A quick assessment method to evaluate sustainability of urban built environment: Case studies of four large-sized Chinese cities

Currently, some established urban indicator systems have been used in China to evaluate the sustainability performance of a whole urban system. However, the implementation of these systems is costly and time-consuming. A quick assessment for comparing and evaluating the trends of the sustainability performance of the urban built environment to support decision making of urban managers may be needed. Furthermore, this quick assessment can produce a general idea of sustainability profile for the urban built environment, which creates a foundation for further research and planning for improvements by employing more effective measures. This study provides such a quick assessment method using four large-sized Chinese cities as case studies. All data required for the evaluation is derived from official and publicly available statistic yearbooks. The method can supply an initial understanding and a deep impression of the sustainability performance of urban built environment. It also can be used to compare the sustainable performances of cities and at different periods of time.