Journal of Environmental Management 260 (2020) 110147 Available online 23 January 2020 0301-4797/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Review Sustainable development assessment from a capitals perspective: Analytical structure and indicator selection criteria Juvancir da Silva a, b , Valdir Fernandes c , Marcelo Limont a , William Bonino Rauen d, * a Graduate Programme in Environmental Management, Universidade Positivo, R. Prof. Pedro Viriato Parigot de Souza, 5300 - Campo Comprido, Curitiba/PR, 81280- 330, Brazil b Department of Business Management, Ponta Grossa State University, Praça Santos Andrade, 01 - Centro, Ponta Grossa/PR, 84010-919, Brazil c Graduate Programme in Urban Environmental Sustainability, Federal University of Technology – Parana, Av. Sete de Setembro, 3165 - Rebouças, Curitiba/PR, 80230- 901, Brazil d Department of Hydraulics and Sanitation, Federal University of Parana, Av. Cel. Francisco H. dos Santos, 210 - Jardim das Americas, Curitiba/PR, 81130-001, Brazil A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Sustainable development capitals Indicator system Selection criteria Analytical structure ABSTRACT Sustainable development assessment has been conducted considering its various dimensions, such as environ- mental, social, cultural and economic. In this paper, the representation of such dimensions is undertaken from the perspective of the natural, social and built capitals. These dimensions are usually represented by indicators, indexes and systems of indicators, but their abundance in the technical and scientifc literatures without adequate analytical structures can impair assessment quality and speed. This study aimed to propose a structure for sustainable development assessment whereby key aspects and indicators can be identifed, prioritised and meaningfully used from the perspective of sustainable development capitals. Content analysis of selected in- ternational papers and technical reports was undertaken to identify relevant analysis elements and their hier- archical order. This has led to a four-tier framework composed of three capitals, seven categories, 19 subcategories and 52 attributes, each of which can be measured with the aid of one or more locally relevant indicator(s) in the context of sustainable development assessment. Selection criteria for such indicators were compiled from the literature and are presented in terms of their political, management, data quality and eco- nomic relevance. This study may contribute to the development and refnement of structured sustainable development indicator systems with less analytical ambiguity, overlapping and gaps, and hence improve the representativeness of future assessment efforts. 1. Introduction Socioenvironmental degradation has been largely associated with the prevailing development model centred on economic growth. For instance, Meadows et al. (1972) highlighted the limits of ecological systems in performing functions such as absorbing and recycling waste of anthropogenic activities, with concurrent diffculties in improving social, educational, health, employment aspects. Sustainable development fgures as a paradigm aimed at promoting balance between social, economic and environmental aspects. The Brundtland Report (WCED, 1987, p. 24) defned sustainable develop- ment as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Such a vision is centred around the concept of intergenerational equity, so that future generations have at least the same level of well being as does the present generation. For Waas et al. (2014) sustainable development is a social construct with decision making rules based on values related to current and future development, which must be un- derstood in a dynamic environmental context, indissociable from soci- ety. As shown by Biasi et al. (2019), satisfying the needs of present and future generations depends upon suitable conditions of the human, natural and economic capitals to provide for human well being. Understanding and describing sustainable development dimensions and aspects stems from early efforts, such as the UN’s 1992 Conference on the Environment and Development – which produced the Rio Declaration on the Environment and Agenda 21 – and continued prog- ress e.g. in the Rioþ20 Conference leading to further documentation and discussions and the formulation of current sustainable development * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: juvancirsilva@hotmail.com (J. Silva), vfernandes@utfpr.edu.br (V. Fernandes), marcelo.limont@up.edu.br (M. Limont), wbrauen@gmail.com (W.B. Rauen). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Environmental Management journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110147 Received 28 May 2019; Received in revised form 13 January 2020; Accepted 14 January 2020