Urban Sustainability Assessment in a Spontaneous Neighborhood: The Case of Boudghene, Tlemcen

List of BoxesList of TablesList of ContributorsList of AbbreviationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction to Sustainability Assessment at the Local Level, by Dimitri DevuystThe Conundrum of Urban Sustainability, by William E. ReesPart I. Sustainable Development in Urban Areas, by Dimitri Devuyst 1. Sustainable Development in Urban Areas: An Overview, by Rodney R. White2. Local Agenda 21: The Pursuit of Sustainable Development. in Subnational Domains, by William M. Lafferty3. The Eco-City Approach to Sustainable Development in Urban Areas, by Mark Roseland4. Sustainable Development at the Local Level: The North-South Context, by Dimitri DevuystPart II. Urban Sustainability Assessment Tools in the Decision-Making Process ,by Dimitri Devuyst 5. Linking Impact Assessment with Sustainable Development and the Introduction of Strategic Environmental Assessment, by Dimitri Devuyst6. Strategic Environmental Assessment and the Decision-Making Process, by Lone Koernoev7. Sustainability Assessment at the Local Level, by Dimitri Devuyst8. Sustainability Assessment in Practice: Case Studies Using the ASSIPAC Methodology, by Dimitri Devuyst9. Direction Analysis: An Example of Municipal Sustainability Assessment in Norway, by Carlo AallPart III. Tools for Setting a Baseline and Measuring Progress in Urban Sustainability Assessment, by Dimitri Devuyst10. Indicators of Sustainable Development, by Thomas van Wijngaarden11. Indicators for Sustainable Development in Urban Areas, by Elizabeth KlineAdditional Examples of the Use of Sustainability Indicators at the Local Level, by Mark Roseland12. Sustainability Reporting and the Development of Sustainability Targets, by Dimitri Devuyst13. Global Change, Ecological Footprints, and Urban Sustainability, by William E. ReesPart IV. Tools for Sustainability Assessment at the Household Level, by Dimitri Devuyst14. Striving for Sustainability via Behavioral Modification at the Household Level: Psychological Aspects and Effectiveness, by Paul Harland and Henk StaatsGlobal Action Plan Research in Switzerland, by Susanne Bruppacher15. Sustainable Lifestyle Assessment, by Dimitri Devuyst and Sofie Van VolsemLinking Sustainability Assessment to a Vision for a Sustainable Future, by Dimitri DevuystIndex

A framework model for assessing sustainability impacts of urban development

PurposeDeveloping countries are currently on the verge of adopting principles used in achieving a sustainable urban future. As the urban population increases due to factors like urban–rural migration, increase in birth rate, migration, industrialisation, commercialisation, amongst others, there is a drastic need to adopt sustainability principles within urban spaces. To understand how sustainability can be achieved, there is a need to recognise how developed countries have designed assessment tools that work within their context which can inform how developing countries can work on their assessment tool. Urban neighbourhood sustainability assessment tools are used to reflect on the overall goal of the project and the most important indicators needed to be implemented within the project. Sustainability indicators are used to measure the levels and progress at which sustainability has been implemented within a project based on the data collected and these results can be used to make informed decisions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the development of urban sustainability assessment tool.Design/methodology/approachThis research investigates the techniques utilised in developing an urban sustainability assessment tool Sustainable Composite Cities Environmental Evaluation and Design (SUCCEED-ND) tool within the Nigerian context. The data instrument used includes a questionnaire survey that sampled 50 correspondents, and the results were used to develop an urban assessment tool tailored for the Nigerian countries.FindingsThe findings used social, environmental, economic and planning sustainability dimensions in the design of the assessment tool which composes of 21 core sustainability indicators and 105 indicators to develop SUCCEED-ND tool.Originality/valueThis work developed the first urban sustainability assessment tool for the Nigerian urban environment. The result is meant to evaluate and implement sustainability within existing and proposed neighbourhood development.

Context: The context of this study relates to the effectiveness of the implementation of the free lunch policy in Indonesia, its opportunities, threats, advantages, and disadvantages. After analyzing the four points above, the researcher compared the implementation of the policy with a number of developed countries that have implemented the policy. Objective: The object of this study aims to explain each of the shortcomings, advantages, opportunities, and threats in the implementation of the free lunch policy in Indonesia. The researcher also conducted a comparison with a number of developed countries that have implemented the policy to find out whether it is realistic or not if implemented in Indonesia. Method: This research is a qualitative research with a comparative descriptive approach, namely an approach that describes in advance the existing problems, namely regarding the implementation of the policy, the definition of the policy, the definition of free lunch, its effectiveness, and its comparison with the implementation of the free lunch policy in developed countries. The data used in this study are secondary data that researchers obtain from various credible sources such as scientific journals, books, and scientific websites. The data obtained by researchers are collected and analyzed using the SWOT method to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of the policy Results: There are several points in the SWOT analysis that are in line with the explanations of previous researchers above. The implementation of the free lunch policy in Indonesia has a number of challenges and threats, namely a larger number of targets, large funds, and a low level of education. The consequences of these challenges can cause the implemented program to be in vain, not on target, and have a negative impact on other sectors that prove it. In line with the implementation of the lunch policy in other developed countries, this policy should be carried out in stages first so that what is issued only circulates in the tens to hundreds of billions, not trillions like the Prabowo-Gibran program. If it is proven to be successful and has a significant impact, it can be continued to be added according to existing needs. Contribution: The researcher's great hope is that each input, idea, and concept in this research can be the main reference in formulating the budget, targets, and so on related to the implementation of the free lunch policy as a flagship program of the Indonesian President Prabowo and the Indonesian Vice President Gobran Rakabuming Raka. The researcher also hopes that this article can also be the main reference for other researchers who will study similar themes and titles.

As the world rapidly urbanizes, there is much focus on achieving sustainability outcomes within cities. Accomplishing this goal requires not only envisioning sustainable cities and implementing strategies, but it also demands assessing progress towards sustainable urban development. Despite a growing literature on sustainability assessment, there is room to further understand the application of sustainability assessment in urban contexts. This paper presents a systematic review of urban sustainability assessment literature to (1) identify the most common methods used for urban sustainability assessment, (2) identify the most common framings for urban sustainability assessment, and (3) identify the most common categories for organizing indicators that measure urban sustainability. This research finds that urban sustainability assessment in general lacks a unifying framing and that it could be better aligned with common sustainability principles. The paper provides recommendations for future urban sustainability assessment research, including the employment of mixed-methods research among other strategies. In closing, this research offers a generic framework around which to structure urban sustainability assessment and within which to assign indicators for measuring progress towards sustainable urban development.

It is argued in this paper that recent financial innovations and deregulation in less developed countries may have established a case for an intermediate target strategy for monetary policy. The question of which financial aggregate to target is not, however, a trivial one. Three criteria have to be met for a financial aggregate to serve as an appropriate target for monetary policy. Using time series data from a sample of six less developed countries, these three criteria are empirically tested to determine whether narrow money, broad money or domestic credit is the most appropriate target for monetary policy in less developed countries. The results indicate that it is difficult to generalize and that until monetary policy can be independent of fiscal policy in these countries, none of the tested financial aggregates would be appropriate as an intermediate target.

Urban infrastructure sustainability assessment currently is being viewed as an important step towards the reduction of urbanization consequences, at the same time improving sustainability of communities within economic, social and ecological changes. To make such informed decisions, scientists have already developed several tools for comprehensive assessment of cities’ sustainability, which unfortunately do not fully reflect the sustainability of their infrastructures. Most modern assessment methods have been developed based on the needs of developed countries, which differ from the needs of developing countries. Increasingly, cities in developed countries obtain the top positions in various international rankings for urban sustainability. At the same time, cities in developing countries are rarely included in the rankings. Despite the presence of a significant number of scientific papers on the topic of urban sustainability assessment, the methodology for assessing the sustainability of its infrastructure remains unestablished. Most scholars consider urban infrastructure to be an integral part of sustainability assessment. According to the author, this approach is ineffective in terms of the results obtained, as it does not provide an opportunity to objectively analyze the state of municipal infrastructure due to the small number of criteria used for direct evaluation. This approach also limits the possibility of comparison between the infrastructures of different cities. Therefore, there is a need for further research and development of a specialized methodology for urban infrastructure sustainability assessment. Within the scope of this work, author analyzed various methods used for urban infrastructure sustainability assessment, presenting their advantages and disadvantages as well as analyzed the wholeness of the main urban sustainability indicators used for urban infrastructure assessment. It was revealed that out of 9 indicators analyzed only 3 proved to be adequate based on the number of infrastructure components included into assessment methodologies and availability of assessment results for several consequent years.

Urban sustainability assessment: An overview and bibliometric analysis

Accelerated urbanization causes an increasing number of city dwellers, insufficient and overburdened infrastructure and services, and negative environmental impacts and climate change impacts. Measuring the city’s progress toward sustainability is essential to support decision-making and policy development. This study aims to establish an assessment and monitoring method of sustainable development goals at the city level, focusing on identifying indicators that are compatible with the city context to update and monitor progress toward sustainability. A review of the literature on sustainability assessment methods and tools is presented. A comprehensive framework for city sustainability assessment and a checklist of indicators. Amman city in Jordan is suggested. A Voluntary Local Review (VLR) report of Amman was presented to the United Nations in 2022. The report reviews Amman’s progress toward achieving the SDGs; however, it lacks clear and a quantitative assessment of the city’s sustainability, particularly SDG 11, which this paper seeks to address. The checklist survey questions were formulated according to the sub-indicators of the UN-Habitat SDG indicator metadata. The checklist was distributed to respondents from the Municipality of Amman and related organizations to the VLR. The respondents evaluated the sub-indicators of Goal 11 and gave performance level scores in three levels: low, average, and optimal. The sum of the indicator values is quantitatively presented in tables. The findings reveal that the indicator values of the city sustainability assessment framework, as applied in this paper, can be adjusted within the characteristics and constraints of the local context in a two-year observation period to provide updated data for decision-makers regarding the current status and future implementation of sustainability agendas.

The Federal Reserve in a Globalized World Economy

The development of a weighting and aggregating coefficient system used in urban sustainability assessment tools is a process that needs well-defined procedures using a series of steps, methodology, and a systematic approach in its development. The development of assessment tools has been successful in developed countries but developing countries would need to have a structured process that will assist in the development of an assessment tool that is tailored to its environs. This paper aims to understand the various weighting and aggregating coefficient systems employed in the development of sustainability assessment tools. Alongside using these findings to understand how these weighting and aggregating coefficients can be adopted in the development of sustainability assessment tools for developing countries based on their differences, advantages, and disadvantages. Qualitative Content Analysis based on a systematic review of existing literature was used in this study to understand various weighting and aggregating coefficients. It is imperative to note that this research will focus on how assessment tools are developed with a clear focus on sustainability assessment weighting and aggregating. The study also further analyses how a case study SUCCEED (Sustainable Composite Cities Environmental Evaluation and Design Tool) has benefited from the adoption of equal weighting and additive aggregation methods based on validation carried out. The findings of this research show that the selection of weighting and aggregating systems is defined by the relevance, importance, and purpose of the assessment tool. It also develops a guide/recommendations on the process utilised in the development of assessment tools for developing countries.

The UDSA ontology: An ontology to support real time urban sustainability assessment

Urbanization rate has been accelerated especially due to industrialization. This acceleration has caused obstacles for healthy urbanization, (e.g. unplanned cities). Increase in the population and uncontrollable migration from rural areas to urban areas have contributed to this problem. New researches have been made and new terms have been created to solve this problem. Sustainability assessment became one of the popular terms in different research fields especially in the field of architecture and urban planning in recent years. This paper is based on an in-depth literature analysis and on the assessment tools analysis. 200 publications on urban sustainability published between 2000-2015 have been investigated with relevant key words. Besides this literature investigation, 6 world leading urban neighborhood sustainability assessment tools have been investigated. This study revealed two gaps in the literature and assessment tools with respect to the sustainable urban planning. These identified gaps are: the need for taking urban scale into account that has an important role for sustainability and the need for taking developing countries and their high population trends in the global sustainability assessment’ This study is expected to contribute to the literature with respect to the lessons learned from the past and recent trends in the sustainable urban planning at the global scale.

PurposeAs a consequence of rapid urbanisation and globalisation, cities have become the engines of population and economic growth. Hence, natural resources in and around the cities have been exposed to externalities of urban development processes. This paper introduces a new sustainability assessment approach that is tested in a pilot study. The paper aims to assist policy‐makers and planners investigating the impacts of development on environmental systems, and produce effective policies for sustainable urban development.Design/methodology/approachThe paper introduces an indicator‐based indexing model entitled “Indexing Model for the Assessment of Sustainable Urban Ecosystems” (ASSURE). The ASSURE indexing model produces a set of micro‐level environmental sustainability indices that is aimed to be used in the evaluation and monitoring of the interaction between human activities and urban ecosystems. The model is an innovative approach designed to assess the resilience of ecosystems towards impacts of current development plans and the results serve as a guide for policy‐makers to take actions towards achieving sustainability.FindingsThe indexing model has been tested in a pilot case study within the Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia. This paper presents the methodology of the model and outlines the preliminary findings of the pilot study. The paper concludes with a discussion on the findings and recommendations put forward for future development and implementation of the model.Originality/valuePresently, there is a few sustainability indices developed to measure the sustainability at local, regional, national and international levels. However, due to challenges in data collection difficulties and availability of local data, there is no effective assessment model at the micro‐level that the assessment of urban ecosystem sustainability accurately. The model introduced in this paper fills this gap by focusing on parcel‐scale and benchmarking the environmental performance in micro‐level.

Urban sustainability has become a prominent element in the discussion of urban policies and the expression of sustainability policy in planning and urban development decisions, as society has become more aware of the consequences of reckless urban development decisions, as well as the need to protect the environment from deterioration due to economic growth and irrational consumption of resources, as urban sustainability is seen as the main tool for this protection.
 In this context, this research paper aims to present a vision that leads to an attempt to reach an assessment of urban sustainability in collective residential neighborhoods in Algeria through a case study of one of the most important major neighborhoods in the city of M'sila, a neighborhood of 400 social housing.
 In view of the nature of our research, which is concerned with sustainability and its practices, policies and concepts in the world and at the national level, which by nature contain qualitative and quantitative data, and therefore we will use the integrated (mixed) research method as a method through which to measure.
 We will use the most famous American system, LEED-ND, to measure the sustainability of residential neighborhoods, because it contains many mandatory requirements and credits.
 The results of the research will determine the extent to which collective residential neighborhoods respond to environmental sustainability standards in Algeria, which will help in the future in redressing future urban development.