Sustainable Cities and Communities in EU Member States: A Multi-Criteria Analysis

Abstract

Sustainable Cities and Communities within the European Union (EU) are crucial for achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, which aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. This goal is particularly pertinent to the EU due to challenges such as urbanization, climate change, infrastructure demands, transport issues, and natural resource management. The implementation of SDG 11 across Europe shows varying levels of success among countries and regions, highlighting the need for tailored, local strategies for sustainable urban development. The primary goal of this paper is to employ the Multi-Criteria Method Integrating Distances to Ideal and Anti-Ideal Points to determine the Sustainable Cities and Communities Index (SCCI). Using Eurostat data, this method provides a comprehensive evaluation and ranking of EU countries based on their performance in achieving SDG 11 in EU countries in 2015 and 2020. By integrating various indicators related to urban sustainability—such as access to public transport, air quality, land use, and housing conditions—the SCCI offers a nuanced understanding of how different countries perform relative to one another. The SCCI facilitates the identification of best practices and areas requiring improvement by comparing each country’s performance to ideal and anti-ideal points. This comparison allows policymakers to develop more targeted and effective strategies. Additionally, it highlights disparities between countries and regions, which is essential for fostering regional cooperation and ensuring equitable progress towards sustainable urban development across the EU. This study confirmed significant disparities among EU countries in the realization of SDG 11 in 2015 and 2020, revealing that Italy achieved the most substantial progress, while Spain experienced the greatest regress during the analyzed period.