Benchmarking sustainability in cities: The role of indicators and future scenarios

CT Boyko, M Gaterell, Austin Barber, Julie Brown, John Bryson, D Butler, S Caputo, M Caserio, R Coles, R Cooper, G Davies, R Farmani, James Hale, Ahoefa Hales, CN Hewitt, Dexter Hunt, L Jankovic, Ian Jefferson, Joanne Leach, Diana LombardiAngus Mackenzie, FA Memon, TAM Pugh, Jonathan Sadler, Carina Weingaertner-Kohlscheen, JD Whyatt, Christopher Rogers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

74 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Scenarios are a useful tool to help think about and visualise the future and, as such, are utilised by many policymakers and practitioners. Future scenarios have not been used to explore the urban context in much depth, yet have the potential to provide valuable insights into the robustness of decisions being made today in the name of sustainability. As part of a major research project entitled Urban Futures, a toolkit has been developed in the UK to facilitate the use of scenarios in any urban context and at any scale relevant to that context. The toolkit comprises two key components, namely, (i) a series of indicators comprising both generic and topic area-specific indicators (e.g., air quality, biodiversity, density, water) that measure sustainability performance and (ii) a list of characteristics (i.e., 1–2-sentence statements about a feature, issue or small set of issues) that describe four future scenarios. In combination, these two components enable us to measure the performance of any given sustainability indicator, and establish the relative sensitivity or vulnerability of that indicator to the different future scenarios. An important aspect of the methodology underpinning the toolkit is that it is flexible enough to incorporate new scenarios, characteristics and indicators, thereby allowing the long-term performance of our urban environments to be considered in the broadest possible sense.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)245-254
Number of pages10
JournalGlobal Environmental Change
Volume22
Issue number1
Early online date25 Apr 2012
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2012

Keywords

  • Urban Futures
  • Regeneration
  • Sustainability
  • Scenarios
  • Indicators
  • Toolkit

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