Developing a framework system for sustainability performance of cities: A case of Eskisehir city, Türkiye

Abstract This study facilitates the sustainable city assessment, which is extremely useful yet intricate, to evaluate the sustainability of cities through the identification of both their strengths and areas that can be further improved. For this purpose, an easy-to-apply assessment framework was established, and a practical tool was developed by utilizing this framework. To prove the usability and utility of the study, a case study was conducted in Eskisehir and compared with Turkey’s average (based on 81 cities). In the assessment framework, at first, an indicator set was created using 45 criteria in terms of sustainability. For weighting the indicator set, the questionnaire study was conducted with experts. Then, a scaling study was carried out using minimum-maximum data values for normalization. Subsequently, the weighted average method was used to calculate the sustainability performance. The assessment results reveal that Eskisehir’s overall sustainability performance is approximately 69%, with the highest performance observed in the social area, and the lowest is in the economic area. This study made significant contributions to the literature through its key findings, including the development of a globally applicable framework for city sustainability assessment, the ability to individually evaluate cities based on their sustainability goals, the creation of a practical tool for assessing city sustainability in Turkey, and the execution of a comprehensive case study focused on Eskisehir. These findings are believed is provide an easily applicable assessment for cities to find valuable insights and guidance in determining new investments and policies for researchers and city stakeholders such as decision-makers, non-governmental organizations, and investors.