A Sensitivity Model (SM) approach to analyze urban development in Taiwan based on sustainability indicators
- Graduate Institute of Urban Planning, National Taipei University, Taipei, 104 Taiwan (China), E-mail: shuli@mail.ntpu.edu.tw
- Graduate Institute of Urban Planning, National Taipei University, Taipei, 104 Taiwan (China), E-mail: alexyeh@url.com.tw
- Division of Governmental Studies and Services, Washington State University, PO Box 644870, Troy Hall 310, Pullman, WA 99164-4870 (United States), E-mail: budd@wsu.edu
- Department of Private Participation in Infrastructures, CECI Engineering Consultants, Inc. Taipei, 106 Taiwan (China), E-mail: lily@ceci.com.tw
Sustainability indicators have been widely developed to monitor and assess sustainable development. They are expected to guide political decision-making based on their capability to represent states and trends of development. However, using indicators to assess the sustainability of urban strategies and policies has limitations - as they neither reflect the systemic interactions among them, nor provide normative indications in what direction they should be developed. This paper uses a semi-quantitative systematic model tool (Sensitivity Model Tools, SM) to analyze the role of urban development in Taiwan's sustainability. The results indicate that the natural environment in urban area is one of the most critical components and the urban economic production plays a highly active role in affecting Taiwan's sustainable development. The semi-quantitative simulation model integrates sustainability indicators and urban development policy to provide decision-makers with information about the impacts of their decisions on urban development. The system approach incorporated by this paper can be seen as a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for a sustainability assessment. The participatory process of expert participants for providing judgments on the relations between indicator variables is also discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 21180413
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Vol. 29, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.eiar.2008.03.003; PII: S0195-9255(08)00059-0; Copyright (c) 2008 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0195-9255
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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