Download Healthy Cities: Indicators and sustainability

Healthy Cities:
Indicators and sustainability
Morgan Ames
TaSED, Oct. 31, 2003
10/31/2003
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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:
Berkeley defined:
10 of 32 indicators shared
6 of 13 indicators shared
SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY
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Gross Regional Product
Income Distribution
Median Income
Personal Income
Living Wage Income
Unemployment Rate
Poverty
HOUSING SUPPLY
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Housing Supply
Jobs – Housing Balance
Population Density and
Intensity of Land Use
Housing Affordability
Homelessness
TRANSPORTATION
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Commuting
Vehicle Miles Traveled
NATURAL ASSETS
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Protected Land
Brownfields
Water Use Per Capita
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Ecological Health of the Bay
Ecological Footprint
RESOURCE USE
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Energy Use
Carbon Emissions
Ozone
Particulate Matter
Waste Disposal and Diversion
NEIGHBORHOOD INTEGRITY
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
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Educational Performance
Per Pupil Spending
COMMUNITY HEALTH AND SAFETY
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Arrest Rates
Insurance Coverage
LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE
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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
Tax Revenue
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
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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?
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