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Healthy Cities:Indicators and sustainability

Morgan Ames

TaSED, Oct. 31, 2003

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The Start of Sustainability Indicators

• Seattle sustainability movement– Frustration with industry-centric economic indicators

• Example: bad health = spending = good?

– 3 E’s of sustainability: environment, economics, equity

• Why are sustainability indicators important?– Can’t quantify, can’t publicize or politicize– Expose externalities and other factors economics can’t– Shift focus off of economic indicators

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Community-defined indicators

• Why not leave it to the experts?– Many indicators are hard to conceptualize or just not

interesting to day-to-day life– City planners have a behind-the-scenes view that

may not make sense to many residents

• What good are community-defined indicators?– Make city information more accessible– Give residents a sense of what they can do to

improve city health, and make their actions visible– Motivate policy-makers to discuss issues residents

care about

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Community-defined indicators

Bay Area Alliance defined: 10 of 32 indicators shared

SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY• Gross Regional Product• Income Distribution • Median Income• Personal Income • Living Wage Income • Unemployment Rate• Poverty

HOUSING SUPPLY • Housing Supply • Jobs – Housing Balance • Population Density and

Intensity of Land Use• Housing Affordability • Homelessness

TRANSPORTATION• Commuting• Vehicle Miles Traveled

NATURAL ASSETS • Protected Land • Brownfields • Water Use Per Capita

Berkeley defined:6 of 13 indicators shared

• Schools• Clean Air• Resource Management

(electricity, gas, water)• Recycling• Living Wage• Individual Health• Low Unemployment• Streetlights and Safety• Maintenance and Safety• Pedestrians and Safety• Public Events• Money in Local Stores• Racial Diversity

• Ecological Health of the Bay • Ecological Footprint

RESOURCE USE

• Energy Use• Carbon Emissions• Ozone • Particulate Matter • Waste Disposal and Diversion

NEIGHBORHOOD INTEGRITY

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM• Educational Performance • Per Pupil Spending

COMMUNITY HEALTH AND SAFETY

• Arrest Rates • Insurance Coverage

LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE

• Tax Revenue

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT • Voter Participation • Diversity of Officials

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Indicators in developing regions

• GDP is an bad progress indicator– “Informal sector” not counted– Example: effects of women’s education in Sri Lanka:

birth rate and infant mortality down, health up, but no change in GDP

• What can replace it? …• How can third-world indicators gain a foothold?