1. Indicator

(a) Name: Rate of growth of urban population.
(b) Brief Definition: The average annual rate of change of population living in defined urban areas during a specified period.
(c) Unit of Measurement: Usually expressed as a percentage.

2. Placement in the Framework

(a) Agenda 21: Chapter 7: Promoting Sustainable Human Settlement Development.
(b) Type of Indicator: Driving Force.

3. Significance (Policy Relevance)

(a) Purpose: This indicator measures how fast the size of urban population is changing. It aggregates impacts of natural increase in urban population, net rural-to-urban migration, and increased land area with urban characteristics.

(b) Relevance to Sustainable/Unsustainable Development: Urban areas promise economic efficiency and potential for development deriving from concentration of population, business and industries. However, when needs of a rapidly growing population in urban areas go beyond governments' ability to meet them, sustainability of urban development can be threatened. Needs of a growing population range from food, housing, land, employment, and education to environmental infrastructure including water supply, sanitation, and waste collection services. Demands for more and better urban services present one of the major challenges for local and national governments. The usefulness of this indicator is increased if growth rates are available for selected urban size categories.

(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: This indicator has close linkages with other socioeconomic variables, including percentage of population in urban areas, growth in school age population, and overall population growth. It is also linked to many environmental indicators, such as land use change, water withdrawals, and generation of municipal waste.

(d) Targets: International agreements have not established specific national or global targets for this indicator.

(e) International Conventions and Agreements: Not applicable, see section 3d above.

4. Methodological Description and Underlying Definitions

The urban growth rate for a country is generally based on an intercensal urban growth rate calculated from two censuses, each adjusted for incompleteness. The demarcation of urban areas is usually defined by countries as part of census procedures, and is usually based on the size of localities, classification of areas as administrative centres, or classification of areas according to special criteria such as population density or type of economic activity of residents. Data on urban population are characterized by the same limitations as total population, for example, under-enumeration of population in censuses (which may differ between urban and rural areas).

There is no internationally agreed definition of urban areas, and national definitions vary from country to country. Consistency in the breakdown of what constitutes urban and rural areas is problematic. With growth, the boundaries of urban areas change over time.

The Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economics and Social Information and Policy Analysis (DESIPA) evaluates, and adjusts whenever necessary, urban and rural data for under-enumeration and inconsistencies, as part of its biennial revision of the United Nations urban and rural population estimates and projections.

5. Assessment of the Availability of Data from National and International Sources

As indicated above, the rate of growth of urban population for a country is generally calculated from data on urban population from two censuses. The Statistical Division, DESIPA recommends that countries take censuses every 10 years, and these data can be used to calculate an intercensal population growth rate. In recent decades most countries have carried out censuses: 204 countries or areas carried out a census during the 1990 census decade (1985 to 1994). Data is also available from special country questionnaires sent to national statistical offices from the Statistical Division, DESIPA. Such census data also provide the basis for examining urban growth rates for sub-national areas. For all countries, urban data are evaluated and, if necessary, adjusted for incompleteness by the Population Division, DESIPA as part of its preparation of the official United Nations urban and rural population estimates and projections. Past, current and projected urban growth rates are prepared for all countries by the Population Division, DESIPA and appear in the United Nations publication, World Urbanization Prospects: The 1994 Revision (see section 7 below).

6. Agencies Involved in the Development of the Indicator

The lead organization is United Nations Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis (DESIPA). The contact point is the Director, Population Division, DESIPA; fax no. (1 212) 963 2147.

7. Further Information

DESIPA. World Urbanization Prospects: The 1994 Revision. Population Division. United Nations publication, Sales No. E.95.XIII.12. New York, 1995.

DESIPA. 1993 Demographic Yearbook. Statistical Division. United Nations publication, Sales No. E/F.95.XIII.1. 1995.

PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF FOSSIL FUEL BY MOTOR VEHICLE TRANSPORT
Social	Chapter 7	Driving Force

1. Indicator

(a) Name: Per capita consumption of fossil fuel by motor vehicle transport.
(b) Brief Definition: Defined as the annual number of litres per person of fossil fuel consumed by motor vehicle transport in urban areas.
(c) Measurement Unit: Litres.

2. Placement in the Framework

(a) Agenda 21: Chapter: 7: Promoting Sustainable Human Settlement Development.
(b) Type of Indicator: Driving Force.

3. Significance (Policy Relevance)

(a) Purpose: This indicator measures surface transport consumption of fossil fuels within urban areas.

(b) Relevance to Sustainable/Unsustainable Development: Reduced consumption of non-renewable fossil fuels, and, indirectly, reduced use of motor vehicles, is a prerequisite for sustainable human settlements development, since it affects the whole ecosystem on a substantial scale. This indicator is particularly relevant to decision making for urban areas.

As motor vehicles are the main users of transport fuel, the indicator is highly correlated with motor vehicle usage, which in turn measures indirectly the pressure on the environment through use of resources, energy consumption, air pollutant emission (particularly ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide), noise pollution. The indicator also provides indirect information about urban congestion and contamination of land and water. Fuel consumption is highly dependent on urban land use pattern, particularly density, and the fuel efficiency of the vehicle fleet. Increasing fuel consumption may be the consequence of suburbanization of the work force, increasing income and car ownership, and reduction of passenger numbers per vehicle. Fuel consumption is a good indicator of automobile dependence and, for certain countries, of import oil dependence.

(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: This indicator has many linkages to other socioeconomic and environmental indicators, especially those related to consumption, human settlements, and protection of the atmosphere. There are direct links, for example, to the emission of sulphur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases, energy use, and land use change. In consequence, there are implications for ambient concentration of pollutants in urban areas, human health, ozone depletion, and expenditure on air pollution abatement.

(d) Targets: No international targets have been established. Some countries have fuel consumption targets for the automobile vehicle fleet.

(e) International Conventions and Agreements: Not applicable, see section 3d above.

4. Methodological Description and Underlying Definitions

(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: Transport fuel should include fossil fuel such as petrol (gasoline), diesel, liquefied petroleum gas, gasohol, but should exclude aviation fuel.

(b) Measurement Methods: Fuel consumption is always available at the national level, but it is more difficult to calculate for the city, as much fuel purchased in the city may be used for intercity hauling. Fuel purchased within the city forms part of the city product, so one approach is to count all fuel purchased within the city. On the other hand, if the emphasis is on resource usage within the city, then only intra urban trips should be counted, and it may be preferable to multiply the size of the vehicle fleet of personal and commercial vehicles by estimated average fuel consumption.

(c) The Indicator in the DSR Framework: Transport fuel consumption, as an indicator of automobile dependence (and oil dependence in some countries), measures the consumption of non-renewable resources and the negative pressure and impact of motor vehicle transport on the environment in human settlements. As such, it is a Driving Force indicator within the DSR Framework. It is interlinked with many State and Response indicators (see section 3c above).

(d) Limitations of the Indicator: It is conceptually difficult to separate motor vehicle fuel use for urban areas from non-urban areas (see section 4b above). Data for the indicator are not as readily available as for countries as a whole. While the indicator captures most fossil fuel use by motor vehicles, it does not reflect fuel used to generate electricity for transport, neither does it include fuel used for other surface forms, such as rail. Fuel consumption may have various impacts on the environment depending on fuel type, vehicle emissions, urban density, traffic and the road pattern. These factors should be considered in the interpretation of the indicator.

(e) Alternative Definitions: In recognition of the difficulties of measuring and defining the scope of the impact of this indicator, it is suggested that per capita consumption of fossil fuel on a national basis represents an alternative indicator. Such an indicator has a broader relevance for consumption pattern, but does not focus on human settlement sustainability.

5. Assessment of the Availability of Data from National and International Sources

(a) Data Needed to Compile the Indicator: Consumption of petrol (gasoline), diesel, liquefied petroleum gas, and gasohol, used for transport purposes. Urban population.

(b) Data Availability: Fuel consumption is always available at the national level, usually from the ministry responsible for transportation, but it is more difficult to calculate for urban areas (see section 4b above). Data for this indicator are collected by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS or Habitat) at the city level, as an extensive indicator. They are collected by the following international organizations at the national level: The Statistical Division, the United Nations Department of Economics and Social Information and Policy Analysis (DESIPA) publishes this indicator in its Energy Statistics Yearbook. The International Roads Federation collects and publishes appropriate data, except for alternative fuels such as gasohol, in its World Road Statistics biennial compendium. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) publishes a biennial Environmental Data Compendium which includes total final energy consumption by transport sector by mode.

(c) Data Sources: See section 5b above.

6. Agencies Involved in the Development of the Indicator

(a) Lead Agency: The lead agency is the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). The contact point is the Director, Programme Coordination, Habitat; fax no. (254 2) 624 266.

(b) Other Organizations: The International Road Federation and the Statistical Division of DESIPA have assisted with the development of this indicator.

7. Further Information

OECD. Transport and the Environment. OECD, Paris, 1988.

OECD. OECD Environmental Data: Compendium 1995. OECD, Paris, 1995.

Newman, Peter W.G. and Jeffrey R.K. Kenworthy. Cities and Automobile Dependence: a Sourcebook. Gower, England, 1991.

UNCHS (Habitat). Monitoring the City. Urban Indicators Review. UNCHS, Nairobi, 1995.

DESIPA. Energy Statistics Yearbooks.

International Roads Federation. World Road Statistics.

 

HUMAN AND ECONOMIC LOSS DUE TO NATURAL DISASTERS
Social	Chapter 7	Driving Force

1. Indicator

(a) Name: Human and economic loss due to natural disasters.
(b) Brief Definition: The number of persons dead and missing as a direct result of a natural disaster; and the amount of economic and infrastructure losses incurred as a direct result of the natural disaster.
(c) Measurement Unit: Number of bodies or persons; $US.

2. Placement in the Framework

(a) Agenda 21: Chapter 7: Promoting Sustainable Human Settlement Development.
(b) Type of Indicator: Driving Force.

3. Significance (Policy Relevance)

(a) Purpose: To provide estimates of the human impact and the economic impact of disasters and emergencies over time and across administrative units in order to measure the trends in population vulnerability. The indicators can be used by decision makers at all levels to determine whether their country or province is getting progressively more or less prone to the effects of disasters.

(b) Relevance to Sustainable/Unsustainable Development: Natural disasters cause loss of life, disruption of economic activities and urban productivity, particularly for highly susceptible low-income groups; and environmental damage, such as loss of fertile agricultural land, and water contamination. It can result in major re-settlement of populations.

While the number of disaster events may not be increasing, the growing vulnerability of populations (population pressures on land, increasing urbanisation and risky land-use, marginalisation of populations, civil unrest, etc.) imply that the impacts are becoming greater. At the same time, decreasing national and donor budgets reflect the need for better planning, preparedness, and coordination.

The value of this indicator is a function of the different factors that define the risk of death and damage, that is the frequency of events, the size of the population and capital in the affected area, and the capacity of the local population and government to prevent disasters or to respond. This indicator lends itself for use in an assessment that takes into account the changes in each of these components.

(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: The immediate and longer term implications of this indicator are linked to a number of other socioeconomic, environmental, and institutional measures, such as population density, access to safe drinking water, population in informal and formal urban areas, development assistance, land use, and access to information.

(d) Targets: Not available.

(e) International Conventions or Agreements: The General Assembly of the United Nations has proclaimed the 1990s as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.

4. Methodological Description and Underlying Definitions

(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: The definitions and concepts for this indicator are not well established with common acceptance. However, for the purpose of this indicator, the following definition of natural disaster used by the Global Disaster Database is suggested: a disaster is a situation or event which overwhelms local capacity, necessitating a request to the national or international level for external assistance, or is recognised as such by a multilateral agency or by at least two sources, such as national, regional, or international assistance groups and the media.

All disasters can be identified by several common elements, such as affected country, human and economic impact, etc. Catastrophic phenomena that affect more than one country are regarded as a combination of specific disasters occurring in each affected country and are therefore to be recorded separately for each affected country. For a long-term disaster spanning over a duration of time, some of the relevant data (for example, contributions, affected population) will have to be recorded per year while other characteristics (for example., disaster type, damage) are unique to the disaster and can be stored in one record. In the case of concurrent disasters in the same country or area, events or situations can be linked together, if there is a causal relationship, or identified separately if they require appeals for assistance. For example, cyclonic storms that generate floods can be considered as being part of the same emergency situation, while epidemics occurring several months after a volcanic eruption have to be considered as separate events.

(b) Measurement Methods: The measurement methods proposed are based on the criteria used by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disaster (CRED). The data elements included here have been selected and modified according to the requirements of the sustainable development indicator methodology sheets. Overall, these data should be collected and validated at the country level by a public authority using these standard criteria and methods. Each element is presented first in a concise description, followed by comments and the proposed recording procedure.

i) Onset Date: This establishes the date when the disaster situation occurred. This date is well defined for all sudden-impact disasters. For disaster situations which develop gradually overtime (for example, drought) scientific (meteorology and seismology institutes) and governmental (civil defence authorities) sources.

ii) Declaration Date: The date when the first call for external assistance concerning the disaster is issued. This call for external assistance mentioned here is defined according to the definition of a disaster situation stated above. This date is available for all disaster situations to be included for the indicator. Only the date of the first appeal for external assistance is recorded.

iii) Disaster Type: This describes the disaster according to a pre-defined classification scheme. Disaster types should include all types of natural disasters, for example, earthquakes, cyclones, floods, volcanic eruptions, drought, and storms. Disasters may be further described as sudden onset, such as earthquakes and floods, and long-term, such as drought. Two or more disasters may be related, or other disaster types may occur as a consequence of a primary event. For example, a cyclone may generate a flood or landslide; or an earthquake may cause a gas line to rupture.

iv) Country: This defines the country in which the disaster occurred. Every disaster record will be by country. Autonomous regions, not yet recognised as countries, will not be used. The same disaster may affect more than one country, and here separate records are maintained.

v) Dead: This includes persons confirmed dead and persons missing and presumed dead. Official figures are used whenever available. The figure is updated as missing persons are confirmed to be dead.

vi) Estimated Amount of Damage: This represents the value of all damages and economic losses directly related to the occurrence of the given disaster. The economic impact of a disaster usually consists of direct (for example, damage to infrastructure, crops, housing) and indirect (for example, loss of revenues, unemployment, market destabilisation) consequences on the local economy. Although several institutions have developed methodologies to quantify these losses in their specific domain, no standard procedure to determine a global figure for the economic impact exists. Three different figures are recorded from sources which have a well-defined methodology for the assessment of economic impacts, including the World Bank and other international lending agencies; the host government; and, especially in the case of complex emergency situations, the total budget requirements listed in the consolidated appeals launched by UN agencies and other major non-government organizations.

(c) The Indicator in the DSR Framework: Natural disasters can have devastating short and long term impacts on local and national life adversely affecting progress towards sustainable development. They represent a Driving Force indicator in the DSR Framework.

(d) Limitations of the Indicator: The validity of these indicators are limited to the quality and the standardised reporting of the data used for its calculation. Use of data from insurance firms for example will introduce serious bias in the data and therefore in its interpretation. Comparability over time represents a particular problem for this indicator.

(e) Alternative Definitions: If the indicator has to reflect changing risk, the measurement should be loses per unit of time per capita. This is not possible without further development of the indicator methodology.

5. Assessment of the Availability of Data from National and International Sources

Internationally, the data are maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) in Brussels. The Centre serves as a reference source for most applications. CRED compiles and validates data from diverse sources, including the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID), United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs (UNDHA), Munich Re, Suisse Re, Lloyds of England, and Royale Belge, the World Bank, World Health Organization, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross. National agencies and vary from country to country, but generally includes civil defence organizations, ministries of interior and agriculture, etc.

6. Agencies Involved in the Development of the Indicator

(a) Lead Agency: The lead agency is the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs (UNDHA). The contact point is the Director, Secretariat for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR); fax no. (41 22) 733 8695.

(b) Other Organisations: Other contributing organizations include the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, Faculty of Medicine, University of Louvain, Brussels. The following organizations were consulted over the development of this indicator methodology sheet: World Food Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, Pan American Health Organization, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and US Agency for International Development.

7. Further information

CRED. Profiles in the World: Summary of Disaster Statistics by Continent. CRED Statistical Bulletin, May 1994.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. World Disasters Reports for 1993, 1994, and 1995. Martinus Neijhoof Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands. 1993, 1994, and 1995.

Sapir, D.G. Natural and Man-made Disasters: the Vulnerability of Women-headed Households and Children without Families. World Health Statistical Quarterly; 46: 227-233, 1993.

CRED. Proposed Principles and Guidelines for the Collection and Dissemination of Disaster Related Data. Report on the IERRIS Workshop, 7-9 September 1992.

Sapir, D.G. & Sato, T. The Human Impact of Floods: Common Issues for Preparedness and Prevention in Selected Asia-Pacific Countries. Paper presented at the Second Asian Pacific Conference on Disaster Medicine, Chiba, Japan. 1992.

Sapir, D.G. and Misson, C. The Development of a Database on Disasters. Disasters; 16(1): 80-86. 1992.

CRED. Statistical Update from CRED Disaster Events Database in: CRED Disasters in the World. November 1991.

 

PERCENT OF POPULATION IN URBAN AREAS
Social	Chapter 7	State

1. Indicator

(a) Name: Percent of population in urban areas.
(b) Brief Definition: The percentage of total population of a country or area living in places defined as urban.
(c) Unit of Measurement: %.

2. Placement in the Framework

(a) Agenda 21: Chapter 7: Promoting Sustainable Human Settlement Development.
(b) Type of Indicator: State.

3. Significance (Policy Relevance)

(a) Purpose: This indicator is the most commonly used index of the degree of urbanization. Although national definitions of "urban" vary (see section 4 below), there is sufficient uniformity to permit meaningful comparisons between countries and over time. It is often useful to further classify urban areas by size, since the benefits and problems of cities vary, in part, with their size.

(b) Relevance to Sustainable/Unsustainable Development: Agenda 21 calls for a balance between urban and rural development patterns. In addition, urbanization is recognized as an intrinsic dimension of economic and social development by the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). Urban areas have distinctive characteristics reflecting the social fabric and density of their population, and the nature and scale of economic activities. Urbanization has profound social and economic implications that extend beyond the urban boundaries. Although many urban areas have environmental and developmental problems such as housing shortages, traffic congestion, air and water pollution, and waste, Agenda 21 also notes urban societies' potential for sustainable development if properly managed.

(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: This indicator has close linkages with other demographic indicators, particularly the rate of growth of urban population. Since it does not reflect differences in city size, the indicator of the number of mega-cities adds useful information. Urbanization is also linked to economic indicators such as manufacturing value added in GDP. Some of the environmental indicators of solid waste, sewage and pollution are of particular relevance to urban settings.

(d) Targets: International agreements have not established specific national or global targets for this indicator.

(e) International Conventions and Agreements: Not applicable (see section 3d above).

4. Methodological Description and Underlying Definitions

By definition, this indicator is calculated as the population of urban areas divided by total population of a country or area, expressed as a percentage. The demarcation of urban areas is usually defined by countries as part of census procedures, and is usually based on the size of localities, classification of areas as administrative centres, or classification of areas according to special criteria such as population density or type of economic activity of residents. Data on urban population are characterized by the same limitations as total population, for example, under-enumeration of population in censuses (which may differ between urban and rural areas). The Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economics and Social Information and Policy Analysis (DESIPA) evaluates, and adjusts whenever necessary, urban and rural data for under-enumeration and inconsistencies, as part of its biennial revision of the United Nations urban and rural population estimates and projections.

There is no international agreed definition of urban areas, and national definitions vary from country to country. Consistency in the breakdown of what constitutes an urban area is problematic. With growth, the boundaries of urban areas change over time.

5. Assessment of the Availability of Data from National and International Sources

As indicated above, the percentage urban population can be calculated from censuses, and such data are available for nearly all countries. Such data are available from national sources (country publications) as well as from special country questionnaires sent to national statistical offices from the Statistical Division, DESIPA. The United Nations recommends that countries take censuses every 10 years and these data can be used to calculate the percentage urban. The Population Division, DESIPA prepares the official United Nations population estimates and projections of percentage urban. Past, current and projected percentage urban are prepared for all countries by the Population Division, DESIPA and appear in the United Nations publication, World Urbanization Prospects: The 1994 Revision (see section 7 below).

6. Agencies Involved in the Development of the Indicator

The lead organization is the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis (DESIPA). The contact point is the Director, Population Division, DESIPA; fax no. (1 211) 963 2147.

7. Further Information

DESIPA. World Urbanization Prospects: The 1994 Revision. Population Division. United Nations Sales No. E.95.XIII.12. New York, 1995.

DESIPA. 1993 Demographic Yearbook. Statistical Division. United Nations Sales No.E/F.95.XIII.1. 1995.

AREA AND POPULATION OF URBAN FORMAL AND INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS
Social	Chapter 7	State

1. Indicator:

(a) Name: Area and population of urban formal and informal settlements.
(b) Brief Definition: Urban residential area in square kilometres occupied by formal and informal settlements, and the number of their occupants.
(c) Measurement Unit: Area: km2; number of occupants.

2. Placement in the Framework

(a) Agenda 21: Chapter 7: Promoting Sustainable Human Settlement Development.
(b) Type: State.

3. Significance (Policy Relevance)

(a) Purpose: The indicator measures both the sizes of informal urban settlements and the residential density of both formal and informal settlements. By focusing on the legality of human settlements, this indicator measures the marginality of human living conditions.

(b) Relevance to Sustainable/Unsustainable Development: Settlements characterized by illegality of tenure and unauthorized shelter are generally marginal and precarious, and do not cater for basic human needs such as affordable housing. They affect sustainable human settlements development, human health, and socioeconomic development.

Illegal dwellers generally live in an unsafe and precarious environment, lack basic services, suffer from the absence of tenure security, and have no legal claim in case of eviction. Also, numerous illegal settlements are established on lands which are predisposed to natural disasters. Informal settlements have usually a much higher population density than formal settlements and these living conditions constitute a threat to human health.

(c) Linkages with Other Indicators: This indicator is closely linked with several other socioeconomic and environmental indicators, such as rate of growth of urban population, human and economic losses due to natural disasters, access to adequate sanitation, primary health care, infant mortality, infrastructure expenditure, and land use.

(d) Targets: No international targets have been established for this indicator.

(e) International Conventions and Agreements: Not applicable, see section 3d above.

4. Methodological Description and Underlying Definitions

(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: Informal settlements refer to: i) residential areas where a group of housing units has been constructed on land to which the occupant have no legal claim, or which they occupy illegally; ii) unplanned settlements and areas where housing is not in compliance with current planning and building regulations (unauthorized housing). Formal settlements refer to land zoned residential in city master plans or occupied by formal housing.

(b) Measurement Methods: Households and population living in informal settlements are generally measured in censuses. Area of informal settlements can be evaluated through aerial photography or land use maps. This indicator should not cover dwelling units which have been regularized, that is those units for which land titles, leases or occupancy permits have been granted. It should only include those units which presently occupy land illegally and/or housing units which are not in compliance with current regulation. Where feasible, the interpretation and meaning of this indicator would be supported by the comparison of informal settlement area and population to total urban area and population.

(c) The Indicator in the DSR Framework: This is a state indicator, reflecting the major consequence of unplanned and unsustainable population growth in human settlements.

(d) Limitations of the Indicator: The ephemeral nature and lack of an acceptable operational definition for this indicator, limit its usefulness, especially for trend analysis. The legal framework for settlements on which this indicator is based varies from country to country. Informal housing is not registered in official statistics, any measure of informal settlements remains limited. Information may be obtained from specific research studies, but it difficult to obtain and may be of variable quality. Homelessness, which is one of the extreme symptoms of human settlements inadequacy, is not accounted for by this indicator and in fact the existence of illegal settlements may reduce the incidence of homelessness. This indicator does not cover informal settlements in rural areas.

(e) Alternative Definitions: Many concepts intended to measure marginality of human settlements have been formulated: unplanned, squatter, marginal settlements, unconventional, non permanent structures, housing in compliance, inadequate housing, slums, etc. "Unconventional dwellings" is one of the most common measures, defined by the number of housing units occupied by households, but considered inappropriate to human habitation. The type of building (permanent, semi-permanent, non permanent) which describe the building structures in which households live is another common measure, but the criteria widely vary from country to country. Alternatively, attempts could be made to include informal rural settlements within the indicator concept. This would be more comprehensive, but detract from its urban focus.

5. Assessment of the Availability of Data from National and International Sources

(a) Data Needed to Compile the Indicator: Area and population of informal settlements.

(b) Data Availability: These data are more likely to be available at the city level and are generally collected in large cities affected by informal settlements. Data sets at the national level will only occur sporadically.

(c) Data Sources: Data from research studies, census data, and aerial photographs.

6. Agencies Involved in the Development of the Indicator

The lead agency is the United Nation Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). The contact point is the Director, Programme Coordination, Habitat; fax no. (254 2) 624 266.

7. Further Information

World Bank. Housing: Enabling Markets to Work. A World Bank Policy Paper. The World Bank, Washington D.C., 1993.

UNCHS (Habitat) and The World Bank. The Housing Indicators Programme. Report of the Executive Director (Volume I). UNCHS, Nairobi, 1993.

UNCHS (Habitat). Monitoring the Shelter Sector. Housing Indicators Review. UNCHS, Nairobi, 1995.

FLOOR AREA PER PERSON
Social	Chapter 7	State

1. Indicator

(a) Name: Floor area per person
(b) Brief Definition: Defined as the median usable living space per person.
(c) Measurement Unit: m

2. Placement in the Framework

(a) Agenda 21: Chapter 7: Promoting Sustainable Human Settlement Development.
(b) Type: State.

3. Significance (Policy Relevance)

(a) Purpose: This is a key indicator of housing quality, which measures the adequacy of living space in dwellings. A low value for the indicator is a sign of overcrowding.

(b) Relevance to Sustainable/Unsustainable Development: This is a key indicator measuring the adequacy of the basic human need for shelter. Human settlement conditions in many parts of the world are deteriorating mainly as a result of a low level of investment, although such investment has been shown to generate considerable public and private sector investment. Housing policies, particularly in urban areas, greatly affect the living conditions of people. In low income settlements, reduced space per person can be associated with certain categories of health risks.

(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: This indicator is closely linked to several other socioeconomic indicators with which it should be considered, including population density, rate of growth of urban population, area and population of informal settlements, and infrastructure expenditure per capita.

(d) Targets: No targets have been developed for this indicator.

(e) International Conventions and Agreements: This indicator is one of ten "key" housing indicators approved by the Commission on Human Settlements (Resolution 14/13), to be collected in all countries and in a number of cities in each country, to measure progress towards meeting the objectives of the Global Shelter Strategy. Countries are to use the indicators to provide the basis for their country reports to the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements.

4. Methodological Description and Underlying Definitions

(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: The floor area should include all living space, along with bathrooms, internal corridors and closets. Covered semi-private spaces such as corridors, inner courtyards or verandas should be included in the calculation if used by the household for cooking, eating, sleeping, or other domestic activities. Floor area refers to a housing unit, defined as a separate and independent place of abode intended for habitation by one household at the time of the census or other inquiry.

(b) Measurement Methods: The median floor area of a unit should be divided by the average household size. If data from household surveys or from a recent census are available, these can be used. In the absence of better data, the floor area of the median priced dwelling may be used as an approximation, although this may not be an accurate estimate. If the median cannot be estimated, then the average should be provided.

(c) The indicator in the DSR Framework: This indicator is a measure of housing quality, an outcome of housing demand and housing supply, determined by the overall housing policy framework. As such, this indicator is a State measure in the DSR Framework.

(d) Limitations of the Indicator: Results for this indicator may vary considerably if collected at the city, national, urban/rural levels, given the variations in land availability and types of human settlements and activities. Informal settlements in particular are likely to have much less space per person, as are disadvantaged groups. Various levels of data collection are necessary to provide a full picture of this specific housing outcome. Housing size and housing quality are usually but not necessarily linked, and floor area per person may not give a complete picture of living conditions. Cultural values affect sensitivity to crowding. For these reasons, interpretation of this indicator is difficult, and should be completed in conjunction with related indicators (see section 3c above).

(e) Alternative Definitions: Alternative measures of crowding have been the subject of data collection and reporting in international statistical compendia. The two most common are persons per room and households per dwelling unit, each of which was included among data collected during the first phase of the Housing Indicators Programme (UNCHS, World Bank, 1992). Surveys have shown that floor area per person is more precise and policy-sensitive than the other two indicators. Habitat, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) has developed and tested a series of crowding indicators in low-income settlements. They include, among others, percentage of housing units with more than one household, in-house living area per person, percentage of housing units with more than three persons per room, number of households per building and per housing unit, number of persons per building.

5. Assessment of the Availability of Data from National and International Sources

(a) Data Needed to Compile the Indicator: Median floor area of housing units; average number of persons per household.

(b) Data Availability: The data are generally available at the country level. This indicator was collected in 52 countries (one city per country) by the Shelter Sector Performance Indicators Programme in 1992 (UNCHS, World Bank). It is being collected worldwide by the UNCHS Indicators Programme in preparation for the Habitat II Conference. A detailed set of crowding indicators has been developed and the data collected for Jakarta (Indonesia), Bissau (Guinea Bissau), and Accra (Ghana).

(c) Data Sources: Primary data sources include censuses or household surveys. The indicator is reported in the Housing Indicators Programme report listed in section 7 below.

6. Agencies Involved in the Development of the Indicator

(a) Lead Agency: The lead agency is the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). The contact point is the Director, Programme Coordination, UNCHS; fax no. (254 2) 624 266.

(b) Other Organizations: The World Bank.

7. Further Information

World Bank. Housing: Enabling Markets to Work. The World Bank, Washington D.C., 1993 (A World Bank Policy Paper).

UNCHS (Habitat), World Bank. The Housing Indicators Programme. Report of the Executive Director (Volume I). UNCHS, Nairobi, 1993.

UNCHS (Habitat). Monitoring the Shelter Sector. Housing Indicators Review. UNCHS, Nairobi, 1995.

UNCHS (Habitat). Human Settlement, Interventions Addressing Crowding and Health Issues, UNCHS, Nairobi, 1995.

 

HOUSE PRICE TO INCOME RATIO
Social	Chapter 7	State

1. Indicator

(a) Name: House price to income ratio.
(b) Brief Definition: This indicator is defined as the ratio of the median free-market price of a dwelling unit and the median annual household income.
(c) Unit of Measurement: Ratio

2. Placement in the Framework

(a) Agenda 21: Chapter 7: Promoting Sustainable Human Settlement Development.
(b) Type of Indicator: State

3. Significance (Policy Relevance)

(a) Purpose: This indicator is a key measure of housing affordability, providing information on the overall performance of housing markets and important insights into several housing market dysfunctions, indicative of a variety of policy failures.

(b) Relevance to Sustainable/Unsustainable Development: This is a key indicator measuring human settlements sustainability by determining housing affordability, and therefore the impact of market forces and housing policies on the living conditions of people. It is strongly influenced by government land use policy and is particularly relevant to urban areas.

(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: There are close links between this indicator and a number of other socioeconomic Driving Force and Response measures. These would include: infrastructure expenditure per capita, percent of population in urban areas, increase in urban population, population density, area and population of informal settlements.

(d) Targets: International agreements have not established specific national and global goals for this indicator.

(e) International Conventions and Agreements: This indicator is one of ten "key" housing indicators approved by the Commission on Human Settlements (Resolution 14/13), to be collected in all countries and in a number of cities in each country, to measure progress towards meeting the objectives of the Global Shelter Strategy. Countries are to use the indicators to provide the basis for their country reports for the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II).

4. Methodological Description and Underlying Definitions

(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: Two intermediate measures are required: median house price and median annual household income.

i) Median household income: Household income is defined as gross income from all sources, including wages, salaries, incomes from businesses or informal sector activities, investment income, and, where information is available, income in kind such as consumption of agricultural product which might have been sold.

ii) Median house price: The median-priced house is that house which has 50% of the houses priced below it, and 50% of the houses priced above it. Housing value is defined as the price at which a house would be sold if placed on the market for a reasonable length of time by a seller who is not under pressure to sell.

(b) Measurement Methods: The following methods for calculating household incomes and the median price house are suggested.

Many countries may have recent household surveys containing information on median household incomes or expenditures which can be used directly. Expenditures data rather than incomes data may be used to estimate incomes if these data are more readily available. In fact, for lower income earners or where incomes are routinely concealed, expenditures may be a better measure of income than reported incomes. Mean household incomes, although less preferable, are often easier to obtain as a recent estimate (for example, by dividing household income or household expenditure in the National Accounts by the number of households).

If a survey is available, which has mean and median incomes, but which is too old to yield good estimates of household income, the ratio of median to mean incomes may still be used to obtain a new median, because the distribution of incomes does not change as rapidly as incomes themselves.

The calculation of the price of the median-priced house should, include all housing, both new and old, and both formal and informal. If, for example, the majority of the housing stock is informal, and the informal housing stock is generally cheaper than the formal housing stock, then the median priced house will probably be an informal unit. For blocks of apartments or multiple-family dwellings which are usually sold as a single building, the value of one dwelling unit should be estimated as a pro rata share of the total sale price. This is particularly relevant for countries in Africa where the majority of housing is of this type.

The following methods are available for estimating the median price.

i) Method 1: Where the informal sector is small and data is reliable, median house price can be determined directly from published (formal) sales figures or from recent surveys.

ii) Method 2: If recent average prices are available, they can be converted to median price by using a median/mean ratio from an older household survey. In much of the research done on housing markets in developing countries, it has been found that median prices are generally about 70% of the average. This figure is higher when housing is more equally distributed and lower when housing is more unequally distributed.

iii) Method 3: If no direct data are available, then prices need to be estimated for each sub-market. Estimate the percentage of all housing units and price range per unit. The median should then be estimated, using a graph, representing the different sub-markets. In some cases, the price ranges of several different kinds of dwellings may overlap around the median, so that the median dwelling could be of either type.

(c) The Indicator in the DSR Framework: This indicator is a measure of housing affordability, result of housing demand and housing supply, determined by the overall housing policy framework. As such, this indicator represents a State measure in the DSR Framework.

(d) Limitations of the Indicator: Results for this indicator may vary considerably if collected at the city, national, urban/rural levels, given the variations in land availability and type of human settlements and activities. Although median house price is more indicative of general housing affordability than mean price, some population subgroups may find housing much less affordable than the median. Also, although rents generally reflect house prices, rents may be much more or less affordable than this indicator would show, depending on rental market regulation and the availability of rental housing. Various levels of data collection are necessary to provide a full picture of housing affordability. In some countries such as China, no formal housing market exists and a meaningful value for the indicator is difficult to estimate.

The influence of the financial markets are not reflected by this indicator. It is a measure of what the market will pay, rather than a measure of the cost to build housing.

(e) Alternative Indicator Definitions: Another key and complementary measure of housing affordability is the rent-to-income ratio, defined as the ratio of the median annual rent of a dwelling unit and the median household income of renters. It may be very relevant in some countries and cities where rental housing is a common tenure type.

5. Assessment of the Availability of Data from National and International Sources

(a) Data Needed to Compile the Indicator: Median household income; median-priced house.

(b) Data Availability: Reliable data are generally available for many countries. Median household income can be extracted from household surveys and the median-priced house estimated based on market research. Such estimates from respondents correspond closely to actual market values. This indicator has been collected in 53 countries (one city per country) by the Shelter Sector Performance Indicators Programme in 1992 (UNCHS, World Bank). It is being collected worldwide by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) Indicators Programme in preparation for the Habitat II Conference.

(c) Data Sources: Primary data sources exist at the individual urban area. This indicator is reported in the Housing Indicators Programme report listed in section 7 below.

6. Agencies Involved in the Development of the Indicator

(a) Lead Agency: The lead agency is the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). The contact point is the Director, Programme Coordination, UNCHS; fax no. (254 2) 624 266.

(b) Other Organizations: The World Bank

7. Further Information

World Bank. Housing: Enabling Markets to Work. A World Bank Policy Paper. Washington D.C., 1993.

UNCHS (Habitat), World Bank. The Housing Indicators Programme. Report of the Executive Director (Volume I). UNCHS, Nairobi, 1993.

UNCHS (Habitat). Monitoring the Shelter Sector. Housing Indicators Review. UNCHS, Nairobi, 1995.

 

INFRASTRUCTURE EXPENDITURE PER CAPITA
Social	Chapter 7	Response

1. Indicator

(a) Name: Infrastructure expenditure per capita.
(b) Brief Definition: This indicator is defined as the per capita expenditure in US dollars by all levels of government, including government-owned companies and utilities, on urban infrastructure services during the current year.
(c) Measurement Unit: $US

2. Placement in the Framework

(a) Agenda 21: Chapter 7: Promoting Sustainable Human Settlement Development
(b) Type of Indicator: Response

3. Significance (Policy Relevance)

(a) Purpose: This indicator measures the involvement of the different levels of the government and the private sector in the provision, improvement and maintenance of infrastructure. As such, it is a key measure of provision of basic services, including housing to the population.

(b) Relevance to Sustainable/Unsustainable Development: Infrastructure is a major indicator for the monitoring of the Global Shelter Strategy to the Year 2000, which calls for a fundamental shift in government's role in housing from attempting to provide housing directly towards an enabling role, one which facilitates, energises and supports the activities of the private sector, both formal and informal. The enabling strategy provides the basis for a sustainable long term approach to human settlement management.

Total infrastructure expenditure interacts strongly with new land development and construction, and also with improved access to services by households. Low levels of infrastructure expenditures result in land supply bottlenecks and thus in higher prices for land and housing. They also result in inadequate provision of residential amenities, such as water, sewerage, drainage, electricity, and transportation facilities all of which can affect the quality and access to housing.

(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: Infrastructure development energizes the shelter sector, and improves housing affordability. It is closely linked with other socioeconomic and environment indicators, especially those associated with human settlements, including house price-to-income ratio, land use change, transport fuel consumption, land and area of informal settlements, access to adequate sanitation, and infant mortality rate.

(d) Targets: International agreements have not established specific national and global goals for this indicator.

(e) International Conventions and Agreements: This indicator is one of ten "key" housing indicators approved by the Commission on Human Settlements (Resolution 14/13), to be collected in all countries and in a number of cities in each country, to measure progress towards meeting the objectives of the Global Shelter Strategy. Countries are to use the indicators to provide the basis for their country reports for the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II).

4. Methodological Description and Underlying Definitions

(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: Infrastructure includes operations, maintenance, and capital expenditures on physical infrastructure such as urban roads, railways, sewerage, drainage, water supply, electricity, and garbage collection, but not social infrastructure such as health and education expenditure.

(b) Measurement Methods: Infrastructure expenditures are comprised of three major components, capital expenditures (construction costs), recurrent expenditures (operations, maintenance, salaries, etc.), and capital servicing (debt service and depreciation). If there were unusually high capital expenditures during the last year for which figures are available, then they should not be included in the indicator. Only their first year depreciation should be considered as current year expenditure. Only real outlays or real transfers should be counted as expenditure. If debts (for example, to the central government) are not actually paid, or depreciation payments are not actually transferred to a sinking fund, they should not be counted as expenditures.

(c) The indicator in the DSR Framework: Infrastructure expenditure is a key measure of human settlement management, as infrastructure constitutes the main input for land and shelter development and improvement. It is a major Response to inadequate land development, and therefore housing production, in order to meet the increasing demand of populations.

(d) Limitations of the Indicator: The methodology for this indicator requires more work in, for example, defining the scope of infrastructure to be included, and in the treatment of interest payments and depreciation. The interpretation and meaning of this indicator will vary greatly by country and geographic region.

In many countries, infrastructure expenditure is targeted towards certain areas of the city and specific groups of the population. Aggregated data for the city will not show who are the real beneficiaries of infrastructure expenditure. Also, sectoral expenditures on different categories of infrastructure may have very different outcomes for sustainability.

(e) Alternative Indicator Definitions: Under the limitations discussed above, it may be advisable to consider a more basic definition of infrastructure to include, for example, water supply, sewerage collection and treatment, roads, communication, and schools. This, however, would increase the overlap with other existing, more disaggregated indicators, such as water and sanitation services.

5. Assessment of the Availability of Data from National and International Sources

(a) Data Needed to Compile the Indicator: Three data components are required: capital expenditures (construction costs), recurrent expenditures (operations, maintenance, salaries, etc.), capital servicing (debt service and depreciation).

(b) Data Availability: This indicator has been collected in 44 countries (one city per country) by the Shelter Sector Performance Indicators Programme in 1992 (UNCHS, World Bank). It is being collected worldwide by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) Indicators Programme in preparation for the Habitat II Conference.

(c) Data Sources: This indicator is obtained from expenditure accounts of local and central governments, and from major public agencies. International data is available from the Housing Indicators Programme report listed in section 7 below.

6. Agencies Involved in the Development of the Indicator

(a) Lead Agency: The lead agency is the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). The contact point is the Director, Programme Coordination, UNCHS; fax no. (254 2) 624 266.

(b) Other Organizations: The World Bank.

7. Further Information

World Bank. Housing: Enabling Markets to Work. A World Bank Policy Paper. Washington D.C., 1993.

UNCHS (Habitat), World Bank. The Housing Indicators Programme. Report of the Executive Director (Volume I). UNCHS, Nairobi, 1993.

UNCHS (Habitat). Monitoring the Shelter Sector. Housing Indicators Review. UNCHS, Nairobi, 1995.