Tools for evaluating the sustainability of urban design: a review

Abstract

The present policy objective of sustainable urban development has created the need for methods of ex ante evaluation of local area development projects that assess the contribution of alternative solutions to the general sustainability goals. For this reason, we have seen the evolution of building energy assessment methods into sustainable neighbourhood assessment methods that are more integrative and contextual to accommodate the complexities of the urban scale. This article identifies and reviews a selection of sustainable urban development evaluation tools that are applicable to the early stages of urban design projects, to provide a clearer picture of the state of play to those needing to use such tools and those wanting to develop new ones. The review follows an analytical framework covering the format, structure, content and output of the tools, based on the recommendations of planning evaluation theory and the requirements of urban design practice. Since no single tool stands out from the review, the choice is not simple and there is scope both to further improve existing tools and develop new ones. The paper concludes proposing a strategy for the development of robust and compatible sustainable urban development evaluation methods based on four goals: collaboration, compatibility, customisation and combination.

Sustainability on the urban scale: Proposal of a structure of indicators for the Spanish context

“…When a new district is projected, it is possible to conduct an accurate design with sustainable development premises from very early stages (Gil and Duarte, 2013). In contrast, the circumstances for existing neighbourhoods are quite different, where most physical conditions are static and cannot be easily modified.…”

“…Although other qualitative analyses have been conducted (Gil and Duarte, 2013;Haapio, 2012;Nguyen and Altan 2011), the first quantitative review was by Luederitz et al, (2013). This study sorted the literature indicators into 17 categories and counted the number of papers included in each one.…”

Measuring urban sustainability and liveability performance: the City Analysis Methodology

“…As part of the building environmental quality evaluation for sustainability through time (BEQUEST) project, Deakin et al (2002) identified more than 100 assessment methods related to sustainable urban development. Gil and Duarte (2013) reviewed tools for evaluating the sustainability of urban design, identifying 35 tools that met their criteria of being at the neighbourhood scale, which assessed sustainability holistically and which were relevant to the early stages of the urban design process. Poveda et al (2011) pointed to the continued growth in the number of sustainability assessment methods, reiterated the concomitant need for a useful classification system, and identified 12 categories of the most commonly used sustainability assessment methodologies, models, approaches and appraisals.…”

Planning, Development and Management of Sustainable Cities: A Commentary from the Guest Editors

“…Allen [22] coins the concept of strong-versus-weak sustainability; where weak sustainability is the substitutability between human and natural capitals in an acceptable level, while strong sustainability is the maintenance and enhancement of the natural capital. This has turned the evaluation of levels or degrees of sustainability [23,24], in other words sustainability assessment, into a major area of research and advocacy for scholars [25][26][27][28].…”