Considering the complexity of parameters involving D4S, one can say that the three most important pillars of sustainability are: Economy, Society and Environment.


Considering   the multi dimensional and complex web of parameters to be assessed and their influence on Sustainability, one can see that Sustainable Development is said to have been achieved at the confluence of the three constituent parts viz. Economic, Environmental and Socio-ethical dimensions.


United Nations Agenda 21 identified culture as the fourth pillar. This is how the new map looks like and has been used by organizations such as the United Nations Cities Programme and Metropolis. The dimensions in the circle are defined as follows:


Economics
The economic domain is defined as the practices and meanings associated with the production, use, and management of resources, where the concept of ‘resources’ is used in the broadest sense of that word.

• Production and resourcing
• Exchange and transfer
• Accounting and regulation
• Consumption and use
• Labour and welfare
• Technology and infrastructure
• Wealth and distribution

Ecology
The ecological domain is defined as the practices and meanings that occur across the intersection between the social and the natural realms, focusing on the important dimension of human engagement with and within nature, but also including the built-environment.

• Materials and energy
• Water and air
• Flora and fauna
• Habitat and settlements
• Built-form and transport
• Embodiment and sustenance
• Emission and waste

Politics
The political is defined as the practices and meanings associated with basic issues of social power, such as organization, authorization, legitimation and regulation. The parameters of this area extend beyond the conventional sense of politics to include not only issues of public and private governance but more broadly social relations in general.

• Organization and governance
• Law and justice
• Communication and critique
• Representation and negotiation
• Security and accord
• Dialogue and reconciliation
• Ethics and accountability

Culture
The cultural domain is defined as the practices, discourses, and material expressions, which, over time, express continuities and discontinuities of social meaning.

• Identity and engagement
• Creativity and recreation
• Memory and projection
• Belief and ideas
• Gender and generations
• Enquiry and learning
• Wellbeing and health