Assessing a Sustainable Urban Development: Typology of Indicators and Sources of Information

In the field of sustainability assessment of built environment, the focus has started shifting from buildings to neighbourhoods and cities. As a result, numerous assessment systems have emerged to support investors in the design and development of sustainable neighbourhoods. Such approaches, however, can hardly be applied to existing neighbourhoods. The paper explores how “flexible” indicator systems can support the process of sustainable development of existing neighbourhoods. It also deals with issues related to the selection of indicators, identification of data sources and data protection. It is recommended to use such indicators systems to support housing improvement districts (HID) among others.