As population has grown, and as human needs have increased and expectations have changed, the natural environment that supports their growth has deteriorated, and the challenges faced by governments and societies have become more complex. In a race to promote the sort of economic growth that is able to sustain human development, inexplicably people themselves have been pushed from the centre of development debates and dialogues to the periphery: people have many times lost the irrefutable priority governments should have awarded them in the search for sustainable development.
By Cecilia Tortajada, Chapter of the book: Governing Asia: Reflections on a Research Journey, edited by The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy NUS Singapore, 2014, World Scientific, Singapore, pages 185-189. DOI: 10.1142/9789814635394_0033