Sustainable development indicators for cities

Abstract

The assessment of urban population’s life quality implies an investigation of all factors defining it: economic, social and ecological. The development of the corresponding indicators of sustainable urban development is necessary. The majority of the cities in the world and this country show unsustainable development at present time. In the article, the world and Russian experience of development of indicators of sustainable urban development is considered. In the article, opportunities of adaptation of approaches to these indicators’ development on the basis of Human Development Index developed by United Nations Development Program and an index of Adjusted Net Savings of the World Bank for Russia are considered. The authors propose a new integrated index of sustainability for Russian cities. It is based on the concept and methodology of the Adjusted Net Savings index. In order to evaluate the sustainability of urban development taking into account economic, social, and ecological factors, the authors propose applying three corresponding sub-indexes: gross capital, expenses on human capital development, and damage from environmental pollution in the cities. In the article, the authors’ set of indicators for Russian cities is proposed. It reflects the most acute problems of sustainable urban development in Russia and the quality of life in cities; also it corresponds to Russian statistics. 21 key indicators reflecting important economic, social, and ecological urban priorities are proposed. Indicators are divided into nine groups: economic indicators; energy efficiency; transport; social and institutional indicators; air and climate; water resources; waste; especially protected natural territories; noise influence. Proposed indicators for cities allow more adequately assess trends of urbanized space shaping and quality of life.