Lecturer in Architecture Department/ College of Engineering Karbala University
Due to rapid urbanization, more than half of the world’s population now live in cities, and by the year 2050, the figure will increase to two third of the population. The existing cities are responsible for depleting natural resources and agricultural lands and responsible for more than 70% of carbon emissions. A consequence of the excessive consumption of natural resources, energy, and transportation systems that constitutes a threat to the balance for the sustainability dimensions: the environment, society and economy at the urban development level. Hence, there is a necessity for finding efficient solutions to enhancing the sustainability of the environment to offer healthy places for living in urban regions and to achieve a balance between the ecosystem and human beings with respect the nature, that offer solutions to the contemporary and future city.
The natural balance can be achieved depending on urban design elements as part of the sustainable development processes, in addition to the possibility of dealing with urban problems in the long term. Nature represents a response to human needs through the provision of an appropriate life for inhabitants. It also involves encouraging communication between people by involving them in the design process during its various stages and by asking them to contribute to the decision-making. Community engagement is one of the important foundations of collective action to create sustainable urban design. Therefore, the city has become a main player in the sustainability of urban design. Many recent studies have emphasized that the sustainability assessment of urban design through building synthesis or isolated buildings is not enough; due to various components of a building can be compared as one part of a building or separately, but requires a thorough overview of the city and its various components (e.g. population, neighborhoods, mobility and transportation, open urban spaces, water management, energy consumption, diversity of geography, air quality, waste management, etc.). These miscellaneous parts represent the foundations of the sustainability assessment of urban development (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Sustainability Assessment Scope
The assessment methods used have been widely varied (Figure 2). For example, life-cycle assessment (LCA), sustainable-cities indices, sustainability-assessment projects, assessment frameworks, rating-system methods and certification systems. Subsequently, over a few years ago, several well-known International assessment tools have developed and expanded their scope from buildings assessment towards sustainability assessment of urban development, such as the Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment for urban development (CASBEE–UD in 2007), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for neighborhood development (LEED-ND in 2009), Steadman Pearls community rating system (PEARL Community in 2010), BRE Environmental assessment methods for communities (BREEAM Communities in 2011), Global or Qatar assessment system (GSAS/ QASA in 2010), and Sustainable Building Tool in Portugal for urban projects (SBTool PT – UP in 2014).
Figure 2: Several well- known Sustainability Assessment Tools (SATs)
Despite the multiplicity of assessment methods and even though they started two decades ago, they are still limited according to the breadth and depth scope that is covered.
The review of several urban sustainability assessment tools allows for the exchange of information at a local and global level. It also assists with the acquaintance with the characteristics, and private and public aspects, of a tool at the individual level, as well as identifying common points and variations between the multi-aspects of a set of tools (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Differences in importance of sustainability dimensions in the Urban Assessment Tools
Most of the global sustainability assessment tools that have specialized in urban sustainability have been designed at a national level, as confirmed by their grant certificates, but, few studies have found out that LEED-ND was used at an international level and in more than one country. This may lead to concerns about the assessment results and how they will affect the decision-making process.
