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A framework model for assessing sustainability impacts of urban development

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  • Xing, Yangang
  • Horner, R. Malcolm W.
  • El-Haram, Mohamed A.
  • Bebbington, Jan

Abstract

Urban man-made assets have impacts not just on those who develop, build and operate them, but on people who may be quite remote from them. For example, the impact of a building on greenhouse gas emissions arising from fossil fuel use, pollution caused by travel to work patterns and employment opportunities provided by urban developments may be far removed from their immediate locality. There is a growing recognition of the need to internalize these external costs and benefits in accountancy frameworks, drawing on experiences in accounting for sustainable development. This desire, however, presents major challenges in identifying, evaluating and allocating the external environmental, social and economic costs and benefits of an urban environment. This paper reports on the development of an Urban Development Sustainability Assessment Model (UD-SAM) which allows decision makers to identify sustainability indicators (economic, environmental and social) and which may lead to more holistic evaluation of the sustainability impact of elements of the urban environment. The UD-SAM builds on a sustainability assessment model (SAM) developed originally in the oil industry. This paper describes how SAM has been tailored for the construction industry and urban sustainability assessment, and how a set of generic sustainable development indicators have been identified and validated by stakeholders.

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  • Xing, Yangang & Horner, R. Malcolm W. & El-Haram, Mohamed A. & Bebbington, Jan, 2009. "A framework model for assessing sustainability impacts of urban development," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 209-224.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:accfor:v:33:y:2009:i:3:p:209-224
    DOI: 10.1016/j.accfor.2008.09.003
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    6. Kazemi, Maha Zadeh & Elamer, Ahmed A. & Theodosopoulos, Grigorios & Khatib, Saleh F.A., 2023. "Reinvigorating research on sustainability reporting in the construction industry: A systematic review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
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    8. Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Fausto Cavallaro & Valentinas Podvezko & Ieva Ubarte & Arturas Kaklauskas, 2017. "MCDM Assessment of a Healthy and Safe Built Environment According to Sustainable Development Principles: A Practical Neighborhood Approach in Vilnius," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-30, April.
    9. Morrissey, J. & Moore, T. & Horne, R.E., 2011. "Affordable passive solar design in a temperate climate: An experiment in residential building orientation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 568-577.
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