ISO 37120 – Indicators for city services and quality of life in communities, has just been updated to offer even more indicators to help cities effectively improve the quality of life of their citizens and plan for a more sustainable future.
Initially published in 2014, ISO 37120 was the first set of internationally-standardized city indicators to provide a uniform approach to what is measured and how. The standard allowed cities to communicate amongst themselves using globally standardized, comparable data, resulting in insights into other cities and the ability to learn from one another.
Covering everything from education and energy to transport, health and water, ISO 37120 was updated due to city demand and a gap analysis that demonstrated the need for many new indicators, including those for culture, urban agriculture, and food.
Bernard Gindroz, Chair of ISO/TC 268, Sustainable cities and communities, the technical committee that developed the standard, said, “Currently, nearly a hundred cities have implemented—or are in the process of implementing—the standard and they have been very vocal in terms of what new indicators they want and need, which we have incorporated into the latest version.
“For example, there are now more comprehensive indicators on housing—such as vacancy rates and living space sizes—all essential if future cities are to manage growing populations effectively,” Gindroz said.
City managers and planners, politicians, researchers, and business leaders are among those who will benefit from the use of the standard.
ISO 37120 will soon be joined by two complementary standards on indicators for smart and resilient cities, which will provide a comprehensive suite of internationally-agreed guidelines to help cities everywhere to thrive.
ISO 37122, Sustainable development in communities – Indicators for Smart Cities, and ISO 37123, Sustainable development in communities – Indicators for Resilient Cities, are due to be released later this year.
A third new standard has also been published to give city leaders guidance on how to develop an effective model for their city and achieve their sustainability goals. ISO 37106, Sustainable cities and communities – Guidance on establishing smart city operating models for sustainable communities, provides a toolkit of “smart” practices for managing governance, services, data and systems across the city in a collaborative and digitally-enabled way.
The standards are part of the ISO 37100 series, which includes ISO 37101—the overarching management systems standard for sustainable development in communities.