Beyond the Checklist: Meta‐Indicators for Evaluating Effectiveness of Neighbourhood Sustainability Assessment Tools

ABSTRACT Neighbourhood Sustainability Assessment Tools (NSATs) are widely used to support sustainable urban planning, development assessment and neighbourhood‐scale decision‐making. However, existing tools continue to exhibit persistent limitations, including uneven coverage of sustainability dimensions, limited governance integration, weak stakeholder engagement, inconsistent contextual adaptability and limited attention to implementation requirements such as cost, time, data availability and post‐assessment monitoring. This study develops an ISO‐aligned meta‐indicator framework for evaluating the effectiveness of NSATs as assessment systems, rather than assessing neighbourhood sustainability outcomes directly. Drawing on a previously published Systematic Quantitative Literature Review, eight widely applied NSATs are comparatively analysed across three dimensions: performance, applicability and operational efficiency. The comparative findings are then interpreted against ISO 37101, ISO 37105, ISO 37123 and ISO 37125 to derive 13 meta‐indicators and associated assessment parameters. The proposed framework provides a structured basis for evaluating whether NSATs are comprehensive, adaptable, policy‐relevant and operationally feasible. Presented as a conceptual analytical foundation rather than an empirically validated rating tool, it aims to support future tool refinement, comparative assessment and empirical testing across diverse neighbourhood contexts.