustaining and integrating how we manage the economy, environment, and social equity, to minimize, mitigate, and adapt to short- and long-term impacts on the environment and the quality of life for residents.
Regardless of one’s identity, equity is when all people have just treatment, access to opportunities necessary to satisfy their essential needs, advance their well-being and achieve their full potential, while identifying and eliminating barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups.
This section provides a summary of several key City initiatives already underway to address sustainability and equity. It also identifies a series of indicators that can be used to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the General Plan in fostering a sustainable and equitable city. An index with specific policies related to all major topics, including sustainability and equity, can be found at the end of Chapter 1, Introduction.
Recent City Initiatives
In recent years, the City has demonstrated its commitment to sustainability and equity. A few notable examples include:
- Establishment of City’s Office of Diversity & Equity
- Formation of the City Council’s Racial Equity Committee
- Establishment of the City’s Office of Climate Action & Sustainability and the Climate Implementation Work Plan
- Development of an Inclusive Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan and formation of the Inclusive Economic and Community Development Investment Committee
- Establishment of the Neighborhood Development Action Team
- Preparation of a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan
- Early Climate Action implementation, including the development of an Existing Building Electrification Strategy
Indicators
Indicators offer a way to measure progress toward our guiding vision in the General Plan, which states that, “In 2040, the City of Sacramento will be a national model of sustainable and equitable growth and community development.” Regularly measuring progress on sustainability and equity indicators will help evaluate whether implementation of the General Plan has been contributing to a more sustainable and equitable city. Furthermore, the evaluation will provide insight for how the City might modify implementing actions to better achieve the community-wide objectives of the General Plan in a sustainable and equitable way.
Table 2-1 identifies a series of indicators that can be used to measure progress toward the vision for Sacramento in 2040 and to guide future policy decisions. For each indicator, the table shows the baseline against which progress will be measured and the target(s) to be achieved. The table also indicates how the metric will be calculated. To be effective, indicators should be relevant, easy to understand, reliable, and readily measurable. The indicators set forth in Table 2-1 are generally measured using publicly available data sources – including data from City departments, regional agencies, various State offices, and the U.S. Census Bureau. These indicators will be tracked on an annual basis.
Each year, the City prepares a General Plan Progress Report to highlight accomplishments, report on current challenges, and measure the success of the General Plan in guiding the City toward its vision. Incorporating updated information on these General Plan indictors into the Annual Progress Report can be an effective way to report out on progress to decision-makers and community members.