What is ISO 37120?
As part of a new series of International Standards being developed for a holistic and integrated approach to sustainable development and resilience under TC268 Sustainable Development of Communities, ISO 37120 establishes a set of standardized indicators that provide a uniform approach to what is measured, and how that measurement is to be undertaken. This International Standard does not provide a value judgement, or numeric thresholds on what a particular city should choose as appropriate targets for the indicators. ISO 37120 defines and establishes definitions and methodologies for a set of indicators to steer and measure the performance of city services and quality of life.
Introduction
Cities need indicators to measure their performance. Existing indicators are often not standardized, consistent, or comparable over time or across cities.As part of a new series of International Standards being developed for a holistic and integrated approach to sustainable development and resilience, this set of standardized indicators provides a uniform approach to what is measured, and how that measurement is to be undertaken. As a list, it does not provide a value judgement, or threshold or a target numerical value for the indicators.Conformance with this standard does not confer a status in this regard. A city which conforms to this standard in regards to measurement of indicators for city services and quality of life may only claim compliance to that effect.These indicators can be used to track and monitor progress on city performance. In order to achieve sustainable development, the whole city system needs to be taken into consideration. Planning for future needs must take into consideration current use and efficiency of resources in order to better plan for tomorrow.The indicators and associated test methods in this International Standard have been developed in order to help cities:
- a) measure performance management of city services and quality of life over time;
- b) learn from one another by allowing comparison across a wide range of performance measures; and,
- c) share best practices.
NOTE It is acknowledged that cities may not have direct influence or control over factors governing some of these indicators, but the reporting is important for meaningful comparison and provides a general indication of service delivery and quality of life within a city.
The indicators in this International Standard have been selected to make reporting as simple and inexpensive as possible, and therefore reflect an initial platform for reporting. Further development of indicators to support sustainable development and resilience in cities is on-going in TC268.The indicators are structured around themes. Recognizing the differences in resources and capabilities of cities worldwide, the overall set of indicators for city performance has been divided into “core” indicators (those implementing this International Standard shall follow) and “supporting” indicators, (those implementing this International Standard should follow). Both core and supporting indicators are listed in Annex A, Table A.1. In addition, profile indicators, which provide basic statistics and background information to help cities determine which cities are of interest for comparisons, are included in Annex B, Table B.1, as a reference.In this International Standard, the following verbal forms are used:
- — “shall” indicates a requirement;
- — “should” indicates a recommendation;
- — “may” indicates a permission;
- — “can” indicates a possibility or a capability.
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ScopeThis International Standard defines and establishes methodologies for a set of indicators to steer and measure the performance of city services and quality of life. It follows the principles set out and can be used in conjunction with ISO 37101:—, Sustainable development in communities — Management systems — General principles and requirements, when published, and other strategic frameworks. This International Standard is applicable to any city, municipality or local government that undertakes to measure its performance in a comparable and verifiable manner, irrespective of size and location. |
Normative referencesThe following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
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Terms and definitionsFor the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 37101, and the following apply. 3.1 city urban community falling under a specific administrative boundary, commonly referred to as a city, municipality or local government 3.2 indicator a quantitative, qualitative or descriptive measure [SOURCE: ISO 15392:2008, 3.14] Note 1 to entry: Indicators in this standard are divided into:
3.3 full-time enrollment
enrollment in school for every full school day in a week over the entire school year 3.4 natural disaster a natural event such as a flood, earthquake, or hurricane that causes great damage or loss of life 3.5 part-time enrollment enrollment in school for at least every half-day in a week over the entire school year or equivalent on a weekly basis EXAMPLE:A student is counted as enrolled part-time if he/she is enrolled in school for every half-day in a week, but is not counted as enrolled if he/she is only enrolled for 0,25 of a day. 3.6 primary education elementary school education that is considered to be the first stage of ‘basic education’. Note 1 to entry: Primary education typically covers six years of full-time schooling with the legal age of entrance normally being not younger than 5 years or older than 7 years. Primary education typically lasts until age 10 to 12. Primary education refers to children ages 5-12 years or 1st grade through 5th or 6th grade as defined by local education systems. [SOURCE: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, UOE data collection on education systems, 10.1] 3.7 secondary education education that is considered to be the second stage of basic education and marks the end of compulsory education where it exists Note 1 to entry: Students usually enter between age 10 and 13 (age 12 being the most common). Secondary education usually ends 12 or 13 years after the beginning of primary education (or around age 18); however, systems can range between ending 11 to 14 years after beginning school (or around age 17 to 20). Secondary education also refers to 6th grade (or 7th grade) to 12th grade as defined by local education systems. 3.8 tertiary education education provided by universities and other higher education institutions following secondary education 3.9 hazardous waste waste that is potentially harmful to human beings, property or the environment[SOURCE: ISO 18113-1:2009, 3.22] 3.10 solid waste non-soluble, discarded solid materials, including sewage sludge, municipal garbage, industrial wastes, agricultural refuse, demolition wastes and mining residues 3.11 vascular plants (tracheophytes) plants that can internally transport water and food. (This part of the standard is not accessible to you. ) |
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