A Novel Multi-Criteria Temporal Decision Support Method - Sustainability Evaluation Case Study

Moving toward a sustainable society requires the development of reliable indices, indicators, and computational methods that supply the tools, such as decision support systems used in assessing the achievement of sustainable development goals. The aim of this paper is to present an intelligent decision support system that enables multi-criteria evaluation, taking into account the temporal variability of the performance of the assessed alternatives. The framework of this DSS is based on the method called Data vARIability Assessment - Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution (DARIA-MARCOS). The proposed method was used for an exemplary multi-criteria analysis problem concerning the implementation of the sustainable development goals included in Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11), focused on sustainable cities and communities. SDG 11 aims to develop toward making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. The methodical framework implemented in the demonstrated DSS ensures an efficient, automatized, and objective assessment of a multi-criteria temporal decision-making problem and gives an unequivocal, clear outcome. The results proved the usability of the developed DSS in the multi-criteria temporal evaluation of sustainable development focused on sustainable cities and communities.