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Sustainable development, as a multi-dimensional concept, is difficult to measure. Some efforts using indicators and indices have appeared in recent years, but most were developed on a national scale. Use of sustainability indicato...
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Sustainable development, as a multi-dimensional concept, is difficult to measure. Some efforts using indicators and indices have appeared in recent years, but most were developed on a national scale. Use of sustainability indicators has proven valuable for attaining better management of the environment by minimizing information gaps and maximizing community capabilities in terms of economic, social, environmental, and institutional sustainability dimensions. However, at least in the case of developing countries, the potential exists that national sustainability measures, based on national-level indicators, may mask problems in sub-national zones with highly unsustainable conditions. This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate sustainable development at a local level, the use of which Could be helpful in comparing different regions within a country or even among different countries. National sustainability indicators should result from a combination (whether additive or proportional) of regional sustainability indicators, as developed in this paper.
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This study seeks to identify and propose a model for measuring and assessing the level of sustainability in housing environments based on a range of indicators. With this intention, the article is composed of four main parts. In t...
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This study seeks to identify and propose a model for measuring and assessing the level of sustainability in housing environments based on a range of indicators. With this intention, the article is composed of four main parts. In the first part, the relationship between sustainability and housing is presented based on previous research; in the second part, a theoretical framework is put forward for sustainable housing. Then in the third part, sustainability indicators are discussed thoroughly within the context of indicator frameworks. In this section, the development, selection and measuring processes of indicators are also introduced. Finally in the fourth part, the model for measuring and assessing the level of sustainability in housing environments is presented. It is believed that this model will be used as a tool in the decision-making processes for the future development of existing housing settlements and their environments.
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This paper reviews relevant literature on the sus-tainability indicators theoretically proposed and practically applied by scholars over the past 15 years. Although progress is being made in the development and critical analysis o...
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This paper reviews relevant literature on the sus-tainability indicators theoretically proposed and practically applied by scholars over the past 15 years. Although progress is being made in the development and critical analysis of sus-tainability indicators, in many cases existing or proposed indicators are not the most sensitive or useful measures in developing countries. Indicator selection needs to meet the following criteria: relative availability of data representing the indicators, sensitivity to stresses on the system, existence of threshold values and guidelines, predictivity, integratability and known response to disturbances, anthropogenic stresses, and changes over time. Based on these criteria, this paper proposes a set of operational indicators for measuring agricultural Sustainability in developing countries. These indicators include ecological indicators involving amounts of fertilizers and pesticides used, irrigation water used, soil nutrient content, depth to the groundwater table, water use efficiency, quality of groundwater for irrigation, and nitrate content of both groundwater and crops. Economic indicators include crop productivity, net farm income, benefit-cost ratio of production, and per capita food grain production. Social indicators encompass food self-sufficiency, equality in food and income distribution among farmers, access to resources and support services, and farmers' knowledge and awareness of resource conservation. This article suggests that the selection of indicators representing each aspect of Sustainability should be prioritized according to spatial and temporal characteristics under consideration.
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Context Sustainability indices (SIs) have become increasingly important to sustainability research and practice. However, while the validity of SIs is heavily dependent on how their components are weighted and aggregated, the typo...
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Context Sustainability indices (SIs) have become increasingly important to sustainability research and practice. However, while the validity of SIs is heavily dependent on how their components are weighted and aggregated, the typology and applicability of the existing weighting and aggregation methods remain poorly understood.
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Suites of sustainability indicators are increasingly used by governments and the private sector to measure 'sustainability'. These suites typically include data on issues like unemployment, business investment, poverty, pollution ...
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Suites of sustainability indicators are increasingly used by governments and the private sector to measure 'sustainability'. These suites typically include data on issues like unemployment, business investment, poverty, pollution and health status, which have been collected by diverse agencies using different methodologies. The original purpose of the indicators has not been the measurement of sustainability. It is argued that such sets of indicators are ill-suited to measuring sustainability unless the social, economic and environmental contexts in which they are collected are understood. If the purpose of sustainability indicators is to help understand the interrelated forces driving social, economic and environmental changes, then the indicators themselves should be derived from an epistemologically consistent conceptual framework if they are to provide indications of sustainability in the social, economic and environmental sense. To illustrate this argument, this paper reviews definitions of sustainability and headline sustainability indicator frameworks developed by governments and the private sector over the last decade.
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The concept of sustainable development has become an essential reference, which concerns all public policies and which is becoming increasingly assimilated by actors and firms with respect to their behaviour. At the same time, a p...
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The concept of sustainable development has become an essential reference, which concerns all public policies and which is becoming increasingly assimilated by actors and firms with respect to their behaviour. At the same time, a profusion of institutional initiatives were implemented by international organisations in order to develop indicators for sustainable development. The aim of this issue is to study this in greater detail, in particular by determining in which conditions it would be possible to develop more integrated or coordinated approaches. After having recalled the complexity of this question concerning the use of sustainable development indicators with respect to their various functions, we successively examine how scientists attempt to identify, to take into account and/or satisfy indicator demand. Finally, we introduce the concept of indicator trajectory which appears to be the most appropriate way for accounting for the diversity of indicator statuses and elaboration forms.
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In search of an adequate set of indicators to measure the level of sustainability of a country, the main existing indexes have been examined. However, the conclusion must be that none of them seem to fit our needs completely. The ...
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In search of an adequate set of indicators to measure the level of sustainability of a country, the main existing indexes have been examined. However, the conclusion must be that none of them seem to fit our needs completely. The main shortcomings are a limited definition of sustainability, a lack of transparency and an absence of regular updates. For this reason, a new index - the Sustainable Society Index (SSI) - has been developed. The SSI integrates the most important aspects of sustainability and quality of life of a national society in a simple and transparent way. Consisting of only 22 indicators, grouped into 5 categories, it is based upon the definition of the Brundtland Commission, extended to the Brundtland+ definition by explicitly including the social aspects of human life. Using data from scientific institutes and international organizations, the SSI has been developed for 150 countries for which the SSI could be calculated. The resulting SSI scores allow a quick comparison between countries and - as two-yearly updates become available - show developments over time. The underlying data allow in-depth analysis of the aspects that cause the differences between countries. This article outlines the development of the SSI and the calculation methodology as well as giving the main results. It also summarizes the need for further research and development of the SSI.
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Urbanization has become one of the most important issues which define the human relationship with the ecosystem. Measuring progress towards sustainable or unsustainable urban development requires quantification with the help of su...
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Urbanization has become one of the most important issues which define the human relationship with the ecosystem. Measuring progress towards sustainable or unsustainable urban development requires quantification with the help of suitable sustainability indicators. There is a general ignorance about contextual meaning and understanding of the concept of sustainability which differs from country to country and economic strata of the society. Our review aims to reduce this challenge by identifying major issues faced in the development and implementation of sustainability indicators in an urban context and suggesting remedial recommendations. We have identified two broad categories of challenges according to their development and implementation phase respectively, and three preliminary criteria in the application of urban sustainability indicators.
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The sustainability of urban areas is essential to the sustainability of regions, nations, and the world as a whole. Urban sustainability indicators (USIs) can play an important role in advancing the science and practice of sustain...
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The sustainability of urban areas is essential to the sustainability of regions, nations, and the world as a whole. Urban sustainability indicators (USIs) can play an important role in advancing the science and practice of sustaining urban systems.
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Driven by unprecedented economic development for more than three decades, China's urbanization level rose from 17.9% in 1978 to 54.8% in 2014. This breakneck speed of urbanization has resulted in myriad environmental problems and ...
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Driven by unprecedented economic development for more than three decades, China's urbanization level rose from 17.9% in 1978 to 54.8% in 2014. This breakneck speed of urbanization has resulted in myriad environmental problems and social inequities. To gauge the urban sustainability of China, our study focused on ten megacities which are socioeconomic centers of the country. We evaluated the three dimensions of sustainability using a set of sustainability indicators, including Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), Ecological Footprint (EF), Biocapacity, Environmental Performance Index (EPI), City Development Index (CDI), Human Development Index (HDI), Gini coefficient, and Urban-rural income ratio. Based on time-series data from 1978 to 2012, our study has produced the following findings: (1) The values of GPI for the ten megacities started to increase since 2006 after a relatively constant period between 1994 and 2005; (2) The pressures of economic growth on the environment (EF) increased while biocapacity decreased for the ten megacities, with smaller biocapacity deficits for western cities; (3) The overall level of human wellbeing (HDI) increased; (4) Socioeconomic inequality (Gini and urban-rural income ratio) widened, but the widening trend seemed to have ceased in recent years for most of the ten megacities; and (5) Certain aspects of urban environment and city development (EPI and CDI) improved gradually, particularly in waste treatment and infrastructure development. Our findings suggest that, to achieve overall urban sustainability, China must move away from maximizing economic development and focus on improving environmental quality of its megacities. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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