Performance Indicators for Neighbourhood Sustainability Certification

The on-going urbanization along with the proportionally larger environmental footprint of urban inhabitants, implies that sustainable urban development is essential for sustainable development at large.

This project aimed to contribute to sustainable urban development through supporting the ongoing development of a Swedish certification system for sustainable neighborhoods, led by the Sweden Green Building Council (SGBC) and their partnering stakeholders. The project aimed to evaluate and refine principles for the certification system and to develop performance indicators.  

The performance indicators serve three purposes:

1. to assess the actual sustainability performance of a newly developed or refurbished neighborhood;
2. to provide a basis for elaborating what demands should be put on processes in the different phases of an urban development project, and
3. to monitor and/or assess the sustainability of already existing neighborhoods.

The project started with refining principles and performance indicators. This was followed by testing the draft in real-life projects. Finally iteration with revisions and refinement of the system takes place. To increase the legitimacy of the developed system, the project made use of an action research approach. The ?ownership? of the development process was placed in the hands of SGBC and their partnering stakeholders, while the researchers contributed with their expertise to this process. A cooperation with Swedish Royal Institute of Technology, KTH.