Assessing the sustainable development of the historic urban landscape through local indicators. Lessons from a Mexican World Heritage City

Abstract This research tests the flexibility and transfer potential of a methodology that identifies common urban indicators and assesses their potential to monitor correlations between development factors and heritage conservation, using Queretaro city, Mexico, as the case study. This study aims to advance the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals on urban development (SDG11) and climate change (SDG13). These goals stress the importance of adequate operational tools to monitor progress and embody a juncture for coherence across distinct but intersecting strategic areas that explicitly consider natural and cultural heritage. The three steps of analysis consisted of: (a) Compilation of a list of commonly used local indicators for sustainable development; (b) Semi-automated search for indicators as factors affecting the conservation of a World Heritage City within urban management tools implemented at metropolitan, municipal, and district level; and, (c) Systematic classification of identified urban factors as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) to the conservation of a historic district listed as UNESCO World Heritage. The analysis proved relevant for the identification of 34 key development areas in which synergies with heritage conservation can be discussed as co-benefits and trade-offs. It also revealed incompatibilities on development visions across sectors and managerial levels. Conclusions elaborate on the potential of indicators to bridge ontological challenges for the correlation of urban heritage values with development factors. This methodology can advance the structuration of local adaptive governance, the refinement of urban indicators in support of evidence-based policy-making and systemic approaches for the sustainable development of urban heritage.