Tool: 0/7 INTRO | Measurement Criteria for a Mediterranean Sustainable Urban Model

DO YOU REALLY KNOW HOW THE NEIGHBOURHOOD AND CITY WHERE YOU LIVE ARE AND HOW THESE DETERMINE YOUR WAY OF LIFE?

DO YOU KNOW HOW YOUR WAY OF LIFE CONDITIONS YOUR CITY’S FEASIBILITY FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO DISCOVER HOW TO MEAUSURE URBAN SUSTAINABILITY?

By means of this series we aim to explain in a direct and extremely graphic way 7 clues for the assessment of Ecological Urbanism, which assumes the urban model’s sustainability in a holistic way (or extended, as we like to say in MTG): not only from an environmental point of view but, and above all, from a social, cultural and economic one.

In this sense, the urban model of reference that our Ecological Urbanism defends, although widely spread around Europe and other world regions, it is a model characteristically Mediterranean because of its morphologic compactness, social cohesion, complexly organized, etc.

In short, we would like to show how the city we inhabit can be described according to its environmental, social, cultural and economic sustainability and how this can be measured by means of SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS. These helps us to get to know our city’s reality, turning its characteristics into numbers, into quantifiable and comparable measurements. Whereas these results become many times “tedious” technical documents, concepts behind them are usually easily accessible for everyone. Like in many occasions, from More Than Green we strive to show what is behind this valuable technical tool by means of examples.

Following the index proposed by the Agència d’Ecologia Urbana de Barcelona (in its Guía Metodológica para los Sistemas de Auditoría, Certificación o Acreditación de la Calidad y Sostenibilidad en el Medio Urbano) we would like to offer you 7 direct graphic explanations that illustrate 7 different concepts for the assessment of an urban sustainable model.

1_LAND OCCUPATION

2_PUBLIC SPACE AND LIVABILITY

3_MOBILITY AND SERVICES

4_URBAN COMPLEXITY

5_GREEN SPACES AND BIODIVERSITY

6_URBAN METABOLISM

7_SOCIAL COHESION