Conceptualising urban systems for sustainability assessment

In the context of sustainable urban development, methodologies under the banner of sustainability assessment have the potential to contribute to the systematic operationalisation of sustainability as a decision-making strategy. To adequately capture the systemic complexities involved, sustainability assessments used in urban governance should be based on a comprehensive understanding of the urban systems in question. The aim of this presentation is to discuss a number of common metaphors used to describe cities, and to use the characteristics and contrasts between the metaphors as a point of departure for a critical reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of different assessment approaches to urban systems.