Coastal cities and sustainability indicators: an approach from the urban metabolism of the street. The case of Juan Ponce de Leon avenue, in San Juan, Puerto Rico

A methodological approach is presented for the definition of urban sustainability indicators in coastal cities, from the processes of urban metabolism of the streets, recognizing these as systems through which a large part of the urban material flows affecting the connectivity between biological structures, sociocultural relationships and vulnerability indices. As a case study, there is avenida Juan Ponce de Leon, which is analyzed from three systems of sustainability indicators: 1) the World Bank (WB), as it is considered a valid international reference; 2) LEED USA, for being the sustainability measurement system used in Puerto Rico, and 3) BCN Ecology, for its focus on urban metabolism as an analysis tool. The information is collected through geographic information systems (GIS), on-site measurements and official data. The scope of the research phase in this article has two main purposes: 1) to examine the degree of compliance of Juan Ponce de Leon Avenue and the urban environment concerning the benchmark indicators, and 2) to identify the relevance of these systems to the reality studied, acknowledging that the natural risks affecting the Caribbean merit specific indicators that help to reduce the risk conditions which constantly affect its cities. In this phase of the research, still in process, some terms of reference are proposed for the definition of specific urban sustainability indicators for San Juan, which, hopefully can serve other coastal cities.