Rapid urbanization has transformed natural spaces and interfered in the environment, with disastrous results both to the ecosystems and the quality of life of the people. This article proposes a new urban management system that integrates fragmented aspects in managerial procedures and really incorporates the social and environmental dimensions into the process, leading cities toward sustainable development. The system uses tools that allow community participation and strategic vision in the decision-making process. It also adapts development models used in business, such as the balanced scorecard and the ecosystemic analysis method, which can make a multilevel pondered balance of the indices obtained while monitoring the region under observation. An important discussion proposed by the article is that of defining sustainability indicators for each studied characteristic, considering the need for parameters that can identify the cities' sustainability level. The city of Passo Fundo, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, served as the pilot project to assess the proposed system.
environmental management; sustainable development; urbanism; integrated urban environment management system
