Overview
ISO 37124:2024 - Sustainable cities and communities - Guidance on the use of ISO 37120, ISO 37122 and ISO 37123 - provides practical guidance on implementing three complementary city indicator standards. It explains how to use standardized indicators to measure city services, quality of life, smart city development and resilience planning. The document helps cities of all sizes build comparable city data, benchmark performance, and align indicators with sustainable development objectives.
Key topics and requirements
- Guidance for implementing ISO 37120 (core standard for sustainable cities), ISO 37122 (smart city indicators) and ISO 37123 (resilience indicators).
- Clarifies that ISO 37120 can be used alone; ISO 37122 and ISO 37123 are intended to be used in conjunction with and only after implementing ISO 37120.
- Indicator categories: ISO 37120 divides indicators into core (required) and supporting (recommended); ISO 37122 and ISO 37123 do not use core/supporting designations-users select relevant indicators.
- Geographic reporting: indicators should be reported for the city’s administrative boundary to ensure global comparability; alternatives must be documented and disaggregated over time.
- Data normalization: many indicators are normalized per 1/100 000 of population (some jurisdictions use 1/1 000, requiring mathematical adjustment).
- Data sources: city departments, national statistics bodies, ministries, utilities, NGOs, citizens, universities and research bodies.
- Special guidance: partnerships and open-data protocols are recommended to access third‑party technology and infrastructure data (important for smart city indicators). Resilience indicators may require data from emergency-response agencies and international organizations.
Practical applications and users
ISO 37124 helps cities convert standardized indicators into actionable programs:
- Performance management and benchmarking across cities and time.
- Building high-quality city-level datasets to support data-informed policy, economic development and priority setting.
- Monitoring responses to climate change, health events and demographic shifts.
- Integrating smart-city and resilience planning into broader sustainability strategies.
Primary users include:
- City and municipal governments, urban planners and service managers
- City data teams and statisticians
- Utilities, emergency services and infrastructure providers
- National/sub‑national ministries and NGOs
- Researchers, consultants and smart city solution vendors
Related standards
ISO 37124 supports and references other ISO sustainability standards, including: ISO 37120, ISO 37122, ISO 37123, and related documents such as ISO 37101, ISO 37104, ISO 37106, ISO/TS 37107, ISO/TS 37151, ISO 37153, and ISO 37156. It also maps indicator use to monitoring progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Keywords: ISO 37124, sustainable cities, city indicators, ISO 37120, ISO 37122, ISO 37123, smart cities, resilient cities, quality of life, performance measurement, city data, SDGs.
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