A Multidimensional Evaluation Model for Urban Settlement Efficiency

In recent decades, an integrated vision of the three dimensions of sustainable development (environmental, economic and social) has emerged. Although the growing ecological awareness has led to the dissemination of various protocols to certify the sustainability of a building or neighbourhood, there are still no tools currently used by planners for the multidimensional evaluation of urban projects on an urban scale. This contribution aims to propose a multidimensional evaluation methodology that allows to control of the level of urban efficiency of a settlement on an urban scale, through the identification of indicators that can be controlled from an urban point of view and can be used in the drafting of the implementation plans. The model is based on the concepts of urban complexity and compactness and on shared priorities such as functional and social mixité, public space as a cornerstone of planning and public housing for social cohesion, the preeminence of the pedestrian staircase which encourages soft and eco-sustainable mobility, the preservation of cultural, historical and natural resources, and the soil permeability that helps counteract the urban heat island phenomenon. The spaces must be reorganized in light of the new way of living, the new paradigm of mobility, of climate change that has an impact on a global scale with serious local effects, linked to territorial fragility and the themes of risk and resilience. The neighbourhood, as a place of society, must be fluid, constantly changing and capable of adapting to new environmental and social needs.