Chinese Team develops multi-dimensional framework to assess sustainable development

In 2015 the United Nations adopted Sustainable Development Goals that are related to social welfare, social equity, and environmental protection. They set a target of reaching these goals by 2030. Since the goals were proposed, China has implemented a wide range of strategies to achieve these goals. A research team, led by Professor Yonglong Lu, has developed a multi-dimensional framework and then used that framework to evaluate Huzhou city’s sustainable development from 2003 to 2022.

The research findings are published in the journal Ecosystem Health and Sustainability on May 12, 2025.

Sustainable development refers to a state of harmony between humans and nature. It describes responsible development that meets the needs of people both today and in future generations. Since the UN proposed the Sustainable Development Goals, most studies related to the goals have focused primarily on national and provincial levels. The dynamic changes and unique challenges at the local level have been mostly overlooked. There is a need for multi-dimensional evaluation systems that can account for regional characteristics and help pinpoint priorities for effective policy interventions.

“The purpose of this study was to build a city-scale sustainable development evaluation framework to assess the indicators of key areas of regional development. Based on this framework, a quantitative analysis of the interactions between multiple dimensions was conducted to accurately identify the key factors restricting local sustainable development,” said Yonglong Lu, a professor at Xiamen University.

The research team’s multi-dimensional evaluation framework consists of four primary dimensions – green economy, social progress, ecological environment, and innovative technology. This framework was an upgrade from the traditional three-dimensional system of “society-economy-environment.” The team further divided the four main dimensions into 16 secondary dimensions and 80 specific indicators. Then they used their framework to conduct a detailed evaluation of Huzhou’s sustainable development from 2003 to 2022. They found notable improvements in all the dimensions since 2003, with the greatest progress occurring in innovative technology.

The team used the network analysis method to reveal the synergy and trade-off relationship among dimensions to identify the priority areas of policy actions. Based on the multi-dimensional evaluation, they proposed the feasible path of multi-dimensional collaborative development for the dimensions with slower progress. This is a breakthrough from the traditional three pillars of ‘social, economic, and environmental dimensions,’ as technology innovation has taken a leading role in promoting the sustainable development and will take a more important role in the future.

The team chose Huzhou city for the case study area because it has made remarkable achievements in terms of green finance, circular economy, and low-carbon governance, accumulating abundant experience in green development. Huzhou is also famous for its abundant ecological resources and has made great efforts in green technology innovation and big data platform construction. Its experience provides valuable insights into regional sustainable development and serves as an ideal case for researching the Sustainable Development Goals.

The team’s city-scale sustainable development evaluation framework assessed the indicators of key areas of regional development in Huzhou. Their study not only provides scientific support for the sustainable development of Huzhou city, but also offers insights for sustainable development practices in other regions.

While synergies outweighed trade-offs in most secondary dimensions, the team identified significant trade-offs between air quality and green space construction. “This study provides a practical framework for evaluating the delivery of Sustainable Development Goals and identifying priority aspects to accelerate sustainable development at a city level,” said Lu.

Looking ahead, the research team sees the need to focus future research on the prediction and analysis of risk dynamics and development scenarios in order to provide accurate suggestions for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. “Our ultimate goal is to provide effective science-based suggestions for the delivery of Sustainable Development Goals with reduced risks or without any risks,” said Lu.

The research team includes Yunting Xiong, Kongming Li, Qi Wang, Zhenjun Zhang, Bin Sun, and Jingjing Yuan from Xiamen University, Fujian, China, and Yonglong Lu from Xiamen University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

This research is funded by the National Key R &D Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the International Partnership Program by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.