Urban expansion of the metropolitan region of Belém from the perspective of a sustainability index system

Abstract

The metropolitan area of Belém (RMB) contains 1/3 of the population of Pará State, Brazil, and its recent expansion has caused a number of social and environmental problems that undermine access to infrastructure and services and also impact other factors that influence urban sustainability. In recent years, various methodologies for assessing the sustainability of cities have been proposed, but the challenges of incorporating a  multidimensional approach in the evaluation of urban sustainability are still enormous. In this work, we applied the Urban Sustainability Index System (SISU) to the RMB in order to analyze the levels of sustainability of the municipalities that constitute this metropolitan area and to verify the limitations and challenges in applying this method of measurement in the Amazon region. Seven indicators were used for the environmental quality index (IQA), and four for the political institutional capacity index (ICP) and the municipal human development index (IDHM). The results show that there is little variation in the IQA and IHDM indices, and the least-populated municipalities such as Santa Barbara and Benevides have better IQAs, while larger-populated municipalities, such as Belém and Ananindeua, have better IDHMs. However, it is in relation to ICP that this metropolitan area has the highest inequality, thus reflecting the need for the institutional and political empowerment of this region.