Implementing sustainable urban development at the operational level (with special reference to Hong Kong and Guangzhou)

A critical review of environmental assessment tools for sustainable urban design

“…Several researchers (Briassoulis, 2001;Seabrooke et al, 2004;Shen et al, 2011;Castanheira and Braganca, 2014) have concluded that anomalies in the classification of indicators constitutes an undesirable factor in conducting urban design sustainability assessment, due to the lack of clarity in the hierarchy of indicators within the main criteria on the one hand, and to the sustainability dimensions on the other hand.…”

Strategic urban management in China: A case study of Guangzhou Development District

“…This is also evident in the recent literature on the urban development of China. In a comparative study on the sustainable development of Hong Kong and Guangzhou, Seabrooke et al (2004) point out that little progress has been made in encouraging the active participation of groups such as women, young people, indigenous people and other local communities, although the evolution of the Guangzhou Agenda 21 has led to a relatively liberal degree of public discussion.…”

“…During site visits, the GDD officials revealed that environmental impact assessment (EIA) and social impact assessment (SIA) have not been compulsory for major development projects in GDD. Even at the municipal level, the practice of incorporating EIA reports into the planning process was not implemented in urban development projects (Seabrooke et al, 2004). Due to the absence of EIA and SIA analyses, many environmental impacts caused by urban development have been overlooked in policy making.…”

The application of urban sustainability indicators – A comparison between various practices

“…A wide range of urban sustainability indicators is therefore in use across the diversity of different cities and regions, which vary according to their particular needs and goals (Brandon & Lombardi, 2005;Verbruggen & Kuik, 1991). However, practical challenges have led to mixed results in applying sustainability indicators in different environments and sometimes with little gain in sustainability performance (Alshuwaikhat & Nkwenti, 2002;Seabrooke, Yeung, & Ma, 2004;Selman, 1999). It has been argued that one of the main reasons for failing to attain the desired performance is the inadequate selection of indicators guiding and monitoring the sustainable urbanization process (Briassoulis, 2001;Seabrooke et al, 2004).…”