Analysing the Potential of Neighbourhoods in Sustainable Development: A Systematic Review of Interventions

Abstract

Between 1950 and 2018, the global urban population spiralled four-fold from about 0.8 billion accounting for just 30% of the total world population to 4.2 billion in 2018 with a 55.3% share in the world population. At present, it is estimated that 57.4% of the total global population is urban and is projected to cross 60% by 2030. Given the growth and scale of urbanization, this brings forth irreversible challenges, limiting land and water resources at its disposal. This makes it difficult to meet the increasing demand for affordable housing and viable infrastructure besides other challenges. In this context, the local-level planning and development approaches that have been experimented with globally are studied to understand the potential of neighbourhoods in sustainable development. The authors conducted a systematic literature review based on the SCOPUS database to identify relevant scholarly literature. The study identified the most significant associations within various domains based on phased iterations with the VOSviewer analyser tool to gain confirmatory results. The study has explored planning interventions at the neighbourhood level that would assist in sustainable development. The article concludes that there is a lot of scope for stakeholders to channel their efforts innovatively for leveraging the potential of neighbourhoods in sustainable development.