Sustainable Tropical Cities: A Scoping Review of Multidisciplinary Methods for Urban Planning

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.19.2.2020.3743

Keywords:

sustainable cities, practical methods, multidisciplinary approaches, sustainable urban development, urban sustainability assessment, tropical cities

Abstract

Most studies of urban sustainability are characterised by traditional approaches focusing on environmental aspects. These studies often neglect the influence of issues such as governance, society, culture, and geography. Multidisciplinary contributions remain poorly understood in this field, although evidence suggests that regional, geographical and socio-cultural factors are essential in shaping sustainable urban planning. Following Arksey and O'Malley’s (2005) scoping approach to literature reviews, this article provides a mapping technique and a scoping review to show the extent and nature of applied methodologies in the field of urban sustainability. The paper finds that there is a global need for sustainable urban planning through innovative multidisciplinary approaches. The paper calls for an accelerated knowledge creation in the field of urban development based on climate-classifications, socio-economic information, and locational characteristics. It particularly notes the need for research in the Tropics where distinct socio-economic dynamics and climate conditions have specific impacts on sustainable urban planning.

Author Biography

Taha Chaiechi, James Cook University, Australia

Dr Taha Chaiechi is Associate Professor of Economics in the College of Business, Law and Governance where she is also Australia Director, Centre for International Trade and Business in Asia (CITBA). Currently Taha is serving James Cook University as Expert Member on the Academic Board. Previously she has contributed to the governance and the Teaching & Learning profile of the College in different capacities. She is also Associate Editor-in-Chief, Bulletin of Applied Economics (ABDC ranked). Taha is an expert in systematic modelling of dynamic relationships between economic, environmental and social variables. Her research attitude is holistic and inspired by issues in climate change and natural disasters, and their impacts on different economic sectors such as health, tourism, environment, energy, and cities. At the core of her research philosophy is sustainable development, and she uses the 2030 Agenda as a malleable guide throughout her research. Taha’s multidisciplinary research approach has resulted in numerous collaborative projects over a broad spectrum of research topics, with the intention to enhance methodological approaches that are especially suitable for sustainability analysis.   

References

Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (2010). The Pearl Rating System for Estidama: Community Rating System. Abu Dhabi.

Arksey, H. O'Malley, L. (2005). Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8 (1), 2005. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364557032000119616

Ameen, R. F. M., Mourshed, M., & Li, H. (2015). A critical review of environmental assessment tools for sustainable urban design. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 55, 110-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2015.07.006

Angel, S., & Blei, A. M. (2016). The productivity of American cities: How densification, relocation, and greater mobility sustain the productive advantage of larger US metropolitan labour markets, Cities, 51, 36-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2015.11.030

Atkisson, A., & Hatcher, R. L. (2001). The compass index of sustainability: Prototype for a comprehensive sustainability information system. Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, 3(04), 509-532. https://doi.org/10.1142/S1464333201000820

Awasthi, A., Omrani, H., & Gerber, P. (2018). Investigating ideal solution based multi-criteria decision-making techniques for sustainability evaluation of urban mobility projects. Journal of Policy and Practice, 116, October 2018, 247-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2018.06.007

Balchin, P. N., Kieve, J. L., & Bull, G. H. (1988). Spatial Structure and Urban Growth. Editor: I.H. Seeley, In Urban Land Economics and Public Policy (pp. 55-86). London: Macmillan Education

Berardi, U. (2013). Sustainability assessment of urban communities through rating systems. Journal of Environment, development and sustainability, 15(6), 1573-1591. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-013-9462-0

Braulio-Gonzalo, M., Bovea, M. D., & Ruá, M. J. (2015). Sustainability on the urban scale: Proposal of a structure of indicators for the Spanish context. Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 53, 16-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2015.03.002

BREAM Communities Technical Manual (2012). BREEAM Communities Technical Manual. SD202 – Issue:1.1 – Issue Date:07/03/2016 BREEAM Communities. Watford

Browne, D., O'Regan, B., & Moles, R. (2005). A comparative analysis of the application of sustainability metric tools using Tipperary Town, Ireland, as a case study. Journal of Management of Environmental Quality, 16 (1), 37-56. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777830510574335

Bockstaller, C., Girardin, P. (2003). How to validate environmental indicators. Journal of Agricultural Systems. 76 (2), 639-653. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0308-521X(02)00053-7

Cepeliauskaite, G., & Stasiskiene, Z. (2020). The Framework of the Principles of Sustainable Urban Ecosystems Development and Functioning. Journal of Sustainability 12 (720), 1-15 https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020720

Chang, D.L., Sabatini-Marques, J., da Costa, E.M. et al. (2018). Knowledge-based, smart and sustainable cities: a provocation for a conceptual framework. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 4 (5). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40852-018-0087-2

Ciegis, R., Ramanauskiene, J., & Startiene, G. (2009). Theoretical reasoning of the use of indicators and indices for sustainable development assessment. Journal of Engineering Economics, 63(4).

Cohen, M. (2017). A Systematic Review of Urban Sustainability Assessment Literature. Sustainability, 2017, 9, 2048. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9112048

Cohen, M., & Habron, G. (2018). How Does the New Urban Agenda Align with Comprehensive Planning in US Cities? A Case Study of Asheville, North Carolina. Sustainability, 10(12), 4590. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124590

Davidson, K. M., Kellett, J., Wilson, L., & Pullen, S. (2012). Assessing urban sustainability from a social democratic perspective: a thematic approach. Local Environment, 17(1), 57-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2011.631990

Diaz-Sarachaga, J.M. (2016).The Role of Sustainable Infrastructure Rating Systems in Urban Development. Conference: International Congress of Civil Engineering, Madrid, Spain, retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296647048_The_Role_of_Sustainable_Infrastructure_Rating_Systems_in_Urban_Development

Ding, X., Zhong, W., Shearmur, R. G., Zhang, X., & Huisingh, D. (2015). An inclusive model for assessing the sustainability of cities in developing countries–Trinity of Cities' Sustainability from Spatial, Logical and Time Dimensions (TCS-SLTD). Journal of Cleaner Production, 109, 62-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.06.140

Egilmez, G., Gumus, S., & Kucukvar, M. (2015). Environmental sustainability benchmarking of the US and Canada metropoles: An expert judgment-based multi-criteria decision-making approach. Cities, 42, 31-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2014.08.006

Elgert, L. (2016). The double edge of cutting edge: Explaining the adoption and non-adoption of the STAR rating system and insights for sustainability indicators. Ecological Indicators, 67, 556-564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.02.051

Eyles, J. (2007). Urban assets and urban sustainability: challenges, design and management. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment. Vol 102, WIT Press. https://doi:10.2495/SDP070131

Emilsson, T., Sang, A.O. (2017). Impacts of Climate Change on Urban Areas and Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation. In: Kabisch N., Korn H., Stadler J., Bonn A. (eds) Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Areas. Theory and Practice of Urban Sustainability Transitions (pp 15-27). Springer, Cham

Fitria, R., Kim, D., Baik, J., Choi, M. (2019). Impact of Biophysical Mechanisms on Urban Heat Island Associated with Climate Variation and Urban Morphology. Sci Rep, 9, 19503. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-55847-8

Fleischmann, K. (2018). Design Evolution and Innovation for Tropical Liveable Cities: Towards A Circular Economy. eTropic: electronic journal of studies in the tropics, 17 (1), 60-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.25120/etropic.17.1.2018.3642

Gonzalez, A., Donnelly, A., Jones, M., Klostermann, J., Groot, A., & Breil, M. (2011). Community of practice approach to developing urban sustainability indicators. Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management,13(04), 591-617. https://doi.org/10.1142/S1464333211004024

Hardi, P., Zdan, T., (1997), Principles in Practice. Assessing Sustainable Development IISD-International Institute for Sustainable Development, Winnipeg.

Harding, S., Bird, G., Losos, E., Aderolili, R., & Hotez, P. (2016). International Day of the Tropics: Towards a better global future. eTropic: electronic journal of studies in the tropics 15 (2), 5-12. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.15.2.2016.3538

He, J., Bao, C. K., Shu, T. F., Yun, X. X., Jiang, D., & Brwon, L. (2011). Framework for integration of urban planning, strategic environmental assessment and ecological planning for urban sustainability within the context of China. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 31(6), 549-560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2010.09.002

Hockey, J. (2014). Keynote Address, Future of the Tropical Economies Conference, Cairns. Australian Government. The Treasury. http://jbh.ministers.treasury.gov.au/speech/017-2014/

Huang, L., Wu, J., & Yan, L. (2015). Defining and measuring urban sustainability: A review of indicators. Landscape Ecology, 30(7), 1175-1193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0208-2

Josza, A., Brown, D. (2005). Neighbourhood Sustainability Indicators Report on a Best Practice Workshop – Report. School of Urban Planning, McGill University and the Urban Ecology Center/SodemC, Montreal.

Kropp, W. W., & Lein, J. K. (2013). Scenario analysis for urban sustainability assessment: A spatial multi-criteria decision-analysis approach. Environmental Practice, 15(2), 133-146. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1466046613000045

Lamorgese, L., & Geneletti, D. (2013). Sustainability principles in strategic environmental assessment: A framework for analysis and examples from Italian urban planning. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 42, 116-126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2012.12.004

Lin, J., Li, Y., Wang, W., Cui, S., & Wei, X. (2010). An eco-efficiency-based urban sustainability assessment method and its application. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 17(4), 356-361. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2010.493070

Lind, J., Malmqvist, T., & Wangel, J. (2017). Citylab Action: Guiding Sustainable Urban Development. In World Sustainable Built Environment Conference, Hong Kong.

Lind, J., Malmqvist, T., & Wangel, J. (2019). Key Considerations When Designing Certification Systems for Urban Sustainability and Implications for The Swedish Post-Construction System Citylab. Sustainability, 11(9), 2673. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11092673

Lutzkendorf, T., & Balouktsi, M. (2017). Assessing sustainable urban development: Typology of indicators and sources of information. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 38, 546-553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2017.03.122

Masnavi, M. R. (2007). Measuring urban sustainability: Developing a conceptual framework for bridging the gap between theoretical levels and operational levels. International Journal of Environmental Research, 1(2), 188-197.

Mathie, A., Cunningham, G., (2003). From Clients to Citizens: Asset-Based Community Development as a Strategy for Community-Driven Development. Journal of Development in Practice, 13 (5), 474-486. https://doi.org/10.1080/0961452032000125857

McGranahan, G., & Satterthwaite, D. (2003). Urban centres: an assessment of sustainability. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 28(1), 243-274. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.energy.28.050302.105541

McLaren, V. W., (1996). Urban Sustainability reporting. Journal of the American Planning Association, 62 (2), 184-203. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944369608975684

Michael, F. L., Noor, Z. Z., & Figueroa, M. J. (2014). Review of urban sustainability indicators assessment–case study between Asian countries. Habitat International, 44, 491-500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2014.09.006

Mischen, P. A., Homsy, G. C., Lipo, C. P., Holahan, R., Imbruce, V., Pape, A.,& Reina, M. (2019). A Foundation for Measuring Community Sustainability. Sustainability, 11(7), 1903. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11071903

Mitropoulos, L. K., & Prevedouros, P. D. (2016). Urban transportation vehicle sustainability assessment with a comparative study of weighted sum and fuzzy methods. Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 142(4), 04016013. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000336

Mosadeghi, R. Tomlinson, R., Mirfenderesk, H., Warnken, J. (2009). Journal of Coastal Research, Coastal Management Issues in Queensland and Application of the Multi-Criteria Decision Making Techniques, Special Issue No. 56. Proceedings of the 10th International Coastal Symposium ICS 2009, Vol. II, pp. 1252-1256

Mori, K., & Christodoulou, A. (2012). Review of sustainability indices and indicators: Towards a new City Sustainability Index (CSI). Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 32(1), 94-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2011.06.001

Mori, K., & Yamashita, T. (2015). Methodological framework of sustainability assessment in City Sustainability Index (CSI): A concept of constraint and maximisation indicators. Habitat International, 45, 10-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2014.06.013

Moroke, T., Schoeman, C., & Schoeman, I. (2018). Integrative and modelling approach to sustainability modes of living and neighbourhood development. WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, 179, 145-157. https://DOI:10.2495/UG180141

Mortberg, U., Haas, J., Zetterberg, A., Franklin, J. P., Jonsson, D., & Deal, B. (2013). Urban ecosystems and sustainable urban development—analysing and assessing interacting systems in the Stockholm region. Urban Ecosystems, 16(4), 763-782. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-012-0270-3

Munier, N. (2011). Methodology to select a set of urban sustainability indicators to measure the state of the city, and performance assessment. Ecological Indicators, 11(5), 1020-1026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.01.006

Murakami, S., Asami, M. Y., Ikaga, T., Ishida, H., Inoue, K., & Iwamura, K. (2013). Environmental Performance Assessment Tool for Municipalities: Overview of CASBEE for Cities. Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency: Tokyo, Japan, 1-3.

Niemeijer, D., & de Groot, R.S. (2008). A conceptual framework for selecting environmental indicator sets. Ecological Indicators, 8(1), 14-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2006.11.012

Nguyen, B. K., & Altan, H. (2011). Comparative review of five sustainable rating systems. Procedia Engineering, 21, 376-386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2011.11.2029

Olalla-Tárraga, M. Á. (2006). A conceptual framework to assess sustainability in urban ecological systems. The International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, 13(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504500609469657

Oppermann, E., Brearley, M., Law, L., Smith, J.A., Clough, A., Zander, K. (2017). Heat, health, and humidity in Australia's monsoon tropics: a critical review of the problematisation of 'heat' in a changing climate. In M. Hulme (Ed.), WIREs Climate Change, Wiley Periodicals 8:e468. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.468

Pavan, M., & Todeschini, R. (2009). Multicriteria Decision-Making Methods. In S. D. Brown, R. Tauler, & B. Walczak (Eds.), Comprehensive Chemometrics (pp. 591-629). Elsevier.

Pincetl, S., Bunje, P., & Holmes, T. (2012). An expanded urban metabolism method: Toward a systems approach for assessing urban energy processes and causes. Landscape and Urban Planning, 107 (3), 193–202 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2012.06.006

Porio, E. (2015). Sustainable development goals and quality of life targets: Insights from Metro Manila. Current Sociology, 63(2), 244-260. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392114556586

Reith, A., & Orova, M. (2015). Do green neighbourhood ratings cover sustainability? Ecological Indicators, 48, 660-672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.09.005

Ries, M., Trotz, M., & Vairavamoorthy, K. (2016). Fit-for-Purpose sustainability index: a simplified approach for US water utility sustainability assessment. Water Practice and Technology, 11(1), 35-47. https://doi.org/10.2166/wpt.2016.009

Riffat, S., Powell, R., & Aydin, D. (2016). Future cities and environmental sustainability. Journal of Future Cities and Environment, 2(1), https://doi.org/10.1186/s40984-016-0014-2

Saarikoski, H., Barton, D. N., Mustajoki, J., Keune, H., Gomez-Baggethun, E., & Langemeyer, J. (2016). Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) in ecosystem service valuation. In M. Potschin & K. Jax (Eds), OpenNESS ecosystem services reference book (pp. 1-6).

Sang N, Ode Sang A. (2015). A review on the state of the art in scenario modelling for environmental management, Report 6695. Swedish Environmental Agency, Stockholm.

Schetke, S., Haase, D., & Kötter, T. (2012). Towards sustainable settlement growth: A new multi-criteria assessment for implementing environmental targets into strategic urban planning. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 32(1), 195-210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2011.08.008

Scipioni, A., Mazzi, A., Zuliani, F., & Mason, M. (2008). The ISO 14031 standard to guide the urban sustainability measurement process: an Italian experience. Journal of Cleaner Production, 16(12), 1247-1257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2007.06.013

Sharifi, A., & Murayama, A. (2013). A critical review of seven selected neighbourhood sustainability assessment tools. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 38, 73-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2012.06.006

Sharifi, A., & Murayama, A. (2015). Viability of using global standards for neighbourhood sustainability assessment: insights from a comparative case study. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 58(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2013.866077

Shen, L. Y., Ochoa, J. J., Shah, M. N., & Zhang, X. (2011). The application of urban sustainability indicators–A comparison between various practices. Habitat International, 35(1), 17-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2010.03.006

Siqueira-Gay, J., Gallardo, A. L. C. F., & Giannotti, M. (2019). Integrating socio-environmental spatial information to support housing plans. Cities, 91, 106-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.11.010

Sparshott, P.J., Darchen, S., Stjoh, D. (2018). Do sustainability-rating tools deliver the best outcomes in master-planned urban infill projects? City to the Lake experience. Australian Planner, 55, (2), 84-92.

https://doi-org.elibrary.jcu.edu.au/10.1080/07293682.2019.1569077

State of the Tropics(2014). State of the TropicsReport.James Cook University, Australia. Retrieved from: http://stateofthetropics.org/the-report

Stojanovski, T. (2017). Urban Design and Multimodal Transportation–Using Urban Form and Accessibility Factors to Estimate Modal Shares and Energy Use from Transportation. Proceedings from the Annual Transport Conference at Aalborg University.

Stojanovski, T. (2019). Urban Form and Mobility Choices: Informing about Sustainable Travel Alternatives, Carbon Emissions and Energy Use from Transportation in Swedish Neighbourhoods. Sustainability, 11(2), 548. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11020548

Sun, L., Ni, J., & Borthwick, A. G. (2010). Rapid assessment of sustainability in Mainland China. Journal of Environmental Management, 91(4), 1021-1031. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.12.015

Tran, L. (2016). An interactive method to select a set of sustainable urban development indicators. Ecological Indicators, 61, 418-427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.09.043

Ulgiati, S. & Zucaro, A. (2019). Challenges in Urban Metabolism: Sustainability and Well-Being in Cities. Frontier in Sustainable Cities, 1(1), pp 1-3 https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2019.00001

Van Dijk, M. P., & Mingshun, Z. (2005). Sustainability indices as a tool for urban managers, evidence from four medium-sized Chinese cities. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 25(6), 667-688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2004.10.001

Venkatesh, G., Brattebø, H., Sægrov, S., Behzadian, K., & Kapelan, Z. (2017). Metabolism-modelling approaches to long-term sustainability assessment of urban water services. Urban Water Journal, 14(1), 11-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/1573062X.2015.1057184

Verovsek, S., Juvancic, M., & Zupancic, T. (2016). Recognising and fostering local spatial identities using a sustainability assessment framework. Annales-Anali Za Istrske in Mediteranske Studije-Series Historia Et Sociologia, 26(3), 573-584.

Wangel, J., Wallhagen, M., Malmqvist, T., & Finnveden, G. (2016). Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods: What do they really certify? Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 56, 200-213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2015.10.003

Wei, Y., Huang, C., Lam, P., Sha, Y., & Feng, Y. (2015). Using urban-carrying capacity as a benchmark for sustainable urban development: an empirical study of Beijing. Sustainability, 7(3), 3244-3268. https://doi.org/10.3390/su7033244

Wilkerson, M.L., Mitchell, M., Shanahan, D., Wilson, K.A., Ives, C.D., Lovelock, C.E, Rhodes, J.R. (2018). The role of socio-economic factors in planning and managing urban ecosystem services. Ecosystem Services, 31(PA), 102-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2018.02.017

Yin, K., Wang, R., An, Q., Yao, L., & Liang, J. (2014). Using eco-efficiency as an indicator for sustainable urban development: A case study of Chinese provincial capital cities. Ecological Indicators, 36, 665-671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2013.09.003

Yoon, J., & Park, J. (2015). Comparative analysis of material criteria in neighbourhood sustainability assessment tools and urban design guidelines: Cases of the UK, the US, Japan, and Korea. Sustainability, 7(11), 14450-14487. https://doi.org/10.3390/su71114450

Zanella, A., Camanho, A. S., & Dias, T. G. (2015). The assessment of cities' liveability integrating human well-being and environmental impact. Annals of Operations Research, 226(1), 695-726. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-014-1666-7

Zhai, K., Gao, X., Zhang, Y., & Wu, M. (2019). Perceived Sustainable Urbanization Based on Geographically Hierarchical Data Structures in Nanjing, China. Sustainability, 11(8), 2289. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082289

Zinkernagel, R., Evans, J., & Neij, L. (2018). Applying the SDGs to cities: business as usual or a new dawn? Sustainability, 10(9), 3201. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093201

Downloads

Published

2020-12-21

How to Cite

Chaiechi, T. (2020). Sustainable Tropical Cities: A Scoping Review of Multidisciplinary Methods for Urban Planning. ETropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 19(2), 25–51. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.19.2.2020.3743