Social multi-criteria evaluation for urban sustainability policies

This paper attempts to provide an explanation of why reductionist approaches are not adequate for urban sustainability policy-making. Concepts derived from ecology such as urban environmental carrying capacity and ecological footprint. and concepts coming from economics such as cost benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis are discussed. Social multi-criteria evaluation (SMCE) is proposed as a general multi-dimensional framework for urban sustainability policies. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.