Publication of a capstone project carried out by our students in conjunction with the Apur

THE SIX STUDENTS ON THE GOVERNING THE LARGE METROPOLIS MASTER’S PROGRAMME PRESENT AN INVENTORY OF NEW APPROACHES TO MEASURE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT AROUND THE WORLD. THE PARIS URBANISM AGENCY HAS JUST PUBLISHED THEIR WORK.

In the early 2020s, GDP remains one of the most widely used and disseminated indicators for measuring the state of societies. Although it focuses exclusively on the notion of economic growth, GDP is often seen as a comprehensive measure of development in areas beyond economics. However, this indicator has often been criticised as being too restrictive in its interpretation of human and urban development issues. Moreover, GDP does not take into account the negative external impacts of growth, which makes it impossible to measure the sustainability of development models.

New approaches and indicators are being developed in order to understand the development of territories in a more holistic way. Nevertheless, it is difficult to precisely visualise all the alternative systems for analysing global urban development.

Amina Boumir, Marie-Valentine Barretto Delleur, Matoï Ma Handy, Bastien Vaissade, Sara Margherita Veronesi, and Xicheng Yuan have compiled an inventory of these “new approaches” and measurement tools. Their report, entitled “Beyond GDP”, analyses some of these alternative indicators in cities around the world. In particular, it examines 15 new approaches that have been adopted in various countries, five of which are the subject of more in-depth case studies. The analysis is based on documentary research, supplemented by an assortment of interviews specifying several criteria for each system of indicators: genesis; objectives; ownership and partnership management; data measured and themes; construction process; implementation progress; and impact in terms of public action. The students have drawn up a set of proposals, resulting from their work, to contribute to thinking on new approaches and systems of indicators useful for urban development.

Read the guide (FR)