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Rapid urbanization has increased the demand for more urban water resources, and water scarcity has limited the sustainable development of cities and regions. In this paper, all prefecture-level cities in Shandong Province in the lower Yellow River region are studied, an evaluation index system is established based on the water poverty index, and the improved entropy value method is applied to determine the index weights. At the same time, this paper explores the indicator correlations using Pearson correlation analysis and further explores the main obstacle factors for improving water security. This study intends to assess the current situation of water security in Shandong Province and provide suggestions for the sustainable improvement of water resources and sustainable economic and social development in Shandong Province. The results show that (1) from 2000 to 2020, the water poverty index at all levels in Shandong Province showed an upward trend, and the overall water security situation in the province improved significantly, with the overall five subsystem values of the WPI system climbing significantly. (2) Water supply pipeline density and landscape area ratio are strongly positively correlated. The centralized sewage treatment rate is strongly negatively correlated with the water consumption of 10,000 Yuan GDP and the water consumption of 10,000 Yuan industrial added value. (3) The low percentage of ecological water usage is the primary barrier preventing WPI improvement, according to calculations using the barrier level model. In addition, the high water consumption of GDP of 10,000 Yuan and industrial value added of 10,000 Yuan are factors affecting urban water security. The area should work to increase the rate at which its water resources are utilized, particularly the ratio at which industrial water is used repeatedly. It ought to give ecological water compensation greater consideration and utilize more ecological water overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of global urban development, there are urgent ecological security and environmental pollution problems, green development is the fundamental way for urban sustainable development, economic transformation and mitigation of ecological and environmental problems. Based on the panel data of 283 cities at prefecture level and above in China from 2003 to 2017, this paper analyzes spatial–temporal evolution characteristics of urban green development efficiency (UGDE) and the peer effects of UGDE between cities of different grades. It is found that during the study period, in terms of temporal evolution, the average UGDE in China increased from 0.47 in 2003 to 0.61 in 2017, with a cumulative growth rate of 29.79%, showing a rising trend in general. In terms of spatial evolution, the number of low-efficiency cities and medium-efficiency cities continued to decrease. The eastern region has always been the main distribution area of higher-efficiency cities and high-efficiency cities; in the central region, UGDE in most cities improved significantly; in the western region, UGDE has always lagged behind that in the eastern and central regions. In addition, the center of gravity of UGDE presented a trend of northwest migration in general, with a total displacement of 100.07 km, and UGDE showed a spatial dispersion trend. The empirical results indicate that the improvement of UGDE in large cities has a driving effect on that in neighboring medium cities and small cities through the positive peer effect, and the growth of UGDE in medium cities has a promoting effect on that in neighboring small cities through the positive peer effect; the increase of UGDE in medium cities has a positive peer effect on that in neighboring large cities, and the growth of UGDE in small cities has a positive peer effect on that in neighboring medium cities; UGDE promotes each other between large cities through the positive peer effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are urgent ecological and environmental problems in the process of the utilization of urban construction land, promoting green utilization of construction land is conducive to urban sustainable development and high-quality economic development. Based on the panel data of 108 prefecture-level and above cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China from 2003 to 2017, this paper uses the super-efficiency SBM model to measure the green efficiency of urban construction land (GEUCL), analyzes its spatial–temporal evolution characteristics, and constructs the spatial autoregressive model to study its spatial spillover effects from the perspective of urban hierarchy. It is found that, in terms of temporal variation, the average efficiency value shows a fluctuating upward trend during the study period, rising from 0.27 in 2003 to 0.39 in 2017, the cumulative growth rate is 44.44%, with an average annual growth rate of 3.14%. In terms of spatial distribution characteristics, during the study period, the number of medium-efficiency and high-efficiency cities increases significantly, while the number of low-efficiency cities decreases sharply; high-efficiency cities always present scattered distribution, while medium-efficiency cities change from scattered distribution to agglomeration distribution. In addition, GEUCL has significantly positive spatial spillover effects between neighboring cities of different grades and between neighboring cities of the same grade, among them, the increase of GEUCL in higher-grade cities has significantly positive spatial spillover effects on that in adjacent lower-grade cities; the increase of GEUCL in lower-grade cities has significantly positive spatial spillover effects on that in neighboring higher-grade cities; GEUCL has significantly positive spatial spillover effects between neighboring cities of the same grade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural green development is an essential direction for global sustainable agriculture. The academic literature, however, needs to place greater emphasis on studying the factors influencing agricultural green development performance and how such performance can be improved. A theoretical framework for agricultural green development performance was constructed in this paper using the Super-SBM model, which considers undesirable outputs, to measure the agricultural green development performance of 330 cities at or above the prefecture level in China (excluding Tibet Autonomous Region, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan of China) from 2007 to 2018. Furthermore, the influencing mechanism of agricultural green development performance was then analyzed using a spatial econometric model. The results show that: 1) from 2007 to 2018, China's agricultural green development performance experienced three stages of evolution: 'rise, decline and rise'. 2) The regions with high performance agricultural green development are mainly distributed in eastern China, northeastern China, and southern Qinghai Province. 3) The agricultural economic level, industrialization process, and labor quality play significant roles in promoting local agricultural green development performance, while such performance is obviously inhibited by the openness level and the government's environmental regulations. Local agricultural green development performance is significant inhibited by the agricultural economic level and accelerated industrialization process in neighboring cities, while significantly promoted by the agricultural industrial structure in neighboring cities. Some suggestions for improving agricultural green development performance are proposed based on these research results, which can provide scientific references for promoting sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are urgent ecological and environmental problems in the process of the utilization of urban construction land, promoting green utilization of construction land is conducive to urban sustainable development and high-quality economic development. Based on the panel data of 108 prefecture-level and above cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China from 2003 to 2017, this paper uses the super-efficiency SBM model to measure the green efficiency of urban construction land (GEUCL), analyzes its spatial–temporal evolution characteristics, and constructs the spatial autoregressive model to study its spatial spillover effects from the perspective of urban hierarchy. It is found that, in terms of temporal variation, the average efficiency value shows a fluctuating upward trend during the study period, rising from 0.27 in 2003 to 0.39 in 2017, the cumulative growth rate is 44.44%, with an average annual growth rate of 3.14%. In terms of spatial distribution characteristics, during the study period, the number of medium-efficiency and high-efficiency cities increases significantly, while the number of low-efficiency cities decreases sharply; high-efficiency cities always present scattered distribution, while medium-efficiency cities change from scattered distribution to agglomeration distribution. In addition, GEUCL has significantly positive spatial spillover effects between neighboring cities of different grades and between neighboring cities of the same grade, among them, the increase of GEUCL in higher-grade cities has significantly positive spatial spillover effects on that in adjacent lower-grade cities; the increase of GEUCL in lower-grade cities has significantly positive spatial spillover effects on that in neighboring higher-grade cities; GEUCL has significantly positive spatial spillover effects between neighboring cities of the same grade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technology plays an essential role in affecting CO2 emissions and promoting green and sustainable development. This paper empirically examines the effect of the level of urban ICT development on CO2 emissions using panel data for Chinese cities from 2010 to 2020. On this basis, a spatial Durbin model is used to analyze the spatial spillover effects of ICT development level affecting regional CO2 emissions, and its direct, indirect and overall effects are further analyzed. The conclusions of the study are as follows. (1) The CO2 emissions of Chinese cities are correlated by spatial distance and show high-high or low-low clustering characteristics. (2) ICT development can reduce CO2 emissions in the region and increase CO2 emissions in neighboring regions. This conclusion still holds after several robustness tests. And when the level of ICT development increases by 1 standard deviation, CO2 emissions are reduced by 64%. (3) The mechanism of action shows that ICT can influence regional CO2 emissions through its technological innovation effect and industrial upgrading effect. (4) The impact of ICT development on regional carbon emissions is characterized by significant heterogeneity depending on the city's geographical location and whether or not environmental information is publicly available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating urban expansion patterns aids in the management of urbanization and in ameliorating the socioeconomic and environmental issues associated with economic transformation and sustainable development. Applying Harmonized Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-Operational Line-scan System (DMSP-OLS) and the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership-Visible Infrared Imagery Radiometer Suite (NPP-VIIRS) Nighttime Light (NTL) data, this paper investigated the characteristics of urban landscape in West Africa. Using the harmonized NTL data, spatial comparison and empirical threshold methods were employed to detect urban changes from 1993 to 2018. We examined the rate of urban change and calculated the direction of the urban expansion of West Africa using the center-of-gravity method for urban areas. In addition, we used the landscape expansion index method to assess the processes and stages of urban growth in West Africa. The accuracy of urban area extraction based on NTL data were R2 = 0.8314 in 2000, R2 = 0.8809 in 2006, R2 = 0.9051 in 2012 for the DMSP-OLS and the simulated NPP-VIIRS was R2 = 0.8426 in 2018, by using Google Earth images as validation. The results indicated that there was a high rate and acceleration of urban landscapes in West Africa, with rates of 0.016 0, 0.017 3, 0.018 9, and 0.068 6, and accelerations of 0.31, 0.42, 0.54, and 0.90 for the periods of 1998–2003, 2003–2008, 2008–2013, and 2013–2018, respectively. The expansion direction of urban agglomeration in West Africa during 1993–2018 was mainly from the coast to inland. However, cities located in the Sahel Region of Africa and in the middle zone expanded from north to south. Finally, the results showed that the urban landscape of West Africa was mainly in a scattered and disordered 'diffusion' process, whereas only a few cities located in coastal areas experiencing the process of 'coalescence' according to urban growth phase theory. This study provides urban planners with relevant insights for the urban expansion characteristics of West Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continued population growth and urbanization as well as changing consumption patterns have led to an explosion in the amount of waste produced, especially in cities. To feed the world, we also need to increase agricultural production while limiting our impact on the environment. Part of the solution could be to recycle the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) as a resource for agriculture near cities with techniques such as vermicomposting, which uses earthworms to recycle organic waste into nutrient-rich vermicompost. The objective of this review was to examine (i) whether vermicomposting is appropriate for recycling OFMSW, (ii) the quality of the vermicompost produced, and (iii) the impact of this product on crops and soil parameters. We found that vermicomposting can be adapted for OFMSW recovery because the process is suitable for all the types of OFMSW (food, paper, and green waste). The vermicompost produced is both high in organic carbon (18.83-36.01%) and a potential fertilizer (1.16-2.58% N, 0.42-1.12% P, and 0.61-2.05% K). A comparison with compost from the same types of OFMSW suggested that vermicompost is slightly more suitable for crop production with significantly lower C/N and pH and higher N and P. Vermicompost was actually found to have a better effect on plant growth than compost, suggesting that classical chemical analyses are not always sufficient to characterize the potential of organic amendments/fertilizers. Indeed, the application of vermicompost in the field leads to an increase in carbon storage, water retention, enzymatic and microbiological activity, and soil fauna abundance and diversity. Finally, we found that reports on the use of vermicompost from OFMSW are scarce and most studies focused on the process itself. Overall, our review synthesizes data and the interest in this technique and proposes perspectives for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusive and equitable education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all are important targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Deprivation in education, read also as deprivation of opportunities and rights i.e. health, culture, participation, social relations, referred to as educational poverty (EP), has attracted interest of researchers, which highlighted its complexities and consequences, such as being excluded from acquiring the skills needed to live in a world characterized by knowledge-based economy, rapidity and innovation. In the last few years, the Italian National Statistical Institute started to measure it by a multidimensional index, the composite educational poverty index (EPI). The index is based on survey direct estimates, which are reliable only at regional (NUTS 2) level, while to monitor and contrast the phenomenon it is important to obtain information at a finer geographical level. In this paper small area estimation models are applied to the unidimensional indicators which compose the multidimensional EPI. The aim is to enhance the knowledge of the spatial distribution of EP at local level in Italy, separating urban and non urban areas and focusing on peripheries in Italian Regions, using DEGURBA classification in order to help the policy maker to address resources towards the areas where the phenomenon is strongly present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the planning implications of a dual governance system in Durban, where just over a third of municipal land is under the governance of both the traditional authority and the eThekwini Municipality. These challenges are common in many African cities where western administrative governance and planning systems overlay traditional systems. Under traditional governance, access to land, economic opportunities and "rural lifestyles" have resulted in the rapid densification of large areas of the periphery of Durban. Here, local traditional leaders allocate land based on the traditional land tenure system. eThekwini Municipality is mandated to provide services and facilities to all its residents, to develop spatial development plans and land use schemes, and to protect its ecological infrastructure. However, in traditional authority areas, the municipality struggles to fulfil these mandates, as it does not have control over land allocation and management. This paper reflects on the learning process that is taking place as the municipality begins to shift its approach to planning to address the complexities of planning in dual governance areas. The paper argues that new hybrid forms of governance and planning can help to address these challenges and ensure sustainable development in areas under dual governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The participation of local governments is one of the determining factors for achieving the objectives of sustainable development, whereby municipalities must have planning, assessment, control instruments, and indicators which will lead to proper environmental management and sustainable development. In this respect the existing models of sustainability indicators reflect, mainly, the state of the environment. However, these indicators do not allow the identification of the state of the environment's direct responsible actors and do not contribute towards the formulation of specific objectives and goals for each of the responsible actors. Furthermore, the sustainable development indicators are elaborated and measured by higher level entities, and are aimed towards a regional and national level, using a top-down approach. In this context, this paper proposes a model of environmental management indicators that lets us observe the state of the environment and identifies those responsible for that state. The set of indicators was developed in the municipalities of the department of Nariño, Colombia, through a participatory bottom-up approach which includes: the vision and needs of the stakeholders, who are responsible for the information, and the vision of the regional control organisms. Thus, a set of 40 environmental management indicators was formulated, and a framework to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the local environmental management was proposed. Their application indicates that a majority of the municipalities are in a weak environmental management situation and it lets the stakeholders critically analyze their performance through the set of indicators and also identify areas for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary urban theory raises many questions about how 'the urban' is being conceptualized in a fast changing world that is approaching an urban epoch. Evolving debates about what it means to be urban, including the similarities and differences between so-called northern and southern cities, the future of cities, the way to manage and sustain cities, and cities' relationships to the new Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, reveal the need for urban theory that can explain and provide insights into contemporary urban governance, processes, and outcomes. This special issue uses Durban as a lens to provide insight into the changing nature of cities in the Global South and Africa in particular, which encapsulate and reflect both formality and informality; tradition and modernity; uneven and unequal growth and social transformation; environmental crises and 'resilience and sustainability'. This paper reflects on the dominant processes shaping the development of the city, revealing the challenges, tensions, and opportunities that emerge as the city assembles new ways of being urban, through the rationalities, knowledge, experiences, practices and actions of the state, citizens, and the private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been an increasing proliferation of initiatives focusing on the concept of quality of life and well-being. At the centre of these studies there is the recognizing that the GDP offers only a partial perspective of factors affecting people's lives. Following this line of the research, this paper is aimed at computing the well-being efficiencies of a sample of Italian Province capital cities, using a methodological approach that combines data envelopment analysis (DEA) with Shannon's entropy formula. To avoid subjectivity in choosing a representative set of variables that proxy the phenomenon under study, we rely on the theoretical framework adopted by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) within the equitable and sustainable well-being (BES) project. The dashboard of indicators included in the analysis are related to the Ur-BES initiative, promoted by ISTAT to implement the BES framework at cities level. In a first step of the analysis, an immediate focus on separate dimensions of urban well-being is obtained by summarizing the plurality of available indicators through the building of composite indices. Next, the adopted integrated DEA-Shannon entropy approach has permitted to increase the discriminatory power of DEA procedure and attain a more reliable profiling of Italian Province capital cities well-being efficiencies. The results show a marked duality between the Northern and Southern cities, highlighting important differences in many aspects of human and ecosystem well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's economic reforms and unprecedented growth have generated many fascinating issues for scholarly research. An understanding of urbanization and land use change in China is required for appropriate strategies and policies to facilitate future sustainable development. This paper reviews the literature on urbanization, land use and sustainable development in China with a focus on land use change. We argue that land use and environmental research are embedded in the complex economic-geographical processes and multiple trajectories of development and urbanization in China. This paper highlights the important role of space-time modeling in a multi-disciplinary setting in the study of urbanization, land use and sustainable development. It also points out potential areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The achievement of global sustainable development goals subject to planetary boundaries will mostly be determined by cities as they drive cultures, economies, material use, and waste generation. Locally relevant, applied and quantitative methodologies are critical to capture the complexity of urban infrastructure systems, global inter-connections, and to monitor local and global progress toward sustainability. An urban monitoring (and communications) tool is presented here illustrating that a city-based approach to sustainable development is possible. Following efforts to define and quantify safe planetary boundaries in areas such as climate change, biosphere integrity, and freshwater use, this paper modifies the methodology to propose boundaries from a city's perspective. Socio-economic boundaries, or targets, largely derived from the Sustainable Development Goals are added to bio-physical boundaries. Issues such as data availability, city priorities, and ease of implementation are considered. The framework is trialed for Toronto, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Mumbai, and Dakar, as well as aggregated for the world's larger cities. The methodology provides an important tool for cities to play a more fulsome and active role in global sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hill station is a town or city situated in mountain regions in the tropics founded during the western colonization in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Hill stations have moderate temperatures, and are known for their relatively good natural environments, which generate valuable ecosystem services that benefit the local population. However, rapid urbanization threatens the sustainability of these areas. This study evaluates the sustainability of the urbanization process of Baguio City, a hill station city in Southeast Asia and the summer capital of the Philippines, by determining the relationship between its velocity of urbanization and velocity of urban sustainability based upon various perspectives. From an equal weight perspective (of the triple bottom line of sustainability components, namely environmental, social, and economic) and a pro-economic perspective, the results revealed that the urbanization of Baguio City has been moving toward a 'sustainable urbanization.' However, from the environmental and eco-sustainable human development perspectives, the results indicated that it has been moving toward an 'unsustainable urbanization.' The paper discusses the implications of the findings for the planning of sustainable development for Baguio City, including some critical challenges in sustainability assessment and the applicability of the framework used for future sustainability assessments of the other hill stations in Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies on economic use of natural resources require considerations to social and cultural values. In order to make those concrete in a planning context, this paper aims to interpret social and cultural criteria, identify indicators, match these with verifier variables and visualize them on maps. Indicators were selected from a review of scholarly work and natural resource policies, and then matched with verifier variables available for Sweden's 290 municipalities. Maps of the spatial distribution of four social and four cultural verifier variables were then produced. Consideration of social and cultural values in the studied natural resource use sectors was limited. The spatial distribution of the verifier variables exhibited a general divide between northwest and south Sweden, and regional rural and urban areas. We conclude that it is possible to identify indicators and match them with verifier variables to support inclusion of social and cultural values in planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development can be defined as that which meets the needs of the current generation while leaving sufficient resources for the needs of future generations. A central objective is to decouple conventional resource use (and its corollary, waste generation) from economic development through technological innovation, improved efficiency and changes in individual practices. As the global population becomes urbanized and human activity is concentrated in urban areas, settlement planning is a key aspect of sustainability. The widespread inclusion of environmental objectives in urban plans at all scales provides an opportunity for the incorporation of urban climate knowledge into the planning process on a routine basis. Many of the stated objectives have both direct and indirect connections to climate. However, for this to happen, climate research and results must be linked more explicitly to the objectives of the sustainable settlement. In this paper, the relevance of sustainability to urban design and climate is discussed and the potential contribution of current urban climatology is assessed, identifying areas of special consideration for transfer to achieve sustainable urban planning and design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]