Research in the area of sustainable urban infrastructure reflects the need to design and manage engineering systems in light of both environmental and socioeconomic considerations. A principal challenge for the engineer is the development of practical tools for measuring and enhancing the sustainability of urban infrastructure over its life cycle. The present study develops such a framework for the sustainability assessment of urban infrastructure systems. The framework focuses on key interactions and feedback mechanisms between infrastructure and surrounding environmental, economic, and social systems. One way of understanding and quantifying these interacting effects is through the use of sustainability criteria and indicators. A generic set of sustainability criteria and subcriteria and system-specific indicators is put forward. Selected indicators are quantified in a case study of the urban water system of the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Key words: sustainable infrastructure, sustainability criteria and indicators, energy use, urban water systems.

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Abstract. The frequency distributions of rainfall volume, rainfall duration, and interevent time are examined using the historical rainfall record of Toronto, Canada. Exponential probability density functions are found to fit well to the histograms of the rainfall event characteristics. The rainfall-runoff transformation on an event basis is described by an equation which incorporates the hydrologic processes commonly considered in numerical simulation models. On the basis of this equation and the exponential probability density functions of rainfall event characteristics, closed-form analytical expressions are derived for average annual runoff volume and runoff event volume return period. Deterministic continuous simulation of various urban catchments are conducted using the Toronto historical rainfall record as input. Close agreement between simulation model results and those from analytical expressions is obtained. The event-based probabilistic models for the determination of average annual runoff volumes and runoff event volumes with specified return periods from urban catchments are proposed as an alternative to continuous simulation models.