Visualization of a City Sustainability Index (CSI): Towards Transdisciplinary Approaches Involving Multiple Stakeholders

Sustainability

Koichiro Mori¹  Toyonobu Fujii⁶  Tsuguta Yamashita³  Yutaka Mimura⁵  Yuta Uchiyama⁴  Kengo Hayashi⁵  Tan Yigitcanlar² 

[1] International Center, Shiga University, 1-1-1 Banba, Hikone, Shiga 522-8522, Japan;id="af1-sustainability-07-12402">1International Center, Shiga University, 1-1-1 Banba, Hikone, Shiga 522-8522, Jap;Department of Sociology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Letters, Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; E-Mail:;Institute of Human and Social Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kakuma, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan; E-Mail:;Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, 457-4 Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8047, Japan; E-Mails:;Oceanlab, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Main Street, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire AB41 6AA, UK; E-Mail:

关键词: indicator;    stakeholder;    megacity;    co-design;    co-production;    bottom-up;    anthropogenic impact;    environmental threshold;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su70912402

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

We have developed a visualized 3-D model of a City Sustainability Index (CSI) based on our original concept of city sustainability in which a sustainable city is defined as one that maximizes socio-economic benefits while meeting constraint conditions of the environment and socio-economic equity on a permanent basis. The CSI is based on constraint and maximization indicators. Constraint indicators assess whether a city meets the necessary minimum conditions for city sustainability. Maximization indicators measure the benefits that a city generates in socio-economic aspects. When used in the policy-making process, the choice of constraint indicators should be implemented using a top-down approach. In contrast, a bottom-up approach is more suitable for defining maximization indicators because this technique involves multiple stakeholders (in a transdisciplinary approach). Using different materials of various colors, shapes, sizes, we designed and constructed the visualized physical model of the CSI to help people evaluate and compare the performance of different cities in terms of sustainability. The visualized model of the CSI can convey complicated information in a simple and straightforward manner to diverse stakeholders so that the sustainability analysis can be understood intuitively by ordinary citizens as well as experts. Thus, the CSI model helps stakeholders to develop critical thinking about city sustainability and enables policymakers to make informed decisions for sustainability through a transdisciplinary approach.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.