TRACKING PROGRESS TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

This article aims to discuss methodological frameworks for measuring the progress and performance of regional development in moving towards sustainability. The review discussion was drawn from the concept of sustainable development and commonly used sustainability frameworks such as Pressure-State-Response, Driving force-StateResponse, Driving force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response and Social-EconomyEnvironment theme frameworks including its associated issues and challenges. Majority of these frameworks include a set of indicators and core indicators while there is no standard or commonly accepted method for selection of indicators though some studies provide some criteria or guidelines. Thus, the comparison of sustainability assessment from different methodological frameworks cannot be done directly, making it diffcult to select the best possible set of indicators that meets the goals of sustainability assessment at various levels. This is of concern, particularly for decision-makers who may want to develop or adopt a methodological framework of performance indicators for tracking the progress of sustainable regional development. Therefore, this article suggests that the methodological frameworks for assessing sustainable regional development should include multiple sectors and stakeholders, dimensions of sustainability and scales which meant to be generic and flexible, so that it can be applied across a range of issues, regions and local areas.