Measuring the urban sustainable development in cities through a Composite Index: The case of Portugal

This study aims to systematize indicators and indices that allow measurement sustainable development in cities and towns (economic, social, and environmental). It is one dimension that is inseparable from current cities and its extent is a major concern for political decision-makers worldwide, and also present their individual weights in that performance. The results allow construction of a Composite Index for Sustainability supported by multivariate statistical techniques (Exploratory Factor Analysis and Principal Component Analysis), confirming its scientific quality and robustness, and forming the main contribution of this study. The results also show that the urban sustainability dimension is visible in the 308 Portuguese cities/towns in a tri-partite way. Economic sustainability (weighting of 0.386) has been strengthened by entrepreneurship, which has created new business supported by public-private partnerships, such as living labs, which has contributed to less urban unemployment. Standing out in social sustainability (weighting of 0.245) is the development of projects promoting cohesion and social inclusion and actions to improve social infrastructure in Portuguese towns. Finally, environmental sustainability (weighting of 0.369), which locally in Portugal, has emphasized waste management and actions to preserve and protect natural resources and the environment in general. However, more effective actions are needed for their sustainability to continue to improve substantially in the long term, for example, environmentally. Furthermore, the towns/cities analysed must change to the circular economy model as proposed by the European Union.