Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
et al.
2001
; Ugwu and Haupt
2005
). Three of them are Environmental in General
(EIG), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and Sustainability Indicator Assessment
(SIA) methods. Out of these three, the SIA method is most widely used by local
authorities around the world. This is because the SIA method seeks to achieve
integration of all issues of sustainability compared to the other two which focus
solely on environment and socioeconomic aspects, respectively. In general, SIA
method employs a wide range of indicators to characterize the different dimensions
or aspects of urban development. Therefore, the assessment of sustainability is
actually considered as an assessment of indicators by which people can track their
progress towards sustainability.
2.1 The Study Area
The study area, Johor Bahru City Council (JBCC), covers an administrative region
of 220 km
2
with a total population of 552,026 people. JBCC is divided into 16
planning blocks according to the Johor Bahru Local Plan for 2020 as shown in
Fig.
2
. These are Daerah Sentral, Tasek Utara/Teluk Danga, Pelangi, Pasir Pel-
angi, Tampoi, Larkin, Majidee, Teluk Tebrau, Permas Jaya, Rinting, Kempas,
Kangkar Tebrau, Pandan/Taman Molek, Bandar Dato' Onn/Setia Tropika, Mount
Austin/Taman Daya and Tebrau.
2.2 Sustainability Indicator Assessment Method
An indicator is a measurement to be met, an effect obtained via a gauge of quality
or a context variable (European Commission
2008
). An indicator produces mea-
sured information with a purpose to help researchers concerned with public
interventions to communicate, negotiate, or make decisions. In the process of
urban sustainability assessment, there is a need for measureable indicators and
several approaches of assessment based on these indicators have been developed
(Shen et al.
2011
).
However, assembling information for all-embracing indicators is not what
urban sustainability assessment is all about. Rather, a selective analysis of indi-
cators which are more fundamental in essence and more likely to produce the most
accurate information about the status of practice should be focused (Shen et al.
2011
). The United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and Pacific (2007) stated
that an indicator must be SMART (i.e. Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Rele-
vant, and Time-related). This can help in effective data management and avoiding
data exaggeration of irrelevant selected indicators and, thus, contribute to cost-
effective assessment of urban development sustainability.
Sustainability indicators are essential in the overall assessment of progress
towards sustainable development. They are useful for measuring and monitoring
