ISO/TR 37121:2017

TECHNICAL ISO/TR
REPORT 37121
First edition
2017-01
Sustainable development in
communities — Inventory of
existing guidelines and approaches
on sustainable development and
resilience in cities
Développement durable des communautés — Recensement des lignes
directrices existantes et approches sur le développement durable et
résilience dans les villes
Reference number
©
ISO 2017
© ISO 2017, Published in Switzerland
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ii © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .vii
Introduction .viii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Compilation of guidelines and approaches . 1
4.1 ASEAN/ESC model cities programme . 1
4.2 Citizen’s guide to biosphere eco-cities: Finding a balance between people and
nature for your city and countryside . 2
4.3 User’s manual for the city biodiversity index . 2
4.4 Eco cities guide: Ecological cities as economic cities . 3
4.5 European common indicators: Towards a local sustainability profile . 3
4.6 Global urban indicators — Selected statistics: monitoring the habitat agenda and
the millennium development goals . 4
4.7 Cities and green growth: A conceptual framework . 4
4.8 Reference framework for sustainable cities (RFSC): Testing results
and recommendations . 5
4.9 Eco-model city project (EMCP): Regional revitalization project, eco-model cities
leading the transformation to the low-carbon society . 5
4.10 ÉcoQuartier . 6
4.11 Pearl rating system for Estidama: Emirate of Abu Dhabi . 6
4.12 Green communities assistance kit . 7
4.13 China’s development of low-carbon eco-cities and associated indicator systems . 7
4.14 National eco-garden city evaluation standards . 7
4.15 Sustainable approach for social housing in Brazil (Selo Casa Azul CAIXA) . 8
4.16 Public environmental accounting: International context, trends and concrete
examples [City and Local Environmental Accounting and Reporting (CLEAR)] . 8
4.17 Making EcoDistricts: Concepts and methods for advancing sustainability
in neighbourhoods . 9
4.18 GreenClimateCities program: Pathway to urban low-carbon development . 9
4.19 Tianjin eco-city . 9
4.20 Green City index: Summary of the green city index research series .10
4.21 How smart is your city? Helping cities measure progress .10
4.22 Citizen’s guide to LEED® for neighbourhood development: How to tell if
development is smart and green .11
4.23 CLIMATE+ development program: Framework for climate positive communities .11
4.24 Comprehensive manual for the community capital scan .12
4.25 Enterprise green communities criteria.12
4.26 Foundation for sustainable area development: Assessments for area developments .12
4.27 Global city indicators facility briefing documents .13
4.28 International eco-city framework and standards .13
4.29 Living building challenge 2.1: Visionary path to a restorative future .14
4.30 Common international targets .14
4.31 SlimCity: Cross-industry public-private initiative on urban sustainability .15
4.32 Sustainability Tools for Assessing and Rating (STAR) community rating system .15
4.33 Sustainable Cities Index 2010: Ranking the 20 largest British cities .15
4.34 Sustainable communities program.16
4.35 Sustainable cities program .16
4.36 BREEAM communities — Technical manual .17
4.37 Comprehensive assessment system for built environment efficiency (CASBEE®)
for Cities .17
4.38 German Sustainable Building Council .18
4.39 Eco-city development index system .18
4.40 Green star communities: Guide for local government .19
4.41 IGBC green townships (for townships and large developments) rating system —
Pilot version abridged reference guide .19
4.42 LEED® for neighbourhood development .20
4.43 Environmental accounting for people and places: Resources and Energy Analysis
Programme (REAP) .20
4.44 Cities and biodiversity outlook — Action and policy: Global assessment of the
links between urbanization, biodiversity, and ecosystem services .21
4.45 Global assessment report on disaster risk reduction .21
4.46 UNISDR terminology on disaster risk reduction .21
4.47 Global competitiveness report 2013 to 2014 .22
4.48 Partnering for service excellence: Performance measurement report .22
4.49 Meeting the challenge of climate change: TRCA action plan for the living city .22
4.50 2012 EPI: environmental performance index and pilot trend environmental
performance index .23
4.51 2012 Global cities index and emerging cities outlook .23
4.52 State of the world’s cities 2012/2013: Prosperity of cities .23
4.53 Wealthier, healthier cities: How climate change action is giving us wealthier,
healthier cities .24
4.54 New York City local law 84 benchmarking report .24
4.55 BREEAM-NL Area development — Label for sustainable area development:
Technical manual .24
4.56 Capacity building to integrate disaster risk reduction into coastal management
in Indonesia .25
4.57 GHG protocol for community-scale greenhouse gas emissions (GPC).25
4.58 UK sustainable development indicators .25
4.59 PAS 2070 — Specification for the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions of a
city: Direct plus supply chain, and consumption-based methodologies .26
4.60 Water sector performance indicator system (WS-PIS) .26
4.61 Climate change adaptation-related indicators .27
4.62 The UK government sustainable development strategy .27
4.63 Ecological footprints of Canadian municipalities and regions .27
4.64 Indicators of disaster risk and risk management: Program for Latin America and
the Caribbean summary report (second edition) .28
4.65 Cities preparing for climate change: Study of six urban regions .28
4.66 Indicators for sustainability: How cities are monitoring and evaluating their success .28
4.67 Climate change adaptation indicators: Logic framework assessment and indicator
analysis of Sida’s bilateral and regional contributions under the framework of the
climate change initiative .29
4.68 London’s quality of life indicators: 2012 report .29
4.69 Measuring urban sustainability: Analysis of the European Green Capital Award
2010 and 2011 application round.29
4.70 Measuring city sustainability: Project Houston .30
4.71 Investing in sustainable growth: 2012 Rotterdam sustainability monitor .30
4.72 National Forest City .30
4.73 Construction index for ecological cities .31
4.74 Management referential system for a sustainable management operation
(Référentiel du Système de Management d’une Opération d’aménagement durable) .31
4.75 How to integrate and determine the value of the three sustainable development
aspects from the conception to the development of a project (Comment intégrer et
valoriser les 3 aspects du développement durable de la conception à la réalisation
d’un projet).31
4.76 From strategy to evaluation: keys to succeed in the local Agenda 21 — Referential
for the evaluation of territorial sustainable development projects (De la stratégie
à l’évaluation: des clés pour réussir un Agenda 21 local — Référentiel pour
l’évaluation des projets territoriaux de développement durable) .32
4.77 Territorial Sustainable Development Projects and Local Agenda 21 .32
iv © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

4.78 Referential: A Sustainable Development for Paris (Référential: Un Aménagement
Durable Pour Paris) .33
4.79 Sustainable development indicators: Indicators for the sustainable development
national strategy 2010–2013 (Les indicateurs de développement durable: Les
indicateurs de la stratégie nationale de développement durable 2010–2013) .33
4.80 Sustainable development indicators for the evaluation of urban renewal projects:
INDI model – RU 2015 (Des indicateurs de developpement durable pour
l’evaluation des projets de renouvellement urbain: Le modèle INDI – RU 2005).33
4.81 Some regional approaches and indicators and some indicators related to social
cohesion (Quelques démarches et indicateurs régionaux and Quelques indicateurs
en lien avec la cohésion sociale) .34
4.82 Reference framework for sustainable cities .34
4.83 Urban sustainable development diagnostic (Diagnostic developpement durable urbain) 34
4.84 Guide for environmental quality in architecture and urbanism (Guide de la qualité
environnementale dans l’architecture et l’urbanisme) .35
4.85 Sustainable cities and neighbourhoods (Ville and quartiers durables) .35
4.86 Baro’Metropole: Our Territory in Focus (Baro’Metropole: Notre Territoire à la Loupe) .35
4.87 Eco-neighbourhoods Charter: Project subject to consultation and experimentation
(Charte des éco quartiers: Project soumis à concertation et expérimentation) .36
4.88 Charter for sustainable development and habitat (Charte de l’aménagement et de
l’habitat durables) .36
4.89 UNISDR Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities .37
4.90 UNISDR Indicators of progress .37
4.91 UNISDR Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: A proposal for
monitoring progress.38
4.92 UNISDR local government self-assessment tool .39
4.93 Making Cities Resilient Report 2012 (UNISDR) .39
4.94 UNISDR Ten New Essentials for Making Cities Resilient .40
4.95 University of Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index .41
4.96 Resilient Cities Research Report (Grosvenor) .42
4.97 City Resilience Framework .42
4.98 2014 FM Global Resilience Index .43
4.99 Global Climate Risk Index 2015 .43
4.100 Index for Risk Management — InfoRM .44
4.101 Risk Reduction Index in West Africa .45
4.102 Toolkit for Resilient Cities — Infrastructure, Technology and Urban Planning .46
4.103 The Oregon Resilience Plan .46
4.104 Planetary Boundaries Framework .47
4.105 Doughnut economics .47
4.106 Recovery Strategy for Greater Christchurch .48
4.107 Private Sector Investment Decisions in Building and Construction: Increasing,
Managing and Transferring Risks: Case study of Lagos, Nigeria .49
4.108 Tourism Investment Choices and Flood Risk: Illustrative Case Study on Denarau
Island Resort in Fiji .49
4.109 Flood risk management and the roles of the private sector in England .49
4.110 The Value of Seismic Risk Mitigation in Canterbury, New Zealand .50
4.111 Uncorrected land-use planning highlighted by flooding: The Alba case study
(Piedmont, Italy) .50
4.112 Private Sector Investment Decisions in Building and Construction: Increasing,
Managing, and Transferring Risks: A Case Study of Thailand .50
4.113 UNISDR Case Study Report .51
4.114 REDi Rating System .51
4.115 IFRC Framework for Community Resilience .51
4.116 Copenhagen Climate Adaptation Plan .52
4.117 Risk-Based Land-Use Guide .53
4.118 Enhancing Distribution Resiliency .53
4.119 Smart City Pilot Project.53
4.120 Haimian City Pilot Project .54
4.121 Low-carbon regions and cities experimental project .54
4.122 Guide for comprehensive assessment of local government .55
4.123 Spanish Sustainable Development Strategy .55
4.124 Spanish Standardization Work Programme .55
4.125 Gradual Development of Austrian Smart City Profiles .56
5 Analysis of indicators.56
5.1 ISO 37120 Gap analysis — Resilience indicators .56
5.2 Analysis and correlation of guidelines and approaches with purposes and issues
from ISO 37101 .59
5.2.1 General.59
5.2.2 Reference framework for European sustainable cities .60
5.2.3 Baro Metropole (City of Rennes) .63
5.2.4 Reference framework for territorial sustainable development projects
and local Agenda 21 .66
5.2.5 Green communities . .68
5.2.6 Urban indicators guidelines .70
5.2.7 Low-carbon eco-cities .73
5.2.8 Star community rating system .74
5.3 Analysis of CASBEE® guidelines and approaches .77
5.3.1 CASBEE® for urban development .77
5.3.2 CASBEE® for cities .80
5.3.3 CASBEE® for market promotion — Reflecting UNEP FI PWG’s support for
concise metrics .82
5.4 Analysis and correlation of UNISDR ten new essentials with ISO 37120 .85
6 Selection of indicators .92
6.1 General .92
6.2 Collection of information .93
6.3 Statistical considerations: Time series, missing data and interpretation in context .93
6.3.1 General.93
6.3.2 Time series .94
6.3.3 Missing data .94
6.3.4 Interpretation in context .94
6.4 Priorities and approaches for individual cities .94
Bibliography .96
vi © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/ patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment,
as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: www . i so .org/ iso/ foreword .html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 268, Sustainable cities and communities.
Introduction
This document is the second in a new series of International Standards on indicators for sustainable
development, resilience and smartness in cities.
ISO 37120 was published in May 2014 and became the first ever International Standard for cities to be
published. The main objective of ISO 37120 was to establish a set of standardized indicators to track
and monitor progress on city performance.
In the time since the publication of ISO 37120, cities have increasingly identified a need to measure the
implementation and efficacy of resilience initiatives. The well-being of societies and communities relies
daily on a web of institutions, infrastructure and information. Uncertainty, pressures and extreme
events (caused by climate change, natural disasters, food, water and energy insecurity, disease,
economic fluctuation, terrorism and social unrest) all pose threats and challenges to functioning of
these systems and the well-being of citizens. The capability of cities to prepare for, respond to, and
recover from these threats and challenges with minimum damage to public safety and health, the
economy, and security is increasingly referred to as resilience.
Many of the indicators in ISO 37120 address sustainable development and resilience; however, it is
recognized that these two subjects require a more in depth study. For this reason, ISO/TC 268 has
approved the publication of this document with the objective of developing an inventory of existing
guidelines and approaches on sustainable development and resilience in cities which can be used in the
future to complement ISO 37120.
The guidelines and approaches in this document are the contribution of experts from ISO/TC 268 and
have been selected based on their social, economic and environmental contributions towards building
more sustainable and resilient cities. This document is not intended to be an exhaustive inventory
and is currently only to the date of publication. As a second phase and considering the urgent need to
address resilience in cities, TC 268 intends to develop an International Standard to define and establish
definitions and methodologies for indicators for resilient cities. The objective of this new standard in
the series will be to establish a set of indicators that can be used with any resilience framework to help
cities with their resilience planning and will be built upon the guidelines and approaches contained in
this document.
A gap analysis with ISO 37120 and an analysis and correlation with the UNISDR Ten New Essentials has
been carried out in Clause 5. This work will be considered and further expanded in the development of
a future new International Standard on Indicators for Resilient Cities.
viii © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

TECHNICAL REPORT ISO/TR 37121:2017(E)
Sustainable development in communities — Inventory
of existing guidelines and approaches on sustainable
development and resilience in cities
1 Scope
This document provides an inventory of existing guidelines and approaches on sustainable development
and resilience in cities.
This document focuses on resilience understood as the ability of a city, system, community, local
government or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the
effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration
of its essential basic structures and functions.
Resilience indicators are intended to assess the extent to which cities are helping residents, businesses,
institutions, and infrastructure resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of hazards
in a timely and efficient manner.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
No terms and definitions are listed in this document.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
4 Compilation of guidelines and approaches
This document is designed to provide cities, researchers, experts, international organizations,
industry leaders and other interested parties with a compilation of documents containing resilience
and sustainable development indicators. The documents considered in this document were provided
and selected by TC 268 experts on city indicators, sustainability and resilience from 20 countries and
they are not considered to be an exhaustive list. TC 268 experts provided examples of frameworks and
indicators based on their knowledge of work being completed by organizations within their countries
or international agencies. Note that hyperlinks are current as of March 24, 2016.
4.1 ASEAN/ESC model cities programme
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Environmentally Sustainable
Framework
Cities (ESC) Model Cities Programme
Author Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund
Publication year 2011 to 2014
Applicability National, regional, local
Theme Environmental sustainability
To promote the development of environmentally sustainable cities across
Purpose
ASEAN countries.
The ASEAN ESC Model Cities Programme is a regional initiative aimed at pro-
moting the development of Environmentally Sustainable Cities (ESC) across
ASEAN countries. It provides seed funding, technical assistance and other forms
Abstract of support to raise local capacity for implementing innovative and voluntary
bottom-up initiatives, as well as to strengthen national ESC guidelines and
approaches and actions that facilitate the replication and scaling up of good
practices and policies within and across countries.
Hyperlink http:// aseanmodelcities .org/
4.2 Citizen’s guide to biosphere eco-cities: Finding a balance between people and
nature for your city and countryside
Citizen’s guide to biosphere eco-cities: Finding a balance between people and
Framework
nature for your city and countryside
Author UNESCO
Publication year 2009
Applicability Local
Theme Environment
To protect the biosphere from increasing impacts of human activities by ad-
Purpose
dressing natural and human needs together.
A biosphere eco-city is a region containing an urban area and its surrounding
countryside where people and organizations demonstrate innovative ways to
adjust human activities in order to support nature while improving the quality
Abstract of urban and rural life. These urban-centred regions share ideas and results
with each other and together form the World Network of Biosphere Eco-Cities.
Through their collective efforts to reduce human impacts on nature, they help to
sustain the biosphere.
Hyperlink ht t p:// w w w .unesco .org/ mab/ doc/ icc/ 2009/ e _ecoCities .pdf
4.3 User’s manual for the city biodiversity index
Framework User’s manual for the city biodiversity index
Participants at the first expert workshop on the development of the city biodi-
Author
versity index
Publication year 2012
Applicability National, local
Theme Biodiversity
2 © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

To develop the City Biodiversity Index (CBI), as a self-assessment tool, to assist
national governments and local authorities in benchmarking biodiversity con-
Purpose
servation efforts in the urban context, and help evaluate progress in reducing
the rate of biodiversity loss in urban ecosystems.
The CBI comprises a profile of the city, listing background information relevant
to biodiversity conservation, indicators to be evaluated, and a calculation of
the index. The manual contains the rationale for selection of indicators, how to
calculate the indicators, where to get data for the calculations, and the basis for
Abstract
the scoring. The method of scoring is quantitative in nature. To ensure that the
scoring is unbiased and fair to a broad spectrum of cities of different character-
istics over a wide geographical range, statistical analysis will be applied to the
data provided by the cities.
ht t p:// www . cb d. int/a uthorities/d oc/U ser’s% 20Manual-f or-t he- City- Biodiversity
Hyperlink
-Index18April2012 .pdf
4.4 Eco cities guide: Ecological cities as economic cities
Framework Eco cities guide: Ecological cities as economic cities
Author World Bank: Sebastian Moffatt; Hiroaki Suzuki; Ryoko Iizuka
Publication year 2012
Applicability Regional, Local
Theme Ecological and economic sustainability
To help cities in developing countries achieve greater ecological and economic
Purpose
sustainability in synergy.
Eco cities is a sustainable urban development initiative launched by the World
Bank as an integral part of its urban and local government strategy. An inte-
grated approach across sectors appears to overcome many barriers to urban
sustainability, and offers communities a path towards increased well-being for
Abstract
short and long terms. The guide starts with an overview of the principles, and
a self-assessment exercise that can help identify where a city is strong or needs
improvement. The guide then highlights essential, practical elements of planning
and implementing Eco2 cities.
http:// siteresources .worldbank .org/ INTURBANDEVELOPMENT/ Resourc-
Hyperlink
es/336387-1270074782769/Eco2_Cities_Guide-web.pdf
4.5 European common indicators: Towards a local sustainability profile
Framework European common indicators: Towards a local sustainability profile
Ambiente Italia Research Institute: Maria Berrini; Lorenzo Bono; Giulia Ferrari;
Author
Valentina Tarzia; Michele Merola
Publication year 2003
Applicability Local
Theme Sustainability
To develop and test indicators reflecting local actions towards sustainability in
Purpose
as much an integrated way as possible.
The ECI initiative was started off in May 1999 with the setting up of a working
group on sustainable indicators with the task to develop common (harmonized)
indicators for local sustainability, in close collaboration with a wider group of
local authorities. ECI is characterized by a good level of complementarity with
Abstract
respect to existing local, national and sectorial indicators’ sets, since it was not
defined to displace or compete with any local/national priority therein reflect-
ed. In fact, the ECIs aim at representing local action towards sustainability in as
much an integrated way as possible.
Hyperlink N/A
4.6 Global urban indicators — Selected statistics: monitoring the habitat agenda and
the millennium development goals
Global urban indicators — Selected statistics: monitoring the habitat agenda and
Framework
the millennium development goals
Author United Nations Human Settlements Programme
Publication year 2009
Applicability National, local
Theme Poverty, health, equality, education, environmental sustainability
To ensure a common assessment and appreciation of the status of MDGs at glob-
Purpose
al, national and local levels.
The millennium development goals (MDG) adopted by the UN member states in
the year 2000 are broad goals for the entire world. They address essential di-
mensions of poverty and their effects on people’s lives attacking pressing issues
related to poverty reduction, health, gender equality, education and environ-
Abstract mental sustainability. In order to assist member states realize the eight goals of
the Millennium Declaration, the United Nations System has set numerical targets
for each goal. Further, it has selected appropriate indicators to monitor progress
on the goals and attain corresponding targets. A list of 18 targets and more than
40 indicators corresponding to these goals are included.
Hyperlink N/A
4.7 Cities and green growth: A conceptual framework
Framework Cities and green growth: A conceptual framework
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development: Stephen Hammer,
Author
Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Alexis Robert, and Marissa Plouin
Publication year 2011
Applicability Local
Theme Green growth
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