Neighbourhood sustainability assessment model for developing countries: A comprehensive approach to urban quality of life

Abstract

To this end, sustainability has progressively become a core principle and prerequisite in the urban planning and development. The application of sustainability and/or its principal expression is being threatened by neighbourhoods' inequality such as segregation in land use and varying levels of income in developing countries. From sustainable development perspective and strictly linked to spatial contexts, this reflects inadequate urban planning as these spatial and socio-economic inequalities translate to fragmented spatial systems, unsustainable urban form and low quality of life. The analysis of these variables depicts that between the rich neighbourhoods and poor neighbourhoods very little space is afforded for connectivity and integration, local facilities, environmental quality and spatial components which are themselves pillars of sustainable urban form and desired quality of life are not preferentially factored into poor neighbourhoods. Thus, bringing multiple and multifaceted adverse impacts on poor people such as living in the unsafe and unhealthy areas. In essence, locally provided community facilities, infrastructure and services are mechanisms of spatial transformation and integration thus promote social and economic development. When drawing up social services to act as the basis from which sustainability in urban areas could be determined -central contention is that urban sustainability cannot be achieved without adequate social facilities that are differentiated by neighbourhoods varying development densities, community size, mobility levels and socio-economic variations. As a result, this research paper evaluates the sustainability level of low-income neighbourhood living spaces which urban system requires in order to achieve urban sustainability. Evaluating neighbourhood sustainability requires a modelling and integrated approach that bring forward all aspects of urban development and quality of life. The Successful Neighbourhood Model (SNM) developed as the comprehensive sustainability assessment tool for low income neighbourhoods in pursuit of neighbourhood sustainability in South Africa is used. The application of SNM procedure embrace metric benchmarking methodology and this quantitative nature of sustainability assessment is employed to conclude and recommend timely integration of new urban sustainability issues in the planning policies, strategies and instruments. SNM has demonstrated that it is possible to identify barriers that hinder poor neigbourhoods to be sustainable and presents possibilities of aiding urban policy decisions regarding sustainability.

Measuring the sustainability of neighborhoods: A systematic literature review

“…provision of various housing types, services, facilities, amenities (clinics, schools, parks, sports centers, supermarkets, etc. ), and open space through map analysis or field observation, Dissimilarity indices (entropy index and balance index), Percentage of commercial land, waterbody, industrial, institution, multi-family houses, single-family houses, recreation/parks, vacant or agricultural land, religious facilities, and roads, Residential land use per business land use ratio, Number of mixed-use plots, Residential per nonresidential area ratio, Economic floor area per total floor area ratio, Residential floor area per total floor area ratio, Single-function block area per neighborhood area ratio, Perceived land use mix (walkability to diverse functional land uses) 17 , 18 , 35 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 42 , 43 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 54 Green Spaces Green area density (Green area per unit area ratio), Proximity or Distance to green areas, Green space change rate, Accessibility to green spaces, gardens, and parks, Protection and preservation of green areas, Entropy Index, View of green spaces, Trees (block, external, street), Green roofs, Green facades, Green spaces for urban agriculture, Number of landscape assets, Green areas design, Provision of public green spaces in neighborhoods 2 , 5 , 10 , 15 , 42 , 43 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 52 , 53 Building Form and Typology Plot size and built proportion including types of external areas, such as side gardens, front gardens, parking lots, patios, etc., H/W ratio of the buildings, Building height (e.g., low-rise, high-rise, or number of stories), Construction type of building (e.g., brick, mix, mud), Building use/function, Age, Style (e.g., Victorian), Types of housing (courtyards, duplex, triplexes, and galleries/apartment or single-family houses, rowhouses, etc. ), Housing shapes (e.g., L-shape) 18 , 35 , 37 , 41 , …”

“…Neighborhoods are mostly recalled as "the building blocks of a city" by researchers. 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 They are also considered a place representing the relationship between the city and the individual. 18 Following Kallus and Law-yone, 16 neighborhoods function as components of an urban settlement that aims to bridge the gap between the individual home and the overall urban environment.…”

Las relaciones entre servicios sociales y políticas urbanas. Una revisión desde la evidencia

“…El primer artículo vincula la calidad de vida y sustentabilidad en la planificación del vecindario (Moroke et al, 2020). La sustentabilidad está siendo amenazada por la desigualdad de los barrios, segregación en el uso del suelo y los diferentes niveles de ingresos en países en desarrollo económico.…”

“…podrían fortalecer la dimensión social, descaradamente infrarrepresentada en las PP.UU., y más concretamente en políticas urbanísticas. No obstante, esta revisión incluye algunos artículos que abordan la dimensión social de la sostenibilidad, concretamente, en el urbanismo como vector de inclusión/exclusión (Moroke et al, 2020); Simwanda, Murayama, y Ranagalage 2020).…”

Assessment of Global Sustainable Development, Environmental Sustainability, Economic Development and Social Development Index in Selected Economies

“…In above perspectives, theoretical review has shown that SD is an integration of economic, human, social, technological and environmental development [3,4,[7][8][9][10][11][12]. Thus, it creates an appropriate bridge between economic, social and environmental development [13,14]. A group of studies have claimed that protection of environmental factors and ecosystem services, and economic and social development are the crucial determinants of SD [5,[15][16][17][18].…”