An Indicator Model of the Spatial Quantification and Pattern Analysis of Urban Sustainability: A Case Study of Cincinnati, Ohio

Abstract

Shen & Guo (2014) have recently developed an array of urban sustainability indicators (USIs) as a tool to measure urban sustainability. Using 2006 data for Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, they developed a theoretical integrated USI model with a hierarchical index system, to spatially monitor urban sustainability using geo-matic approaches and further statistically detect its spatial patterns. The purpose of this study is to apply Shen and Guo’s general approach to a major American city, Cincinnati, Ohio, utilizing U.S. census data from 2010, to test its utility beyond the original Canadian test case. In doing so, the model and its indicator structure were modified for the American context after a further review of sustainability indicators. Unlike Shen and Guo, however, the model is not subjectively weighted. Nevertheless, the revised model similarly applied both statistical analysis and geo-statistical analysis to explore how urban sustainability was spatially distributed and what spatial patterns (random, dispersed or clustered) for the indices could be found among Cincinnati’s census tracts. This work confirms Shen and Guo’s conclusion that geo-matic tools can be applied to detect spatially urban sustainability patterns, which can be provided visually for urban planners, managers and administrators for use in future policy making and implementation.