Urban planning and indicators for sustainability

Abstract

The field of environmental planning is continuously developing tools that can assist in developing more effective strategies and making better-informed decisions. Various tools from policies to design and mathematical model algorithms are used as decision support tools at all levels of planning. A current issue in environmental management and urban planning is the effort towards developing indices of sustainability and appropriates of planning strategies. While there are many types of indicators developed, a major concern is the extent to which these indicators represent not only the status of the environment, but also the visions and concerns of planners. Indicators are argued to be not so much accurate representations of the environment but rather constructs that are serving specific interest. A further concern includes the ethics of conveying these environmental positions to users of the indicators. The discussion in this paper centers on issues relating to the implication of using indicators for planning purposes. The question of appropriateness in planning and the type of environmental understanding derived from these indicators are linked to constraints inherent in environmental indicators. Arguments are also made against turning the environment, or what is perceived to be the environment, into indicators. The paper then highlights accuracy, reliability and usability components of indicator development that leads to the need for meta-indicators