Comparative assessment of sustainability strategies applied to urban neighbourhoods in Brazil, Germany and Sweden

Karin Regina de Casas Castro Marins

ABSTRACT: Recently, several researches have shifted the focus on urban sustainability from the city-scale towards the development of neighbourhoods. However, despite the efforts already undertaken, there is still a need to improve methods and tools for integrating sustainability criteria and selecting the most appropriate indicators to the planning of urban areas. This paper discusses strategies and solutions for urban sustainability at the neighbourhood scale, by applying a framework to compare associated indicators of four selected areas: Cidade Pedra Branca (Brazil), Kronsberg, Vauban (Germany), and Hammarby Sjöstad (Sweden). The framework resulted from the analysis, comparison and integration of certain multicriteria parameters and indicators, involving governance, urban form, urban mobility, energy, and economic aspects. The research involved literature review combined to information collected in technical site visits and interviews with stakeholders involved in the urban development in these areas. The framework application allowed to extract the main features which enabled the neighbourhoods to achieve a superior performance, which include: strong governance by the public sector or the building owners to control schedule and quality of urban development projects; application of a multisectoral strategy to enable more suitable urban transport systems; and enhancement of both energy demand and supply sides to achieve a higher overall energy performance and broader use of renewable and local energy systems. Cidade Pedra Branca has shown to face such challenges with more difficulty; Vauban has presented the overall best performance; and Kronsberg and Hammarby Sjöstad are in an intermediate position.

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