Keywords: Sustainability, urban development, decision support system, DGNB, Excel VBA.
Urban development in the Netherlands faces significant challenges due to growing pressures to meet
sustainability objecƟves, parƟcularly in the context of housing shortages and the transiƟon to a circular
economy. The Dutch government’s ambiƟous targets for housing construcƟon and a fully circular
economy have placed constraints on urban planning, especially with restricƟons on greenfield
development. To address these issues, this thesis developed a decision support system for early-stage
sustainability assessments in urban redevelopment, using the DGNB Urban Districts framework as a
model. By providing suggesƟve feedback on sustainability performance, the tool enables urban
planners and developers to make informed decisions throughout the design process. The methodology
of this research follows a design cycle approach, starƟng with a comprehensive literature review and
expert interviews to establish a knowledge base. This is followed by iteraƟve model development,
encompassing design, development, and validaƟon processes of an Excel-based tool, offering pracƟcal
soluƟons for integraƟng sustainability into urban planning. ValidaƟon results show that early
sustainability assessments significantly improve project outcomes and support broader environmental
goals. Further research is recommended to explore its applicaƟon in diverse urban contexts and
enhance decision-making capabiliƟes through integraƟon with technologies like Geographic
InformaƟon Systems.