Abstract

     Most sustainability assessment systems focus on comparing the sustainable progress across cities, and few concentrate on tracking the sustainability progress of cities over time with the consideration of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Tracking the sustainable progress of cities over time can help unveil the potential obstacles and challenges in city governance and provide references for city policy-makers. Hence, the present study built up a framework to evaluate sustainable development progress in Shenzhen from 2005 to 2019. Shenzhen is a young megacity with only 40 years of history, and it is one of the demonstration zones to represent sustainable development in China. Fifty indicators in the dimensions of innovation vitality, public service, and living environments are chosen to consider the focus of both UN SDGs goals and Shenzhen’s sustainable development plans. The potential bottlenecks for city development are identified, and effective policies implemented by Shenzhen policy-makers are highlighted. Results showed that the innovation vitality in Shenzhen had improved continuously since 2005, but public service and living environments both showed a falling trend after a peak in 2014 and 2016. The result revealed that as a megacity, Shenzhen should pay more attention to public service and living environments, especially in the construction of schools at all levels, salvation management centers, and green space, and improve air quality to meet the requirement of higher rank in sustainable urban development. It is suggested that cities build a solid system to monitor their progress towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The experience from Shenzhen can be adapted and implemented by other young megacities worldwide to accelerate their path towards sustainability.

Introduction

     The concept of sustainable development was first mentioned in the United Nations report named “Our Common Future” in 1987, which defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (Brundtland et al., 1987). Various economic development modes, strategies, and policies worldwide were then developed by considering economic, social, and environmental factors simultaneously, so-called in a sustainable way (Wu, 2013; Jepson, 2004; Moe et al., 2006; Strong, 2006). In 2015, the United Nations announced the report “Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (The, 2030 Agenda), which put forward 17 global sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030, which lead the path towards sustainable development to the new page (UN, 2015b).

Conclusion

     The research focused on evaluating sustainable development progress in the megacity Shenzhen from 2005 to 2019 by constructing an index system covering three dimensions of innovation vitality, public service, and living environment with 15 s-level and 50 tertiary indicators. According to the assessment, overall sustainable development in Shenzhen was much better in recent years. The growth rate of sustainable development score was rapid before 2013 but slower afterward. In terms of the three dimensions of Shenzhen’s sustainable development, innovation vitality kept improving since 2005. Public service improved before 2014 but regressed after that. The living environment improved before 2016 but showed a falling trend afterward. The evaluation indicates that Shenzhen paid great attention to the construction of innovation vitality.

      In terms of future development, it is suggested that the local government build a more solid sustainable assessment system with indicators covering all 17 SDGs to monitor the progress to sustainability. Shenzhen could accelerate the construction of higher education institutions and research institutes by cooperating with top universities and financial and policy support for sustainable urban development. The burden of innovation investment may be relieved by training programs or networking organized by the government. The obstacle of public services is suggested to be taken seriously and could be reduced by urban renewal. The living environment is one of the strengths of sustainable development in Shenzhen and could be maintained by constructing a resource-saving society.