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1
Healthy CitiesIndicators and sustainability

• Morgan Ames
• TaSED, Oct. 31, 2003

2
The Start of Sustainability Indicators

• Seattle sustainability movement
• Frustration with industry-centric economic
  indicators
• Example bad health spending good?
• 3 Es of sustainability environment, economics,
  equity
• Why are sustainability indicators important?
• Cant quantify, cant publicize or politicize
• Expose externalities and other factors economics
  cant
• Shift focus off of economic indicators

3
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

4
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

• 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

5
Indicators in developing regions

• GDP is an bad progress indicator
• Informal sector not counted
• Example effects of womens 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?