Integrating Social, Economic, and Environmental Factors to Evaluate How Competitive Urban Landscapes Are for the Development of Sustainable Cities: Penang Island in Malaysia as a Case Study

Milad Bagheri (), Ku Azam Tuan Lonik, Mastura Jaafar, Radziah Adam, Wan Izatul Asma Wan Talaat and Isabelle D. Wolf ()
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Milad Bagheri: Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia
Ku Azam Tuan Lonik: School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Mastura Jaafar: Quantity Surveying Department, School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Radziah Adam: School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Wan Izatul Asma Wan Talaat: Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia
Isabelle D. Wolf: School of Geography and Sustainable Communities, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

Land, 2022, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-27

Abstract: The competitiveness of urban landscapes is a subject of growing attention as cities strive to become the best places to support enterprises, economic development, and high-quality living while preserving environmental resources. In evaluations of urban competitiveness, financial factors are frequently emphasized. In this systematic study for the future sustainable urban landscape (SUL), we use the instance of Penang Island, Malaysia, to present an integrated methodology for finding, evaluating, and validating good indicators for developing an urban landscape index that balances economic, sociocultural, and environmental factors. First, we provide a framework for developing such an index by developing a Delphi Analytical Hierarchy Process (DAHP) model that aids in choosing the most important aspects and sub criteria affecting the sustainability of urban landscapes. Then, under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), we demonstrate how to use these data to assess the competitiveness of various zones on Penang Island, namely Bayan Lepas and George Town. According to the quantitative results of the DAHP model, economic criteria, which were given a weight of 0.595 and a corresponding inconsistency (CI) of 0.04, had a greater influence on Penang Island’s urban landscape than environmental criteria, which were given a weight of 0.276 and a CI of 0.02, and social and cultural criteria, which were given a weight of 0.128 and a CI of 0.08. In terms of economic criteria, Zone 1 has a weight of 0.360, which indicates that it has less sway than Zone 2, which has a weight of 0.636. In the discussion, we highlight the essential elements of the methodology to assess the competitiveness of urban environments.

Keywords: DAHP; expert choice software; sustainable development; sensitivity analysis; urban landscape; land use assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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