Urban Indicators

Arnab Jana
27.03.2023
At the bottom level of the data triangle
are raw data, or information.

These data are usually assembled into

statistics, which often take the form of
tables, or other partially organized data
frameworks.

These tables are not generally of much

value in their own right for policy, since
a majority of people cannot read large
tables or perceive the importance
of the results; and they require further
interpretation and analysis.
• The next step of organization is indicators, which are usually single
numbers, mostly ratios, such as the unemployment rate or the
economic growth rate, which permit comparisons over time and
space and have normative and policy implications.

• Finally at the top level of data organization are indexes, which are
combinations of indicators designed to measure the overall health or
progress of the object of study.
Examples
• The consumer price index (CPI),
• gross domestic product (GDP), and
• Human Development Index (HDI) are all well-known indexes.
What is indicators?
• Indicators are not data, rather they are models simplifying a complex
subject to a few numbers which can be easily grasped and
understood by policymakers and the public.
• They are required to be user driven, and are generally highly
aggregated, so that changes or differences in the value of an indicator
may be more important than its absolute level.
The main types of indicators usually encountered
in policy are
• performance indicators, which measure aspects of the performance of
organizations, sectors, or cities, and are intended to identify which
departments, districts, or policies are meeting desirable aims;
• issue-based indicators, which are intended to draw attention to particular
issues. Common examples of issue-based indicators include crime and
safety, unemployment, urban sprawl, air quality, etc.; and
• needs indicators, which measure need or deprivation, and generally aim to
allocate resources to the most needy target groups. Poverty and
deprivation indicators are major examples of needs indicators.
• Indicators are also classified according to the framework being used to
construct the indicators system. A number are in common use.
The Choice of Indicator
• The major initiatives for developing indicators have used three main
conceptual approaches. These are:
• a policy-based approach that had its roots in the social indicators
movement of the late 1960s, and was subsequently modified and
developed by the WB/UNCHS Indicators Programme and the subsequent
Global Urban Observatory;
• the thematic/index approach used by United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and in State of the Environment reporting
• the systems approach originally promoted by the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and used widely to
support Agenda 21, State of the Environment reporting, and environmental
sustainability agenda.
 One way of categorizing these indicators frameworks is
by asking six questions about the environment in which
indicators development takes place:
Who are the indicators for? There is a whole range of potential users for every class of
indicator, including city and national policymakers, citizens, researchers, the private sector,
and international agencies (UNCHS 1994, Vol. 1, contains a stakeholder analysis). However,
there tends to be a dominant class of user who will own or use the indicators.

What are the indicators for? What is the principal use and rationale for developing these
indicators?

What is the urban perspective? Is the city regarded largely as a political entity of
interacting stakeholders, as a developing entity meeting goals associated with broad
themes, as a physical system in which the stakeholders operate, as a system of control
and accountability, or as a set of units and processes seeking best performance?
What is their scope? Do individual records apply to particular organizations or target
groups, to themes, to socioeconomic sectors, or to the whole city? Is the city confined to
the central municipality, the metropolitan jurisdictions, or the functional urban region?
What is the coverage of the full collection? A number of the major collections have sampled
the whole world, particular regions, countries, and single cities or municipalities.
Figure in slide 8 shows the range of indicator applications at macro and micro levels.

What is the political and organizational context? Do the indicators form part of a political
dialogue between different parties?
Are they intended to measure and compare development progress? Or are they intended
for various internal organizational processes, such as performance review, budget setting,
or process improvement?

By whom are they developed and implemented?

Are the indicators issued by fiat, by groups of experts, or generated through a
consultative process involving stakeholders? Is it a top-down or bottomup process?
• An example of a domain model developed for
indicators of environmental health.
• It provides for a conceptualization of the
domain into its major components, giving
guidance on potential linkages between
indicators.
• Indicators can then be selected which represent
these causality chains.
Domains and Indicators Within
the Framework of ADB’s Urban
Sector Strategy
City Development Index
• The City Development Index ranks cities in the development spectrum
and combines city product with infrastructure, waste management,
health and education indicators. The CDI can be calculated using the
following formula:
• Formula = (Infrastructure index + waste index + health index +
education index + productindex) / 5
NOTES
There is a need to assess urban land figures from
survey results, not from plans.
On “Prime Commercial Land Price,” data to be
obtained should be from a representative sample
of locations.
On “Prime Rental and Occupancy Cost,” the
definition
of operating costs should be laid down clearly.
 Is there any relationship between City development index and floor area person?

URBAN INDICATORS FOR MANAGING CITIES, Editors: Matthew S. Westfall and Victoria A. de Villa, ADB