An Integrated Approach for Developing an Urban Livability Composite Index—A Cities’ Ranking Road Map to Achieve Urban Sustainability

Abstract

Livability is a concept that assesses the quality of life and relative performance of different regions and communities, based on various qualitative and quantitative factors. The assessment of urban livability is a complex and multidimensional task, which is of utmost importance for informed and transparent policy and decision making. The present study aimed to develop a road map for cities’ ranking on the bases of their livability. We have used a case study of eight major cities of Punjab, Pakistan. Indicators of cities’ sustainability considered for the cities’ ranking were spatial planning and growth, individual wellbeing, urban economy, connectivity and infrastructure, quality of life, and the urban environment. In the first stage, after the consolidation of socio-economic, environmental, and other indicators, they are converted into dimension indices by taking geometric means. In the second stage, the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) has been employed for assigning weights to each dimension into a composite index. The results of the study depict the disparities among cities through a multidimensional analysis. Lahore is ranked as first overall from the bottom. Thus, the study recommends that, despite the high standing of Lahore on the livability ladder, it must address the issue of connectivity and traffic congestion and per capita needs of the public infrastructure for a growing mega metropolitan city of over 10 million people. Similarly, Rawalpindi is ranked as the second-best city with regard to livability in Punjab. The main contributing factors for Rawalpindi city are ‘individual well-being’, ‘urban economy’, and ‘urban environment’. Moreover, the current study also suggests important policy implications for decision makers to highlight the areas that must be reconsidered for improvement in terms of the selected indicators and dimensions.