Sustainable urban development: An integrated assessment of Kazakhstani cities

Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstract Rapid urbanization has increased pressure on urban systems, creating challenges related to resource efficiency, waste management, and environmental protection. These challenges are particularly acute for Kazakhstan, where cities differ substantially in their resource use, environmental conditions, infrastructure, and socioeconomic characteristics. This study aims to conduct a comparative assessment and identify the key characteristics of urban metabolic profiles and sustainable development in Kazakhstani cities. A simplified resource-flow assessment and a comprehensive urban sustainability assessment were conducted for 13 cities in Kazakhstan using 2021 data, the recent year with the most comprehensive and comparable city-level data for both assessment approaches. The results demonstrate substantial heterogeneity in sustainable development performance. The integral sustainability index ranges from 0.28 for Karagandy to 0.71 for Aktau. Five of the 13 cities demonstrate a moderately high level of sustainability (Aktau, Zhezkazgan, Pavlodar, Petropavl, and Taraz), while eight have a moderately low level. The environmental, infrastructure, and socioeconomic sub-indices range from 0.29 to 0.94, 0.25 to 0.75, and 0.00 to 0.86, respectively, indicating pronounced differences in environmental conditions, infrastructure, and socioeconomic capacity. The study of metabolic profiles and risks to sustainable development took into account the availability and quality of energy resources consumed, water consumption and availability, and air quality. The prevalence of precarious employment and wage levels were considered as indirect indicators of the intensity of metabolic processes. Groups of cities with limited access to cleaner thermal energy sources, industrial cities, cities with socioeconomic vulnerability, and cities with moderate water balances were identified. Based on these profiles, recommendations were formulated to support more integrated urban development.AcknowledgmentThis paper was prepared with the financial support of the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant AP26101517).