This „Frankfurt Green City 2016 – Status and Trends report “ is the start of continuous reporting which will enable direct dialogue with the citizens and communicate sustainable urban development in Frankfurt am Main in a manner which is both understandable and interesting for everyone. It will, however, also be developed further so the projects and measures presented can be assessed and evaluated transparently according to sustainability criteria.

The Frankfurt-Green-City process should be more than just an attractive, citizen-friendly presentation of sustainability projects. It also needs perspectives and reference points for evaluating sustainable developments. The reporting on Frankfurt-Green-City will fulfil both of these purposes.

Without a doubt, this dual function of reporting as both a communication and an assessment tool is ambitious. A special symposium in April 2015 with selected experts from other cities, two soiree events with the Sustainability Forum and the continuous development work of the interdepartmental editorial group prepared the ground to achieve this aim.

One crucial element in Frankfurt-Green-City reporting will be the choice of sustainability indicators which form the basis for assessing the degree of target achievement. The choice of indicators is, of course, aligned to the definitions of the planning and development objectives which, in important planning processes such as the Integrated Urban Development Concept (iStEK) and the Mobility strategy, are currently being drawn up. Indicator profiles should then make the acquisition, credibility and significance of these parameters for the everyday quality of life of Frankfurt’s inhabitants transparent.

Special factors particular to Frankfurt must also be made recognisable and predictable, using standard indicators to enable legitimate comparisons with other communities and not referring, again and again, to the popular city rankings, which is like “comparing apples and pears“.