Citizens wanted to work with the natural processes of the planet and force nature to apply with them. This was what sustainability was for this era. Other Historians had other methods of sustaining their community. According to Descartes, the world was viewed as a machine in ancient times. A healthy man was like a well-made clock, and a sick man was like an ill-made clock. Nature also functioned as a clock; one could take it a part, reduce it to small pieces, analyze it, understand it, and then piece it back together. This was society's way of fixing problems in means of sustaining their city. Scientist believed by fixing one fragment of a whole the entire problem would be solved. This was not the holistic approach. They also believed by advancing technology all of the society's problems would go away. This method of thinking might've worked in the past but what works for the past doesn't always work for the future. Especially in a future in which information, revolution, technological advancement, and rapid, complex change are sure to dominate. Societies must use a holistic approach bolstered by creative thinking to sustain cities in today's era. .
A holistic approach means we are interested in a person as a whole. You can think of this as different levels, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. It's the concept that the human being is multi-dimensional. The holistic approach is useful for creating a plan to sustain today's era. It's the balance between coherency, combination, and continuity. Coherency provides meaning and harmony among interacting parts of a plan. To be coherent, a vision extends from the present to the future. A vision enables parts to come together at the right time and right place to achieve desired effects. (Hall, 1994). Combining parts or whole to create a linkage constitutes art in Holistic thinking. "Artistically combining parts of a whole becomes a collage that the spark of creativity brings to life.
