Sustainable development indicators: a case study on the city of Flagstaff and Coconino county

Abstract

The application of capitalist theory and the perception of an autonomous economy have created a range of environmental and social ramifications not addressed via traditional economic reasoning. In order to effectively and efficiently abate sustainability issues, the sustainable development discourse developed evaluation methods such as sustainable development indicators to gauge progress towards sustainability in communities without using traditional cost–benefit methods of analysis. The indicators created in this work are intended to be applied as a method of project evaluation in local community development departments. Using local growth management policy as a basis, these indicators have been designed to show how a development project contributes to policy goals that relate to all three dimensions of sustainability: environmental, economic, and socio-economic.

Keywords:

• sustainability
• economic indicators
• environmental indicators
• economic development

Notes

1. Senior Community Planning Director for the City of Flagstaff.

2. County Community Development Director, Bill Towler.

3. The Sustainability Institute (Hartford, USA), World Council on Economic Development, United Nations Council on Sustainable Development.

4. The words ‘action plan’ refer to any implementation plan that includes steps to achieve policy goals.