Towards a common understanding of urban sustainability

Abstract

Although the term “urban sustainability” has gained worldwide popularity in the past few decades, there is still no common understanding of its definition. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the “urban” and “urban sustainability” terms by synthesizing the existing definitions and proposing a new term through a review of relevant literature, research and definition. In this study, the authors discuss numerous facets of urban sustainability, including environmental preservation, social equality, and economic growth. A comprehensive bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review are conducted to identify the meaning of the terms. It is concluded that urban sustainability can be defined as a state in which major subsystems of a city (economical, social, physical, and environmental) work in harmony to ensure the long-term well-being of its inhabitants and the preservation of natural resources on which the city’s growth and prosperity rely.