Applying the Sustainability Barometer Approach to Assess Urban Sustainability

Abstract

Sustainability is a multidisciplinary developing science, and sustainable urban development focuses on socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental dimensions. Sustainable urban development is considered as a form of development covering urban spaces. Therefore, sustainability is regarded as one of the most important issues in urban planning. The present study aims to evaluate urban sustainability in nine regions of Tehran’s District 4 using the barometer of sustainability. The study area, covering twenty populous areas with various socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental problems, is located in the northeast of Tehran. The results obtained from overall sustainability and Prescott-Allen ranking indicate that regions 7, 6, 2, 3, and 8 are in medium sustainability level with the scores of 0.492, 0.484, 0.471, 0.411, and 0.457 respectively. However, other regions including regions 9, 1, 4 and 5 with the scores of 0.370, 0.330, 0.281 and 0.274, respectively, were found to be potentially unsustainable. In terms of human and ecosystem well-being, regions 2 and 3 gained the highest score, and regions 9 and 5 had the lowest scores. Based on the results, some practical solutions were provided to improve the sustainability in the area.