Do green neighbourhood ratings cover sustainability?

Neighbourhoods are the building blocks of cities, which have their own architectural, cultural and economic systems. To improve neighbourhood sustainability, a consideration of their buildings, public spaces, infrastructure, and cooperation between their parts is necessary. Neighbourhoods are an integral part of urban planning activity, yet the development of neighbourhood assessment tools has just begun to spread. scope of this study, five assessment systems, CASBEE-UD, the 2009 and 2012 versions of the BREEAM Communities, LEED-ND, and DGNB-UD were compared. This paper presents the methodology and results of their comparative investigation. These systems categorise, measure, and rate their indexes and indicators differently, therefore it was necessary to integrate their processes to make them comparable. By means of a 3-level comparison and the indicator evaluation, the different neighbourhood sustainability assessment systems were compared in general as well as in detail. luation based on the method provides information about the similarities, differences, and working methods of the systems, and this study can provide guidance in choosing a proper assessment system for a specific development, based on its detailedness, adaptability, and efficiency. It was also important to determine ways to improve the assessment systems. udy states that the DGNB neighbourhood sustainability system provided the best results in a comparison of their sustainability integration issues, the detailedness of their indicators, and their coverage of the pillars of sustainability. The newest systems synthesise the best qualities of each sustainability assessment tool. Meanwhile, the CASBEE tool differs from the others in the most aspects due to its different background. Finally, the LEED and BREEAM systems showed average results in main aspects.