Assessing progress towards sustainable development in Shenzhen 2005–2019

Most sustainability assessment systems focus on comparing the sustainable progress across cities, and few concentrate on tracking the sustainability progress of cities over time with the consideration of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Tracking the sustainable progress of cities over time can help unveil the potential obstacles and challenges in city governance and provide references for city policy-makers. Hence, the present study built up a framework to evaluate sustainable development progress in Shenzhen from 2005 to 2019. Shenzhen is a young megacity with only 40 years of history, and it is one of the demonstration zones to represent sustainable development in China. Fifty indicators in the dimensions of innovation vitality, public service, and living environments are chosen to consider the focus of both UN SDGs goals and Shenzhen's sustainable development plans. The potential bottlenecks for city development are identified, and effective policies implemented by Shenzhen policy-makers are highlighted. Results showed that the innovation vitality in Shenzhen had improved continuously since 2005, but public service and living environments both showed a falling trend after a peak in 2014 and 2016. The result revealed that as a megacity, Shenzhen should pay more attention to public service and living environments, especially in the construction of schools at all levels, salvation management centers, and green space, and improve air quality to meet the requirement of higher rank in sustainable urban development. It is suggested that cities build a solid system to monitor their progress towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The experience from Shenzhen can be adapted and implemented by other young megacities worldwide to accelerate their path towards sustainability.