Methodology for Framing Indicators for Assessing Economic-Socio-Cultural Sustainability of the Neighbourhood Level Urban Communities in Indian Megacities: Evidence from Kolkata

Abstract

This study presents a comprehensive methodological framework for assessing the economic-socio-cultural (ESC) sustainability of neighborhood-level urban communities (NLUCs) in Kolkata, India. The present study aims to propose a set of indicators through a top-down approach that meets certain criteria for assessing ESC sustainability in specific contexts. In the initial phase, the framework has used a set of existing indicators and tools to measure sustainability. Subsequently, the study has categorized the indicators to measure ESC sustainability based on the assessment of an expert opinion for which the Delphi technique has been employed. Grey relational analysis and RIDIT test have been instigated to validate the importance of the selected sustainability indicators and determine the relationships among the indicators. At the decisive stage, the VIF test is conducted followed by employing Random Forest Classifier, a supervised machine-learning algorithm to identify the redundant indicators. The variables that will be contributing positively towards the prediction performance of the model were included in the final list of indicators. This study prepared the base for designing a model for assessing the ESC sustainability of both planned and unplanned NLUCs.