Mountain ecosystems are complex and fragile, with significant topography variations, climatic conditions, and one that faces the most severe threats and challenges due to natural and anthropogenic activities. Despite all contributions within the past few decades on basic concepts, dimensions, sustainability issues, and various aspects of urban sustainability assessment tools, only a few academicians, researchers, and institutions have looked at the peculiar aspects of sustainability in hill areas. However, these have not been implemented or tested for their appropriateness within the context of environmentally sensitive hill areas. This research explores the comparative case study approach for assessing the urban sustainability of hill town using the existing urban sustainability assessment tools (USATs) to address the gap in the available literature. New Tehri Township has been selected as a case for the town’s assessment with the selected USATs to determine the key aspects that are not covered by each of the selected USATs. The case-based assessment findings highlighted that not all the criteria and indicators used in a given USATs are relevant in a particular context due to varying environmental, social, and economic conditions. The results provide valuable information and evidence to planners, developers, and researchers for further studies on township-level sustainability analysis, as well as emphasizing the importance of collaborative efforts and a well-defined mechanism in achieving humane, sustainable, and environment-friendly settlements.

山地生态系统复杂而脆弱，地势、气候条件变化显着，自然和人为活动带来的威胁和挑战最为严峻。尽管过去几十年在基本概念、维度、可持续性问题和城市可持续性评估工具的各个方面做出了很多贡献，但只有少数院士、研究人员和机构研究了山区可持续性的特殊方面。然而，这些措施尚未在环境敏感的山区环境中实施或测试其适用性。本研究探索了使用现有城市可持续性评估工具 (USAT) 评估山城城市可持续性的比较案例研究方法，以解决现有文献中的差距。新德赫里镇已被选为该镇与选定的 USAT 进行评估的案例，以确定每个选定的 USAT 未涵盖的关键方面。基于案例的评估结果强调，由于环境、社会和经济条件的不同，并非给定 USAT 中使用的所有标准和指标都与特定背景相关。结果为规划者、开发商和研究人员进一步研究乡镇级可持续性分析提供了宝贵的信息和证据，