Indicators of Sustainable Development

1.0 Introduction

The word for indicator in Arabic is pointer. Indicators point to a desirable outcome, to 'which way is up' in the policy arena.

The different levels of data for policy purposes are shown in the Information Pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid are data, which unprocessed are of little value for policy purposes. Once data are processed into statistics or tables, they can be used in reports or as the basis for ad-hoc evaluations, but still they are often difficult to understand or use for policy. Indicators are statistics directed specifically towards policy concerns and which point towards successful outcomes and conclusions for policy. They are usually highly aggregated and have easily recognizable purposes. Classic indicators include the unemployment rate or GDP growth, numbers which are such powerful and recognizable indicators of performance that they may cause governments to fall. At the highest level are indices, such as the consumer price index or human development index, which combine different indicators into a single number useful for comparison over time and space.

Measuring and monitoring environmental conditions has been a major concern of Governments and international organisations during the 1990's. Some of the main international initiatives have included the activities of UNSTAT/UNEP, including the the State of the World Environment and Environmental Data Report series (1994), the development of an Earthwatch database and the beginnings of the development of a series of environmental indicators. Other bodies such as OECD and WHO have been involved in the development of a conceptual framework.

2.0 Recently Developed Indicators

Growing realization of the failings of the conventional GNP and income as the primary indicators of economic progress has led to the development of alternative yardsticks. Two interesting recent efforts are the Human Development Index (HDI) devised by the United Nations Development Programme and the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) developed by economist Herman Daly and theologian John Cobb. A third indicator, per capita grain consumption, is a useful measure of changes in well-being in low-income countries, where the data needed to calculate the more sophisticated indices are typically not available on an annual basis.

The Human Development Index, measured on a scale of 0 to 1, is an aggregate of three indicators: longevity, knowledge, and the command over resources needed for a decent life. For longevity, the UN team uses life expectancy at birth. For knowledge, they use adult literacy and mean years of schooling. And for the command over resources, they use gross domestic product (GDP) per person after adjusting it for purchasing power. Because these indicators are national averages, they do not deal directly with inequalities in wealth distribution, but by including longevity and literacy they do reflect indirectly the distribution of resources. A high average life expectancy, for example, indicates broad access to health care and adequate supplies of food and safe drinking water.

A comparison of countries ranked by both per capita gross domestic product (adjusted for purchasing power) and HDI reveals some wide disparities. Costa Rica ranks 40th in the HDI, while South Africa, with an adjusted per capita GDP 27 percent higher than Costa Rica's, comes in at number 57. Despite their lower average purchasing power, Costa Ricans boast an adult literacy rate of 92 percent, compared with only 85 percent in South Africa, and at birth can expect to live 13 years longer than a newly born South African. Argentina, Chile, Poland, and Yugoslavia are among the other countries exhibiting high human development with comparatively modest per capita income.

The HDI is still evolving; indeed, the country rankings published in 1991 differ markedly in some cases from those in 1990, the first year of the index, because of refinements made by the UN team. As more data become available, the HDI will begin to capture other determinants of human development as well. For example, enough information already exists in 30 countries to include sex inequalities in the HDI. When this is done, top-ranked Japan drops to number 17, while Finland, where women have rights and economic opportunities comparable to men's, moves up from 13 to number 1. Similarly, an HDI sensitive to the distribution of income has been calculated for 53 countries that could provide the needed data; again, the rankings change when this important factor is included.

While the HDI represents a distinct improvement over income figures as a measure of human well-being, it so far says nothing about environmental degradation. As a result, the HDI can rise through gains in literacy, life expectancy, or purchasing power that are financed by the depletion of natural resources, setting the stage for a longer term deterioration in living conditions.

The Daly-Cobb Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive indicator of well-being, taking into account not only average consumption but also distribution and environmental degradation. To date, it has only been calculated for the United States. After adjusting the consumption component of the index for distributional inequality, the authors factor in several environmental measures, such as depletion of nonrenewable resources, loss of farmland from soil erosion and urbanisation, loss of wetlands, and the cost of air and water pollution. They also incorporate what they call "long-term environmental damage", a figure that attempts to take into account such large-scale changes as the effects of global warming and of damage to the ozone layer.

Applying this comprehensive measure shows a rise in welfare per person in the United States of some 42 percent between 1950 and 1976. But after that the ISEW began to decline, falling by just over 12 percent by 1988, the last year for which it was calculated. Simply put, about 15 years ago the net benefits associated with economic growth in the United States fell below the growth of population, leading to a decline in individual welfare.

The principal weakness of the ISEW is its dependence on information that is available in only a handful of nations. For example, few developing countries have comprehensive data on the extent of air and water pollution, not to mention measurements of year-to-year changes. The same drawback applies to the HDI, since life expectancy data depend heavily on infant mortality information that, astonishing as it may seem, is collected at best once a decade in most of the Third World.

Per capita grain consumption, however, is a useful measure of well-being in low-income countries that can be tracked on a yearly basis. This indicator captures the satisfaction of a basic human need, since people cannot survive if annual grain consumption falls much below 180 kilograms (about 1 pound a day) for an extended period. It is also less vulnerable to distortion by inequities of income and wealth. While the distribution of wealth between the richest and poorest one fifth of a population can be as great as 20 to 1, as indeed it is in Algeria, Brazil, and Mexico, per capita consumption of grain by these same groups will not vary by more than 4 to 1.

One drawback with this indicator is that it says nothing about how much of the grain consumed was produced unsustainably - by eroding soils, depleting water supplies, and the like. Another is that at some point, higher per capita grain consumption starts to imply a deterioration in human well-being rather than an improvement. Toward the top end of the scale people are consuming fat-rich livestock products known to increase heart disease and colon, breast, and other types of cancer, leading to an overall reduction in life expectancy. Per capita grain consumption is therefore best used as an indicator of well-being only in poorer countries.

3.0 Computing the Human Development Index

The HDI is based on three indicators: longevity, as measured by life expectancy at birth; educational attainment, as measured by a combination of adult literacy (two-thirds weight) and combined primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment ratios (one-third weight): and standard of living as measured by real GDP per capita (PPP$).
For the construction of the index, fixed minimum and maximum values have been established for each of these indicators:

Life expectancy at birth:

20 years and 85 years

Adult literacy:

0% and 100%

Combined enrolment ratio:

0% and 100%

Real GDP per capita (PPP$):

PPP$100 and PPP$10,000

For any component of the HDI, individual indices can be computed according to the general formula:

Actual x₁ value - minimum x₁ value
Index = Maximum x₁ value - maximum x₁ value

If for example, the life expectancy at birth in a country is 65 years, the index of life expectancy for this country would be:

65 - 25 40
Life expectancy index = 85 - 25 = 60 0.667

The construction of the income index is a little more complex. The average world income of PPP$5.711 is taken as the threshold level (y^*), and any income above this level is discounted using the following formulation based on Atkinson's formula for the utility of income:

W(y) = y^* for 0 < y < y^*
= y^* + 2[(y . y^*)^1/2] for y^* < y < 2y^*
= y^* + 2 (y^*1/2) + 3 [(y . 2y^*)^1/3] for 2y^* < y < 3y^*

To calculate the discounted value of the maximum income of PPP$40.000, the following form of Atkinson's formula is used:

W(y) = y^* + 2(y^*1/3) + 3(y^*1/3) + 4(y^*1/4) + 5(y^*1/3)
+ 6(y^*1/6) + 7(t^*1/7) + 8[(40,000 . 7y^*)^1/8]

This is because PPP$40,000 is between 7y^* and 8y^*. With the above formulation, the discounted value of the maximum income of PPP$540,000 is PPP$6,040.

The construction of the HDI is illustrated with two examples - Greece, an industrial country and Gabon, a developing country:

Life expectancy index:

77.7 - 25 52.7
Greece = 85 - 25 = 60 = 0.878

53.7 - 25 28.7
Gabon = 85 - 25 = 60 = 0.478

Adult literacy index:

93.8 - 0 93.8
Greece = 100 - 0 = 100 = 0.938

60.3 60.3
Gabon = 100 - 0 = 100 = 0.603

Combined primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment ratio index

18 - 0
Greece = 100 - 0 = 0.780

47 - 0
Gabon = 100 - 0 = 0.470

Educational attainment index

Greece = [2(0.938) + 1(0.780)] ¸ 3 = 0.885

Gabon = [2(0.603) + 1(0.470)] ¸ 3 = 0.558

Adjusted real GDP per capital (PPP$) index Greece's real GDP per capital at PPP$8,950, is above but less than twice the threshold. thus, the adjusted real GDP per capita for Greece would be PPP$5,825 because 5,825 = [5,711 + 2(8.950 - 5,711)1/2]

Gabon's real GDP per capita, at PPP$3,861, is less than the threshold, so it needs no adjustment.

The adjusted real GDP per capita (PPP$) index for Greece and Gabon would be:

5,825 - 100 5,725
Greece = 6,040 - 100 = 5,940 = 0.964

3,861 - 100 3,761
Gabon = 6,040 - 100 = 5,940 = 0.633

Human development index

The HDI is a simple average of the life expectancy index, educational attainment index and the adjusted real GDP per capita (PPP$) index. It is calculated by dividing the sum of these three indices by 3. The HDI values for Greece and Gabon are calculated using this formula:

4.0 Monitoring Progress on Sustainable Development: Sustainable Development Indicators

Refer to http://www.undp.org/undp/devwatch/indicatr.htm

The document below is an EXTRACT from a Report of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development (DPCSD), United Nations Division for Sustainable Development.

4.1 Introduction

Chapter 40 of Agenda 21 calls for the development of indicators for sustainable development. In particular, it requests countries at the national level, and international governmental and non-governmental organisations at the international level to develop the concept of indicators of sustainable development in order to identify such indicators.
This issue was raised during the first two sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), at which time a large number of countries emphasized the urgent need for these indicators. Other countries expressed some concern and insisted that indicators be developed in close contact with Governments. Pursuant to the multi-year programme of work adopted by the Commission at its first session, the progress achieved on developing these indicators, in the context of Chapter 40 of Agenda 21, will be discussed by the Commission during its third session.
The objective of this work programme is primarily to make the indicators for sustainable development accessible to decision-makers at the national level by defining them elucidating their methodologies and providing training and other capacity-building activities, as relevant. Indicators, as used in national policies, may also be used in the national reports to the CSD and other intergovernmental bodies.

4.2 Indicators for Sustainable Development

An increasing number of organisations has responded to the challenge of Agenda 21 to develop indicators for sustainable development in the short-term. Some of this work is being undertaken around specific issues, such as health and the environment, or human settlements; others are attempting to define a full set of indicators. Such redundancy and overlap has been extremely valuable, since it has generated more creative thinking and a shared sense of purpose. The role of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable development, as Task Manager of this issue, is now to coordinate the fruits of this work, to underline areas of convergence, and to bring together the many actors in a broad, cooperative programme that may directly serve the needs of the Commission on Sustainable Development, as well as all Member States. Much further work, primarily by the scientific community, is needed in order to understand and explicate these interlinkages.

Economic indicators have ben used for many years at national, regional and international levels. Social indicators have also been developed over the past years and are widely used all over the world. It is feasible to select among the economic and social indicators those which capture the specific issues most relevant to sustainable development. Institutional indicators related to Agenda 21 or sustainable development are largely undeveloped and are at this stage limited to so-called yes/no indicators. Environmental indicators have been developed more recently. For some of the environmental aspects, data will not be easily available. Recent initiatives include the environment statistics programme of the United Nations Statistical Commission, environmental indicators being developed by UNEP, the UN system-wide Earthwatch, the OECD, various relevant international legal instruments, and so forth.

Based on relevant indicators that are available, it is proposed that the Commission on Sustainable Development agree that work will proceed on the basis of a core set of indicators, as contained in Table 1 (see Indicator Template on main menu), with the understanding that this is a flexible, working set of indicators that will be fine-tuned to the needs of countries after further methodological work, testing and training. It is further proposed that the Commission approve the work programme on indicators for sustainable development, including the following elements: (1) preparation of methodology sheets for distribution to governments; (2) testing of the indicators, on a voluntary basis, in three to four countries and their subsequent adaptation, as needed; (3) organisation of national and regional training workshops and other capacity-building activities, upon request; and (4) evaluation and readjustment of the indicators on the basis of experience and further research as national and international levels, including in the context of international legal instruments.

It is also proposed that the Commission of Sustainable Development encourage continued cooperation with the work underway on environment indicators under the auspices of the United Nations Statistical Commission.

4.3 Highly Aggregated Indicators

Concurrently, work may proceed with developing highly aggregated indicators for sustainable development. Although this represents a longer-term effort, it is important for three reasons: it explores the relationship among the variable, which lies at the heart of the linkages intrinsic to sustainable development; it concentrates information collection and analysis and facilitates presentation to decision-makers; and, it may serve as the basis of an early warning systems, if desired.

A project is now being undertaken by the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), in cooperation with UNEP, aiming at developing highly aggregated indicators for sustainable development. This initiative is currently focusing on the environmental aspects of sustainability although the project could be broadened to focus on other aspects of sustainable development, as well.

4.4 A Core Set of Indicators for Sustainable Development:

A core set of indicators, as contained in Table 1 (see Indicator Template on main menu) is proposed for monitoring progress at a national level towards sustainable development through the implementation of Agenda 21. It is fully recognised that there is need for flexibility as the conditions, activities and priorities for sustainable development differ from country to country. At same time, the need for international comparability calls for the development of standardised concepts, definitions and classifications of indicators.

As mentioned, regional workshops and capacity-building programmes are needed in order to facilitate the use of the core set of indicators at a national level. Testing of the indicators in three to four countries could be used to gain experience and further develop the indicators, and evaluation of the use of the indicators at the national level, and national and international developments, could be used to adjust the core set of indicators if necessary.

The indicators in the core set are presented in a Driving Force - State - Response (DSR) framework. The DSR framework is adopted from the widely agreed framework for environmental indicators, the Pressure - State - Response framework. The concept of "pressure" has been replaced by that of "Driving Forces", in order to accommodate more accurately the addition of economic, social and institutional indicators. "Driving force" indicators indicate human activities, processes and patterns that impact on sustainable development, "state" indicators indicate the "state" of sustainable development and "response" indicators indicate policy options and other responses to the changes in the "state" of sustainable development.

In the core set, the indicators are grouped in categories covering the economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of sustainable development. The indicators are related to chapters of Agenda 21. The coverage of the four aspects of sustainable development and of all the chapters of Agenda 21 ensures that the most significant aspects of sustainable development are monitored by the indicators.

The indicators in the proposed framework have been developed in accordance with the following criteria:

(a) primarily national in scale or scope (countries may also wish to use indicators at state and provincial levels);

(b) relevant to the main objective of assessing progress towards sustainable development;

(c) understandable in that they are clear, simple, and unambiguous;

(d) realizable within the capacities of national governments, given their logistic, time, technical and other constraints;

(e) conceptually well founded;

(f) limited in number, remaining open-ended and adaptable to future developments;

(g) broad in coverage of Agenda 21 and all aspects of sustainable development;

(h) representative of an international consensus, to the extent possible; and

(i) dependent on data which are readily available or available at reasonable cost/benefit ratio, adequately documented, of known quality and updated at regular intervals.


As noted, the core set of indicators may change and new indicators may be included, for example, in the context of international legal agreements, or as national level experience is gained. Furthermore, there are some potentially important indicators which require further methodological work before they can be used. This is especially the case for various ecosystem (geo-referenced) indicators, including biodiversity and other habitat indicators, and for the following issues, for which indicators are not included in the core set at this stage:

- transfer of technology (driving force, state and response indicators);
- science (driving force, state and response indicators);
- capacity-building (driving force, state and response indicators);
- decision-making structures (driving force indicators);
- strengthening of "traditional information" (driving force and response indicators);
- role of major groups (driving force and response indicators);
- oceans, all kinds of seas and coastal areas (response indicators);
- desertification and drought (response indicators);
- sustainable mountain development (driving force, state and response indicators);
- biotechnology (driving force, state and response indicators); and,
- toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes (response indicators).

Research and experimentation with advanced economic, social and institutional indicators that might more effectively measure progress toward sustainable development and continued research and experimentation with environmental indicators appropriate for measuring progress toward sustainable development should be endorsed. There may also be need for subsets and other, often more comprehensive, sets of indicators for other purposes.

Table 1: Core Set of Indicators for Sustainable Development

Notes to Table 1


1. Production and consumption patterns are also reflected in particular by the following indicators:
o Share of manufacturing value added in GDP (under economic)
o Export concentration ratio (under economic)
o Ratio of consumption of renewable resources over non-renewable resources
(under economic)
o Motor vehicles in use (under social)
o Household consumption of water per capita (under environmental, water)
o Fuelwood consumption per capita (under environmental, land)
o Production of ozone destroying substances (under environmental, atmosphere)
o Reduction in the consumption of ozone destroying substances (under environmental atmosphere)

2. Consultations with WHO are ongoing.

3. Consultations with HABITAT are ongoing.

4. Following the SIDS Programme of Action, indicators of vulnerability are to be developed.

5. Consultations with FAO are ongoing.

6. Consultations with FAO are ongoing for these chapters (10, 12, 13, 14).

7. Consultations with FAO are ongoing.

5.0 Environmental Indicators

The pressure-state-response framework, follows a cause-effect-social response logic. It was developed by the OECD from earlier work by the Canadian government. Increasingly widely accepted and internationally adaopted, it can be applied at a national level, at sectoral levels, at the levels of an industrial firm, or at the community level.

Pressure indicators measure policy effectiveness more directly -- whether emissions increase or decrease, whether forest depletion waxes or wanes, and whwether human exposure to hazardous conditions grows or shrinks. Accountability for the pressures each country exerts on the environment is claer -- as in the case of the amount of ozone-degrading gases emitted. These indicators are not only descriptive. They can also provide direct feedback on whether policies meet stated goals because they are based on measures or model-based estimates of actual behaviour. Pressure indicators are thus particularly useful in formulating policy targets and in evaluating policy performance. They can also be used prospectively to evaluate environmental impacts of socioeconomic scenarios or proposed policy measures.

Response indicators measure progress toward regulatory compliance or other governmental efforts, but don't directly tell what is happening to the environment. As a practical matter, data to construct indicators is usually most available for pressure indicators and sparsest for response indicators.

Core lists of environmental issues -- and of relevant indicators -- have been and are being developed by several organisations, building on the OECD's initial work. Such indicators can be organised within the pressure-state-response framework into a matrix of indicators.

Table 2 is adapted from such a matrix under consideration by UNEP (World Resources Institute, 1995).

Table 3 shows a similar matrix adapted from one being considered by the World Bank (World Resources Institute, 1995).

Table 4 is a pressure-state-response model for indicators of sustainability in land and natural resources use (Winograd, 1993)


World Resources Institute (1995) "Environmental Indicators: A Systematic Approach to Measuring & Reporting on Environmental Policy Performance in the Context of Sustainable Development", World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.

Winograd, M (1993) "Environmental Indicators for Latin America and the Caribbean: Towards Land Use Sustainability", Organisation of American States, and World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.

Table 2: Matrix of Environmental Indicators under consideration by UNEP (World Resources Institute, 1995)

Table 3: Matrix of Environmental Indicators under consideration by The World Bank
(World Resources Institute, 1995)

6.0 Indicator Sources

Social Indicators of Development contains data for assessing human welfare to provide a picture of the social effects of economic development. Data are presented for more than 170 economies. Up to 94 indicators are reported for each country including: size, growth, and structure of population; determinants of population growth; education and illiteracy; natural resources; and transport and communication. The data set is available at the following URL:

http://www.ciesin.org/IC/wbank/sid-home.html

Trends in Developing Economies (TIDE) provides brief reports on most of the World Bank's borrowing countries. This compendium of individual country economic trends complements the World Bank's World Development Report. The data set is available at the following URL:

http://www.ciesin.org/IC/wbank/tde-home.html


Habitat II Indicators (refer to Table 5) lists a framework of indicators for analysing Urban and Human Settlement Conditions, developed for the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (known as Habitat II), which was held in Istanbul in June 1996.

Table 5: Habitat II Indicators for Urban & Human Settlements

MODULE O :- BACKGROUND DATA

Indicator DA1: Birth and death rates

Crude birth and death rates are defined as births and deaths per 1000 population.

Indicator DA2: Migration rates

Net migration : (A) within country, (b) overseas, (c) total

Indicator DA3: Household type

Number of households with (a) more than one adult and children, (b) single parent households, (c) more than one adult, no children, (d) one person only

Indicator DA4: Household expenditure

Proportion (%) of average household income spent on: (a) food, (b) housing, (c) travel, (d) other

Indicator DA5: Dwelling type

Number of: (a) detached dwellings, (b) medium density dwellings, (c) apartments, (d) total

URBAN INDICATORS

MODULE 1 :- SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

POVERTY

Indicator A1: Illiteracy of poor

Defined as the percentage of poor aged 15 and over who are illiterate

Indicator A2: Daily kilojoule supply of poor

Defined as the ratio of average food Calories consumed by poor to the average number of Calories needed to sustain a person at normal levels of activity and health

Indicator A3: Malnourished children under five

Defined as the percentage of children, from one to five years of age who are more than two standard deviations from the median weight for age of the reference population (or WHO standards).

Indicator A4: Social safety net

Support to the population provided by the city locally or nationally.

EMPLOYMENT

Indicator A5: Unemployment rates by sex

Defined as the average proportion of unemployed during the year, as a fraction of the (formal) workforce, by sex.

Indicator A6: Employment growth

Defined as the average annual growth rate of the number of (formally) employed men and women, aged 15 and above, during the last 5 years.

Indicator A7: Child labour

Defined as the number of employed or economically active persons under 15 years of age.

Indicator A8: Minimum wage coverage

Defined as the proportion of the economically active population whose wage or salary income is covered by minimum wage legislation.

PRODUCTIVITY Indicator A9: City investment

Defined as gross capital formation in the city, divided by city product.

Indicator A10: Airport activity

Defined as the average monthly number of passengers having used the airport (both for departure and arrivals) during the year.

HEALTH AND EDUCATION

Indicator A11: Expenditure on social services

Defined as the total expenditure, both capital and recurrent, public and private, on social services in US dollars per person.

Indicator A12: Life expectancy at birth

Defined as expected number of years till death for a new-born child.

Indicator A13: Infectious diseases mortality

Defined as the proportion of deaths due to infectious diseases.

Indicator A14: School enrollment rates

The percentage of children of eligible age, by sex, who are enrolled in: (a) primary school, (b) secondary school.

Indicator A15: Adult literacy rate

Defined as proportion of adults who can read and write a simple paragraph about their everyday life.

Indicator A16: Tertiary graduates

Defined as the proportion of male graduates in all adult males, and female graduates in all adult females.

SOCIAL INTEGRATION

Indicator A17: Refugees

Defined as percentage of the population who are refugees.

Indicator A18: Deaths due to violence

Defined as the proportion of deaths in the city in the past three years that have occurred as a result of violence.

MODULE 2 :- INFRASTRUCTURE

ACCESS AND AFFORDABILITY

Indicator A19: Cost to household income ratios

Defined as median expenditure on services divided by median household income or (a) water, (b) sewerage, (c) electricity.

WATER

Indicator A20: Source of water

Percentage of households obtaining water as a primary source from: (a) piped connection, (b) communal tap, (c) vendor or truck, (d) well, stream, lake or dam, (e) others.

Indicator A21: Piped water supply reliability

Defined as average number of hours per year that households in the city are without piped water.

Indicator A22: Water leakage

Defined as percentage of piped water unaccounted for and lost through leakage, seepage or unauthorised use.

SEWAGE

Indicator A23: Sewage disposal

Proportion of households with the following types of latrine facilities: (a) sewerage pipe, (b) underground individual, (c) underground communal, (d) pan collection, (e) open ground or trench, (f) other.

Indicator A24: Public latrines

Defined as the number of public latrines per 10000 population.

ELECTRICITY

Indicator A25: Electricity price

Defined as the price of electricity in US dollars per kwh.

Indicator A26: Line losses

Defined as percentage of power supplied to the city that is unaccounted for or lost before reaching final destination.

Indicator A27: Capacity to load ratio

Defined as peak load to certified capacity ratio.

TELEPHONE

Indicator A28: Call completion rate

Defined as proportion of calls made which connect and are not interrupted.

INFRASTRUCTURE OPERATIONS

Indicator A29: Operating to staff ratios

Defined as proportion of operating costs spent on staff, for all authorities providing the following services in the metropolitan area: (a) water, (b) sewerage, (c) electricity.

Indicator A30: New connections to staff ratios

Defined as number of new connections per annum divided by number of staff in supplying authorities for the following services (a) water, (b) electricity, (c) telephone.

Indicator A31: Revenue to operation cost ratio

Defined as percentage of all operating costs met from own-source revenues in the following services: (a) water, (b) sewerage

MODULE 3 :- TRANSPORT

GENERAL

Indicator A32: Transport facilities

Defined as the proportion of deaths per thousand in the last year from transport related causes.

Indicator A33: Fuel price

Defined as the price in US cents per litre, including tax, of: (a) petrol (gasoline), (b) diesel, (c) LPG or CNG.

Indicator A34: Transport household budget share

Proportion of total household income spent on all forms of travel by: (a) all households, (b) poor households.

Indicator A35: Transport fuel consumption

Defined as the annual number of litres per person of transport fuel (excluding aviation fuel) consumed.

ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE

Indicator A36: Length of road per vehicle

Defined as total length of roads in km divided by total number of road vehicles, for (a) surfaced roads, (b) unsurfaced roads

Indicator A37: Road congestion

Defined as the proportion of roads with Volume/Capacity >0.8 during peak hour

ROAD VEHICLES

Indicator A38: Vehicles failing emission standards

Defined as proportion of road vehicles which do not meet local emission standards

Indicator A39: Automobile fuel consumption

Average fuel consumption in litres per 100 km for automobiles for: (a) the whole fleet, (b) new cars.

Indicator A40: Pedestrians killed

Defined as proportion of road fatalities who are pedestrians.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Indicator A41: Public and mass transport seats

Defined as number of public transport seats per 1000 population.

Indicator A42: Cost recovery from fares

Defined as the ratio of fares collected by public transport authorities to operating costs.

MODULE 4 :- ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

AIR QUALITY

Indicator A43: Air pollution concentrations

Number of days per annum that WHO standards are exceeded, an average annual measured concentrations for the following pollutants: (a) SO2, (b) NOx, (c) CO, (d) O3, (e) SPM, (f) Pb

Indicator A44: Emission per capita

Total emissions in tonnes per capita per annum of: (a) SO2, (b) NOx, (c) CO2

Indicator A45: Acute respiratory deaths

Defined as percentage of deaths due to acute respiratory disease

WATER

Indicator A46: Percent of DOB removed

Defined as average fraction of BOD removed in major wastewater receiving bodies

Indicator A47: Cost of wastewater treatment

Defined as average cost in US dollars per cubic metre of water treated

Indicator A48: Lowering of groundwater table

Defined as the lowing of the groundwater table in cm in the past year

Indicator A49: Waste water recycled

Defined as percentage of waste water re-used as 'grey water' for industrial processes or similar

Indicator A50: Level of treatment

Per cent of water subject to (a) primary treatment, (b) secondary treatment, (c) tertiary treatment

SOLID WASTES

Indicator A51: Biodegradable waste

Defined as percentage of all solid waste which is bio-degradable (composed of organic matter)

Indicator A52: Recycling rate

Percentage of (a) paper, (b) glass, and (c) aluminium disposed which are recycled.

Indicator A53: Average cost of waste disposal

Defined as cost in US dollars per tonne of solid waste disposal, for those wastes which are formally disposed through refuse collection.

Indicator A54: Cost recovery

Defined as percentage of costs of formal waste disposal which is recovered as charges from producers of the waste.

Indicator A55: Industrial waste generation

Generation per capita per annum of: (a) industrial wastes, (b) toxic wastes, (c) ratio-active wastes.

RESOURCES DEPLETION

Indicator A56: Energy usage per person

Defined as the total energy usage per annum per person in metric tonnes of coal equivalent.

Indicator A57: Fuelwood usage

Defined as fuelwood usage in tonnes per person per annum

Indicator A58: Renewable energy usage

Defined as proportion of energy derived from renewable sources (hydro, wind, geothermal and solar electricity, combustion of animal wastes, fuelwood where this is being replaced through reforestation).

Indicator A59: Food consumption

Defined as daily Calorie consumption per person.

DISASTER MITIGATION

Indicator A60: Disaster mortality

Defined as proportion of deaths during last ten years which are due to natural disasters.

Indicator A61: Housing on fragile land

Defined as the number of dwellings in the city which are located on land which is subject to natural disasters.

Indicator A62: Fatal industrial accidents

Defined as number of deaths from industrial accidents during last year.

URBAN ENHANCEMENT

Indicator A63: Green space

Defined as percentage of green space in built up area.

Indicator A64: Monument list

Defined as number of buildings in city on heritage or monument lists.

MODULE 5 :- LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Indicator A65: Change in real per capita total revenue

Average annual change in real per capital income over a three-year period.

Indicator A66: Change in real per capital own-source revenues

Defined as average annual change in real per-capita own-source revenues over a three-year period.

LOCAL PARTICIPATION

Indicator A67: Elected and nominated councillors

Defined as total number of elected and of nominated local government representatives by sex, per 10000 metropolitan population, by sex.

Indicator A68: Voter participation rates, by sex

Defined as percentage of adult population (having reached voting age) who voted in the last municipal election.

Indicator A69: Number of associations per 10000 population

Defined as number of voluntary non-profit organisations, including NGOs, political sporting or social organisations, registered or with premises in the city, per 10 000 population.

Indicator A70: Citizen involvement in major planning decisions

Indicator A71: Decentralised district units

Defined as number of separate local governments or administrative units (quarters, wards, regions or similar) which are responsible for provision of more than two local services.

HOUSING INDICATORS

MODULE 6 :- AFFORDABLE AND ADEQUATE HOUSING

ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Indicator HA1: Mortgage affordability

Defined as proportion of households who are eligible for and can afford the maximum loan on a median priced formal sector house.

Indicator HA2: Excessive housing expenditure

Defined as proportion of households in the bottom 40% of incomes who are spending more than 30% of their incomes on housing.

Indicator HA3: Economic share of housing

Defined as the proportion of national or city product due to rent or imputed rent of dwellings.

Indicator HA4: Transaction costs

Defined as proportion of the value of a median-priced formal sector house which must be spent to both buy and sell the house.

Indicator HA5: House price appreciation

Defined as the average annual real percentage of change of house prices over a five year period.

ADEQUATE HOUSING FOR ALL

Indicator HA6: Overcrowding

Defined as the percentage of households who are in housing deemed to have too few bedrooms for a family of that type.

Indicator HA7: Households per dwelling

Defined as the ratio between the total number of households and the total number of occupied dwelling units of all types in the urban area.

Indicator HA8: Inadequate housing

Defined as the proportion of dwellings that are deemed to be inadequate or in need of major repairs.

Indicator HA9: Indoor plumbing

Defined as the percentage of dwelling units which contain a complete unshared bathroom within the unit.

Indicator HA10: Squatter housing

Defined as the percentage of the total housing stock in the urban area which is currently occupying land illegally.

Indicator HA11: Homelessness

Defined as the number of people per thousand of the urban area population who sleep outside dwelling units (eg on streets, in parks, railroad stations and under bridges) or in temporary shelter in charitable institutions.

Indicator HA12: Owner occupancy (by sex)

Defined as the percentage of households which own the dwelling units which they occupy for (a) all households, (b) female headed households.

Indicator HA13: Vacant dwellings

Defined as the percentage of the total number of completed dwelling units which are presently unoccupied.

RURAL HOUSING

Indicator HA14: Rural water/electricity connection

Defined as the percentage of rural dwelling units with a water or electricity connection in the plot they occupy.

Indicator HA15: Permanent rural housing

Defined as the percentage of rural dwelling units which are likely to

last twenty years or more

given normal maintenance and repair, taking into account locational and environmental hazards (eg floods, typhoons, mudslides, earthquakes).

Indicator HA16: Rural home ownership

Defined as the percentage of rural residents who own their dwellings.

Indicator HA17: Rural house price to income

Defined as the ratio of the median free-market price of a rural dwelling unit and the median annual rural household income.

MODULE 7 :- HOUSING PROVISION

LAND

Indicator HA18: Land availability

Defined as the number of serviced blocks currently available divided by the present construction rate in dwellings per month (annual average).

Indicator HA19: Planning permission multiplier

Defined as the ratio between the median land price of an unserviced plot on the urban fringe given planning permission for residential development, and the median price of a nearby plot in rural/agricultural use without such permission.

Indicator HA20: Formal land transaction

Defined as the percentage of the metropolitan area covered by a land registration system which allows for buying, selling, long-term leasing, or mortgaging urban land.

Indicator HA21: Development time

Defined as the median length in months to get approvals, permits, and titles for a new medium-sized (50-200 unit) residential subdivision in an area at the urban fringe where residential development is permitted.

Indicator HA22: Cost recovery

Defined as the percentage of total infrastructure costs recovered from new developments during the year.

Indicator HA23: Minimum lot size

Defined as the minimum lot size for a single family housing unit in a new 50-200 unit residential subdivision.

Indicator HA24: Land development controls

Defined as a composite of questions on land use and building code regulations.

FINANCE

Indicator HA25: Credit to value ratio

Defined as the ratio of new mortgage loans for housing last year to total investment in housing (in both the formal and informal sectors) last year.

Indicator HA26: Housing loans

Defined as the proportion of dwellings that have housing loans from the formal financial sector.

Indicator HA27: Mortgage-to-prime difference

Defined as the average difference in percentage points between interest rates on mortgages in both commercial and government financial institutions and the prime interest rate in the commercial banking system.

Indicator HA28: Mortgage-to-deposit difference

Defined as the average difference in percentage points between interest rates on mortgages in both commercial and government financial institutions and the interest rate on one-year deposits in the commercial banking system.

Indicator HA29: Arrears rate

Defined as the percentage of mortgage loans which are three or more months in arrears in both commercial and government financial institutions.

Indicator HA30: Mortgage loans for women

Defined as the percentage of mortgage loans granted to women to all mortgage loans made last year.

CONSTRUCTION

Indicator HA31: Construction cost

Defined as the present replacement cost (labour, materials, on-site infrastructure, management and contractor profits) per square meter of a median priced dwelling unit.

Indicator HA32: Construction time

Defined as the average time, in months, required to construct a median housing unit.

Indicator HA33: On-site productivity

Defined as the man-hours per square metre on a typical median-priced dwelling in the formal construction sector.

Indicator HA34: Industry concentration

Defined as the percentage of new formal-sector housing units placed on the market by the five largest developers (either private or public) last year.

Indicator HA35: Employment

Defined as the percentage of all employment that is engaged in the construction of residential dwelling units.

Indicator HA36: Wage labour

Defined as proportion of on-site building employees who are employed as wage labour.

TAXES AND SUBSIDIES

Indicator HA37: Effective taxation rate by tenure

Defined as the nett annual housing-related taxation per dwelling paid by households to governments, in US dollars, for (a) owner occupied housing, (b) private rental housing, (c) public housing.

Indicator HA38: Nett housing outlays by government

Defined as the total expenditure by all levels of government on housing in the current year, nett of all housing related receipts from the public, taken as a percentage of total government expenditure.

Indicator HA39: Property tax rate

Defined as the percentage of the market value of the median-priced dwelling unit which is collected as annual property tax.

PUBLIC HOUSING

Indicator HA40: Public housing stock

Defined as the percentage of the total number of dwelling units in the urban area that is owned, managed and controlled by the public sector.

Indicator HA41: Privatised public stock

Defined as the percentage of the total number of dwelling units previously constructed or managed by the public sector hat have been privatised.

Indicator HA42: Public housing production

Defined as the total production of public housing units as a fraction of all formal housing units produced during the year.

Indicator HA43: Social rent to income

Defined as the ratio of the median annual rent of a public housing dwelling unit and the median household income of renters of public housing.

Indicator HA44: Waiting time

Defined as the average time on waiting lists before allocation of public housing units.

Indicator HA45: Operating subsidies

Defined as the ratio of rent payments to operations costs for public housing.

Indicator HA46: Administrative costs

Defined as the administrative cost of operating public housing taken as a fraction of the estimated market rental value of the dwellings.

Indicator HA47: Tenant management

Defined as proportion of social housing stock managed by tenants, completely, partly or jointly.