Indicators for urban sustainability: Key lessons from a systematic analysis of 67 measurement initiatives

Merino‐Saum, Albert; Halla, Pekka; Superti, Valeria; Boesch, Anne; Binder, Claudia R.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106879

Cited by 100 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Some indicators apply not only to one but to several groups at once. Based on the examination of the literature [18,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36], it is apparent that there are plenty of indicators with the potential to affect sustainable supply chains in construction. The identified sustainability indicators for examining the supply chains of construction companies are listed in Tables 1, 2 and 3.…”

Section: Sustainability Indicators In Construction Using Sscmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Indicators in Construction

2021

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Most of the existing supply chain management methods and systems are being transferred to construction regardless of the specifics of companies in the construction sector. Numerous complex factors such as ecological, social and economic are required for the continuous evaluation in the modern management of construction sector. The provided studies and the research to examine sustainable supply chain management in construction sector from a holistic perspective, concentrating on mostly long-term sustainable decision-making by the construction company rather than being centered only on the supply chain management for construction projects. This paper identifies a list of sustainability indicators for examining the supply chains of construction companies. Those indicators were categorized and assigned to one or a couple groups by reviewing their use in the previous literature agreeing to the reasoning to way better reflect the SSCM principle of their use in construction companies. The use of indicators can help develop strategies for the construction sector for sustainable policy makers and construction company managers.

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Section: Sustainability Indicators In Construction Using Sscmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Indicators in Construction

2021

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“…Indicator frameworks are anchors that explicitly connect generic metrics to the concept they are expected to represent, in accordance with the object, context and general approach of the indicator initiative (Gudmundsson, 2003). In doing so, frameworks mutate otherwise non-specific metrics into indicators (Maggino, 2017;Merino-Saum et al, 2020) 2 . Indeed, by explaining how raw numbers and/or words are linked to a particular concept, indicator frameworks elucidate the concrete signification they carry in the ambit of a specific indicator set, thereby making them intelligible and relevant for decision-makers and stakeholders (Lyytimäki and Rosenström, 2008;Maggino, 2017).…”

Section: Putting Metrics Into Context (Indicator Framework As Anchors)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As part of this general concern, particular attention has been given to the sustainable development of urban areas (UN, 2017), which, due to their role as socio-economic hubs of human activity, constitute a crucial determinant of global sustainability (IPCC, 2014). To address this issue, a range of different actors from the international to the local scale have developed sets of indicators for measuring the sustainability of cities (Verma and Raghubanshi, 2018;Merino-Saum et al, 2020). Such indicator sets represent important means for the deployment of the complex concept of urban sustainability at a more concrete and operational level.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We understand indicators as multifaceted constructs ideally composed of: (i) a label; (ii) a unit of measurement; (iii) a definition; (iv) accessible data; (v) a reference point; and (vi) its anchoring in a particular conceptual framework (i.e. the categories and the concept with which it is associated)(Merino-Saum et al, 2020)). This last element is what differentiates an indicator from a metric, which can be seen as a 'generic' or 'raw' indicator without any concrete meaning, thus being associable with more than one concept.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Conceptual frameworks for urban sustainability indicators - an empirical analysis

Halla¹,

Merino‐Saum²

2021

Preprint

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Indicator-based assessment represents a popular means of operationalizing the concept of sustainability. A central yet often neglected aspect in the development of indicator sets concerns the elaboration of accompanying conceptual frameworks. Despite the pivotal role that such frameworks play, and the normative power they wield, little explicit guidance exists for their development. To address this issue, we analyze an extensive sample of conceptual frameworks drawn from 67 urban indicator initiatives. The results of the analysis elaborate an empirically-based typology of four principal and two emerging framework types, each based on a particular logic for creating conceptual categories for urban sustainability indicators. We also develop a comparison of the framework types in terms of their respective abilities to meet the different purposes that conceptual frameworks ideally serve in indicator set development. The results allow us to provide much-needed guidance for indicator set developers; first, by laying out the range of options available; second, by helping developers choose between types of frameworks in accordance with their particular aims. In addition, through analysis of how urban sustainability is de facto defined in indicator initiatives, we aim to make a conceptual contribution that advances our understanding of the meaning of this complex concept.

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“…All these impacts of sustainability must be evaluated to provide long term useful SAT. SOC impacts seems to be more difficult to evaluate according to the highest number of criteria found [23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social criteria to develop an in use holistic urban sustainable assessment tool: UHU2SAT

et al. 2021

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Recently, several urban sustainability assessment tools (USAT) have appeared to reduce the human impact provided by the built environment. Few of them focus on the assessment of urban spaces like squares, streets, and parks, etc., but they don’t operation and maintenance (OM) phase is not considered. It would be necessary to develop an in use holistic urban sustainable assessment tool (UHU2SAT) to specifically assess urban spaces under OM phase. This paper provides a qualitative research among 188 studies, with the aim to classify them according to the impacts they pursue: environmental (ENV), social (SOC) economic (ECO) and Others. Finally, the SOC criteria are reduced up to 21 and arranged into 4 different groups: Human comfort, Urban mobility, SOC Cohesion, and Health & safety. These SOC criteria have been discussed and revised according to the literature review to identify the most suitable indicators for the UHU2SAT. Finally, it can be concluded that this methodology could also be useful to obtain ENV and ECO criteria to provide a holistic assessment of the sustainability.

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Indicators for urban sustainability: Key lessons from a systematic analysis of 67 measurement initiatives

Cited by 100 publications

References 85 publications

Developing of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Indicators in Construction

Developing of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Indicators in Construction

Conceptual frameworks for urban sustainability indicators - an empirical analysis

Social criteria to develop an in use holistic urban sustainable assessment tool: UHU2SAT

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