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Highlights • There is a need for a systematic approach for compact and green cities. • Concepts from smart growth and green infrastructure are found to be compatible. • We developed a hierarchical target system for smart-compact-green cities. • The targets cover smart environment, multifunctionality, government, governance. • The systemic framework can be used for spatial monitoring and planning analysis. Abstract In contrast to the ongoing worldwide uncontrolled expansion of urban development resulting in sprawled cities, compact cities have been argued by planners and researchers to be the more sustainable urban form. However, in compact cities, it has been shown that a low proportion of green spaces jeopardizes the sufficient supply of urban ecosystem services. This suggests that there remains a deficiency in clear visions for operationalizing compact and green cities. To remediate this, this paper introduces a systemic conceptual framework for compact and green cities by combining the concepts of smart growth and green infrastructure. The indicator-based, smart-compact-green city framework includes two aspects: 1) smart compact cities (considering the need to limit urban sprawl through smart growth) and 2) smart green cities (reflecting the preservation and (re-)development of urban green infrastructure). The paper suggests that there is the need to balance these two aspects to develop a systemic approach towards smart-compact-green cities. A hierarchical target system grounded on four characters for smart compact and smart green cities is developed. Smart-compact-green cities can be characterized through a 1) smart environment of compact and green cities, 2) smart multifunctionality of compact and green cities (economic, social, environmental), 3) smart government for compact and green cities and 4) smart governance for compact and green cities. The characters comprise twelve factors defined by 39 indicators for smart compact cities and 44 indicators for smart green cities, respectively. The systemic framework can support researchers and practitioners to develop visions of how existing or future cities can approach smart-compact-green cities in mainstreaming the ecology of and for cities by better understanding the complexity of urban systems and providing a basis for a systematic spatial monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There is high consistency in the extent of land degradation. • There are consistent hydrothermal change characteristics in the land degradation hotspots area. Land degradation is a major impediment to achieving sustainable development. However, there is currently no harmonized global map of land degradation status and hotspots. This paper aims to obtain the status and hotspots map of global land degradation by multiple methods and indicators to give essential references for land degradation neutrality. The results show that there are significant differences in the distribution and degree of land degradation between the different methods and indicators. Validation through observation points reveals that most of the methods and indicators can reflect land degradation in arid and semi-arid areas, while there are suitable methods or indicators in tropical and high-latitude areas. The degree of degradation has a large difference after overlay analysis, which shows that there are shortcomings of different methods and indicators for monitoring the degree of land degradation. However, the overlay of land degradation extent displays a high consistency, reflecting the current state of global land degradation to a certain extent. These areas with high overlay value can be recognized as hotspots of land degradation. It is also found there are consistent water-energy change characteristics in the hotspot area, such as increased land surface temperature and air temperature and decreased soil moisture and precipitation. These results conclude that studies on the degree of land degradation need to be considered in an integrated manner about the regional background. The combination of multiple methods and indicators is recommended for land degradation extent studies in large areas. Comparison of different methods and indicators is important guidance for global land degradation research. Accelerating ecological monitoring and restoration of land degradation hotspots is the first step towards land degradation neutrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Iran is among the top ten CO 2 emitters in the world. • Achieving sustainable development undermined by heavy reliance on fossil fuels. • Environmental indicators are not consistent with the society and the economy. • However, improving the social indices strengthens the environmental indicators. • Altering the environmental subsystem resulted in convergence of sustainable system. Abstract Iran is among the top ten CO 2 emitters in the world and has pledged to reduce such emissions by up to 12 percent by 2030 through various policies and strategies. However, achieving this is somewhat undermined by the country's heavy reliance on fossil fuels which contributes to environmental pollution and depletion of natural resources. It is therefore important to have an understanding of the economic, social, and environmental subsystems and their interactions in order to formulate a suitable development path or model. Due to the lack of comprehensive studies on the current situation and the dynamics among these variables, this paper provides a multi-stage analysis of the issues based on data from 1992 to 2015 to construct the principal component analysis (PCA) combined index for each subsystem. Then, the interactions among the subsystems are investigated over the short- and long-terms using the vector autoregressive (VAR) model. The results of the PCA show that Iran lacks a balanced sustainable development approach as improvements in environmental indicators do not match those of the society and the economy indices. Further, the associated time path for the economic and societal indices depicts an increasing trend over time, especially in the economy index and that, since 2010, this subsystem has overtaken the societal index. Estimations of the VAR model, impulse response functions, and variance decomposition analysis show that the country's economic development has seriously undermined the environment even as improving the social indices has strengthened the environmental indicators. The interactions among subsystems show that economic development of the country took little consideration of environmental issues. This is the main reason for the backwardness of the environmental indices and its divergence from economic and societal indices. It is clear that assuming equal rates of growth for all subsystems have not produced a balanced development path. For Iran to achieve her sustainable development goals there should be increased focus on the environmental subsystem with the overall system converging symmetrically when the high growth rate assumption (double) is applied for this index compared with the societal and economical indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our approach, Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM for short) has been developed to get out of the traditional monistic methodology. In this paper we propose a general energy accounting scheme and its indicators based on MuSIASEM framework characterizing the performance of the energy and mining sector. This represents an elaboration of the supply side of energy accounting within our scheme, a subject that has not been fully investigated so far. Section 2 briefly illustrates the fundamental limitations of purely thermodynamic approach to energy accounting. Section 3 presents a general energy accounting scheme and its derived set of indicators. This section first presents the basic assumptions and the energy transformation process using the flow–fund representation originally developed by Georgescu-Roegen. Section 4 concludes the paper providing ten mottoes about energy accounting that are justified by the experience made with the MuSIASEM scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper focuses on the use and influence of indicators in European sustainable transport policy from a ‘knowledge utilization’ research point of view. The starting point is the contrast between the widely held idea that indicators are important tools for sustainable transport policy making, versus ‘knowledge utilization’ oriented research, which has often demonstrated that formal technical knowledge is used much less, or at least differently, than expected in policy and decision making. The paper looks at two cases of indicators applied for strategic policy making within the sustainable transport agenda. The first case concerns indicators tracking the fulfillment of national transport policy objectives in Sweden. The case explores the use and influence of an annual monitoring and evaluation report produced for this purpose, within a general ‘Management-by-Objectives’ regime. The second case deals with indicators applied for the Mid-Term Review of the European Commission's transport policy White Paper ‘Time to Decide’ (issued in 2001). The focus in this case is on a particular indicator based study conducted in 2005 by a group of consultants in close collaboration with European Commission staff. It is found that several indicators in both cases are actually used in policy processes, with evidence of use found in documents as well as interviews. However, ‘use’ does not automatically mean ‘influence’ on policies or processes in more than a superficial manner. Indicators seem to play a very limited direct instrumental role, while some signs of symbolic, conceptual and process roles are found. In the EU case we identify what is called a rationalization role of indicators, meaning that indicators inform and help to rationalize a change in the position towards key objectives. Several factors that characterize the indicators, the users, and policy context are found to contribute to understand the type of use and influence observed in both cases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper deals with inconsistencies of composite sustainability indicators and their different subsets (economic, environmental, social, and corporate governance). Corporate sustainability performance is usually highly nonlinear, vague, partially inconsistent and multidimensional. The resulting models are often oversimplified. The key reason is an information shortage which eliminates the unsophisticated applications of classical statistical methods. Numbers are accurate and information intensive. Verbal quantifications are less accurate and therefore not that information intensive. Fuzzy sets and fuzzy reasoning are used to make verbal quantifiers suitable for computer applications. A fuzzy similarity graph is defined. A team of experts identified 17 relevant variables (e.g. Environmental costs, Occupational diseases, Number of complaints received from stakeholders) and 12 company data sets are available. Each company is presented as a fuzzy conditional statement. A set of fuzzy pairwise similarities is generated and used to evaluate five similarity graphs: a Total Graph (based on all 17 variables) and graphs based on relevant specific subsets of variables, Economic, Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance graphs. The topologies of these graphs are significantly different. No prior knowledge of fuzzy reasoning is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We reviewed the progress, indicators, and methods of agroecosystem services. • Agroecosystem services are closely related to agroecosystem functions and human agricultural practices. • Multi-source data fusion for integrated model will be the tendency for agroecosystem service assessment. • Agricultural landscape planning and governance can help to improve agroecosystem services and achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). Agroecosystems benefit from many ecosystem services and are frequently managed to increase productivity. In recent years, agricultural industrialization has caused the loss of some important ecosystem services in agroecosystems, hindering some sustainable development goals (SDGs). In order to promote sustainable agricultural development, it is necessary to restore the damaged agroecosystems and improve agroecosystem services (AES). However, there are relatively few studies on AES, and fewer studies concerning the definition or connotation of AES. Therefore, this paper reviews current AES research, indicators, and assessment methods, as well as directions for future research. AES are determined by agroecosystem functions and human agricultural practices, with both positive and negative effects, scale effects, and trade-offs and synergies between AES. AES indicators can be classified as provisioning services, regulating services, and cultural services, with a few studies including supporting services. Currently, the main AES assessment methods include public participation, empirical model, mechanism model, and value estimation. Multi-source data fusion for integrated models to assess multiple AES will be the future research trend. In addition, AES research should develop additional promising topics, including considering both AES and agroecosystem disservices (AEDS); assessing AES supply, demand, and flow; and analyzing AES trade-offs and synergies comprehensively. This will extend the research field to the links between AES and SDGs and their applications in agricultural landscape planning and governance. This review highlights the importance of AES research to more effectively manage agroecosystems and promote sustainable agricultural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops an index to measure sustainability based on the broad themes of social, economy and environment. Nineteen appropriate indicators were selected based on relevance, data availability, and periodicity for each leg of sustainable development. A correlation analysis was carried out to assess relationships between the 19 indicators representing different parameters under the three themes. These parameters were then normalized using Z -score technique. The Z -scores computed for each of these parameters were then used to develop a Sustainable Development Index (SDI). The index is pilot tested on different States and Union Territories (UTs) of India. The values are compared and interpreted to adjudge the forerunners and laggards on the various dimensions of human well-being and environment. Significant relationships have been observed between income levels and area of administrative regions with sustainability indices of the regions. Smaller administrative regions with higher income levels have been observed with higher sustainability scores. The proposed index provides a useful measure of identifying problematic areas that can be plugged through policy measures and ensures that the region moves on sustainable development pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, sustainable development has been one of the key guiding principles in the European Union policies. It is based on a three-pillar framework – economic development, social development and environmental protection – that are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. As energy appears to be the cornerstone of economic growth, Europe 2020 strategy emphasizes the importance to make European Union more sustainable by means of the establishment of a long-term approach with a clear guidance to climate change. However, empirical literature about methods to elaborate SD indexes is scarce. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to obtain a Synthetic Index of Energy Sustainable Development for EU-15. Based on 33 variables, three indexes are calculated related to energy security of supply, competitive energy market and environmental protection dimensions which are later aggregated into a Synthetic Index. Our results show that Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Portugal and UK have the better scores. The success of these member states is given by the development of a suitable management in their energy policies regarding the reduction of their energy dependency, the increase of competitiveness in their energy markets and the establishment of measures to increase climate change protection. New reinforcing policies are necessary in intermediate member states based on new energy saving actions (in the cases of Sweden, Austria and Finland), the introduction of more competition in its energy market (in the case of Italy) and environment protection actions (in the case of Germany). Greater efforts are necessary in member states that have the worst results (Spain, Ireland, Greece, Belgium and Luxembourg). EU's budget support should be available for these member states in order to develop new and more effective actions that allow them to secure access to importations of energy sources under the best possible conditions while supplying energy at competitive prices and protecting the environment. It requires better coordination of national energy policies and greater cooperation between member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is a need to define sustainable development in terms which are more clearly policy-relevant, so as to facilitate the quantitative evaluation of sustainability policies. This paper presents a novel quantitative method to evaluate urban sustainability enhancing policies to further enable evidence based policy making. Quantitative data on more than 300 economic, social and environmental attributes of 79 small to medium sized urban Irish settlements were assembled into a database. This provided a baseline against which projected impacts of fresh policy implementation may be evaluated. Literature searches for assessments of the impacts of policy implementation provided quantitative data on the likely impacts of policies in transport, environment, socio-economics and quality of life. The method has been named Sustainability Evaluation Metric for Policy Recommendation (SEMPRe), and is designed to be user-friendly for decision makers. SEMPRe assigns each candidate policy a numeric value indicating its projected effectiveness in enhancing settlement sustainability as an aid to evidence based decision making. As further quantitative assessment of impacts of additional policies are published in future, the range of policies testable using SEMPRe will increase. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Revisiting the way society defines and measures progress has been identified as one of the key levers in tackling the root causes of unsustainable development. The recent economic and food crises exposed a critical weakness in the ability of currently mainstream indicators of progress to provide early warning and take adequate preventive action. Since the early 1990s a growing number of organizations have been involved in the development of indicator systems around the key socio-economic and environmental concerns of sustainable development within their own context. In order to provide guidance and promote best practice, in 1997 a global group of leading measurement and assessment experts developed the Bellagio Principles. The Bellagio Principles have become a widely quoted reference point for measuring sustainable development, but new developments in policy, science, civil society and technology have made their update necessary. The Bellagio Sustainability Assessment and Measurement Principles (BellagioSTAMP) have been developed through a similar expert group process, using the original Principles as a starting point. Intended to be used as a complete set, the new BellagioSTAMP includes eight principles: (1) Guiding vision; (2) Essential considerations; (3) Adequate scope; (4) Framework and indicators; (5) Transparency; (6) Effective communications; (7) Broad participation; and (8) Continuity and capacity. The paper provides the rationale for the revision of the principles, their detailed description and guidance for their application. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since the birth of the sustainable development concept and its application to urban planning and construction projects, countless sustainability indicator sets have appeared. This paper analyses the problems posed by these sets and the need to establish a method to identify and select an indicator set which includes every participant involved in the life cycle of a project, to find a proper balance between all actors. Sustainability is proposed as an opportunity for improvement throughout the project. Thus, we have developed a methodology to identify, classify and prioritise sustainability indicators based on risk management standards. The application of this method to infrastructure projects in Spain will reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed method and is the first step to develop an indicator set for civil engineering projects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The complexity of sustainable development means that it is often difficult to evaluate and communicate the concept effectively. One standard method to reduce complexity and improve communication, while maintaining scientific objectivity, is to use selected indicators. The aim of this paper is to describe and evaluate a process of public participation in the selection of sustainable development indicators that utilised the Q-method for discourse analysis. The Q-method was utilised to combine public opinion with technical expertise to create a list of technically robust indicators that would be relevant to the public. The method comprises statement collection, statement analysis, Q-sorts and Q-sort analysis. The results of the Q-method generated a list of statements for which a preliminary list of indicators was then developed by a team of experts from the fields of environmental science, sustainable development and psychology. Subsequently members of the public evaluated the preliminary list of indicators, to select a final list of indicators that were both technically sound and incorporated the views of the public. The utilisation of the Q-method in this process was evaluated using previously published criteria. The application of the Q-method in this context needs to be considered not only by the quality of the indicators developed, but also from the perspective of the benefit of the process to the participants. It was concluded that the Q-method provided an effective framework for public participation in the selection of indicators as it allowed the public to discuss sustainable development in familiar language and in the context of their daily lives. By combining this information with expert input, a list of technically robust indicators that resonate with the public was developed. The results demonstrated that many citizens are not aware of sustainable development, and if it is to be successfully communicated to them, then indicators and policy need to be couched in terms familiar and relevant to citizen and communities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Despite the fact that it has been well over a decade since Agenda 21 first called for sustainable development indicators, there is no consensus regarding the best approach to the design and use of SDI models. It is important, therefore, to question the effectiveness of SDIs in an effort to continue advancing sustainability. This paper addresses one aspect of this question by exploring whether our global SDI metrics are sending a clear message to guide us towards sustainable development. Six global SDI metrics are compared by relative ranking in colour coded tabular format and spatially in map format. The combined presentation of results clearly illustrates that the different metrics arrive at varying interpretations about the sustainability of nations. The degree of variability between the metrics is analyzed using correlation analysis. The variability in findings draws attention to the lack of a clear direction at the global level in how best to approach sustainable development. Canada is presented as a case study to highlight and explain the discrepancies between SDI measures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Indicators can help package complex information into a usable form for public policy. We can think of no greater need for such clarity than the case of sustainability. The sustainability paradigm is applicable to the complex, urgent and interconnected problems we now face because of several characteristics. It is: (1) comprehensive and inclusive, (2) simple in concept and flexible, (3) value-based, and (4) an approach that necessitates consistency across policy areas. Indicators are needed to determine progress toward sustainability goals. In this paper, we argue that indicators of sustainability will only be effective if they support social learning by providing users with information they need in a form they can understand and relate to. These concepts also apply in other situations where policy makers must evaluate complex systems.We introduce a hierarchical control model, which is then used to demonstrate the path from values to objectives to actions and impacts, demonstrating the direct linkage from objectives to measures of the degree to which objectives have been reached. The model is extended first to sustainability goals and then to sustainability policies. We discuss the conceptual consistencies among the hierarchical model, sustainability theory and public policy processes. Using the concept of targeted indicators, we argue that science is effective when it is presented in a manner that is meaningful to the audience, and also represented in the context of their values and objectives.We conclude that the overlaps among policy, science and the publics’ values and objectives cannot be ignored. Policy, and particularly sustainability policy, is value driven. However, for the contextual application of those values to be realistic, society must understand the status and functioning of social, economic and environmental systems and be aware of the consequences of their choices. Policy makers will be more likely to create attainable policy goals if they understand the importance of interactions between the environment and society and the implications of choosing one objective over another. Achievement of the public’s objectives as embodied in policies can be facilitated through the use of indicators that have been derived from participatory processes, indicators that are chosen because they are meaningful to the public and reflect an understanding of their values and objectives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sustainable development has become a leading target of scientific research and policy agenda. In the context of natural resource management, understanding and evaluating the performance of complex socio-environmental systems has become a challenge, and the design of more sustainable alternatives is a driving need. In addition, there is a need to translate the general principles of sustainability into operational definitions and practices.This paper examines key methodological issues in the selection, transformation and aggregation of economic, environmental and social indicators for sustainability analysis. Specific reference is given to the MESMIS approach, a systemic, participatory, interdisciplinary and flexible framework for sustainability evaluation. The MESMIS framework has been developed by a multi-institutional team in Mexico and validated through its application to more than 20 case studies in Mexico and Latin America.The MESMIS operative structure is a six step cycle. The first three steps are devoted to the characterisation of the systems, the identification of critical points and the selection of specific indicators for the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability. In the last three steps, the information obtained by means of the indicators is integrated through mixed (qualitative and quantitative) techniques and multicriteria analysis, so as to obtain a value judgement about the resource management systems and to provide suggestions and insights aimed at improving their socio-environmental profile.MESMIS attempts to generate a cyclic process which, by effectively integrating the evaluation into the decision making process, improves the likelihood of success in the design of alternatives and the implementation of development projects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• A bibliometric analysis of three decades of research is provided. • The field's evolution over four time periods is analyzed. • Over time the field has become diversified to cover multiple sustainability dimensions. • Environmental aspects have received relatively more attention. • More focus on socio-economic aspects is needed. Following the recognition of the significance of urban areas for achieving sustainable development in the late 1980′s, first studies on 'urban sustainability assessment' were published in early 1990s. Since then, the field has grown rapidly, with over 300 papers published annually in recent years. The main objective of this study is to present a bibliometric analysis of about thirty years of research on urban sustainability assessment. The literature database includes 3877 articles published in the Web of Science. VOSviewer and SciMAT are two science mapping software tools that were utilized for this purpose. VOSviewer is utilized to detect major focus areas and to identify influential authors, publications, and journals using various network analysis techniques such as term co-occurrence, co-citation, and bibliographic coupling. Also, SciMAT is used to understand how the intellectual base of the field has evolved over time and what are the major themes that have contributed to this evolution. For this purpose, the study interval was divided into four sub-periods (i.e., 1991–2000; 2001–2009; 2010–2015; and 2016–2020). Results show that this field has initially been mainly focused on few themes but has later become more diversified to acknowledge the multi-dimensional characteristics of urban sustainability. Despite this, environmental aspects are still dominant and major socio-economic issues such as equity, justice, and public engagement are not well represented. Sustainable development indicators, energy, green infrastructure, water, land use, and urban design are major thematic areas, with the first three playing more important roles in structuring the development of the field. This study can be used as a point of reference for those interested in gaining more knowledge about urban sustainability assessment and its evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]