Redefining the Discourse of Sustainable Developmentin Compliance with the Globalization Flexibility Theory

Since 1980s, urban activities have endeavored to increase market economic in all global aspects, especially in urban life based on the idea of Neoliberalism and so increasing some risks their main systems performance. The risks that happen in a complex system are influenced by two items: 1) modern cycles, including knowledge, information and technology; and 2) effective forces, including internal forces (complexity and solidarity) and external forces (Sprawl and intensity). These items are affected by urban competition in globalization process. Inconsistency between th ese items has caused some other risks and damages to economic, social and ecological as pects. This condition makes decision makers and planners to shift planning paradigm from critical thought to flexible thought in postmodern age. This article as a narrative overview of the urban world conditions, emphasizes on flexibility theory of the 21st century beginning, based on two axes: flexible globalization and sustainable development discourse. The article recognizes the concepts of sustainability and the burdened impact of flexible theory in three main steps. In the first step, the city vision in the age of globalization was explained, as compression of space and time in flexible postmodern, which is followed by analyzing two main parameters: cycles and forces in urban competition context to produce and reproduce space. In the second step, the discourse of sustainability and its elements are studied to compare the paradigm of flexibility. In the third step and as conclusion with a comparative study, these two concepts in the present age are compared.