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Urban sustainability is one of the most prominent challenges in the global agenda waiting to be addressed since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. This research work applies a composite indicator that has been developed as the Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Index to benchmark the performance of a new sample of 26 world cities. The sample advances the geographical diversity of previous samples and represents cities in the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy as well as the C40 initiative. The benchmarking results are analysed based on quartiles of city performance and Monte Carlo simulations. The results indicate the top three cities in the sample to be Copenhagen, which obtains a score of 36.038, followed by Helsinki and Gothenburg. The top cities represent multiple best practices including those in district energy networks, water quality, and environmental management. A normative scenario up to the year 2050 is then applied to one of the cities in the sample, namely Rio de Janeiro. The normative scenario involves targets that take place in local plans, particularly Vision Rio 500. The benchmarking results for the new sample of 26 world cities and the normative scenario not only identifies the benchmark leaders but also underlines opportunities to pursue pathways in which higher levels of performance can be reached by cities that may face multiple challenges. The results of the research work holds significance for advancing the application of an original composite indicator to benchmark cities towards supporting the aim of decoupling economic growth from environmental pressures in more sustainable urban systems towards carbon neutrality.

Tools that can benchmark cities, including cities in South East Europe, are necessary to enable the comparison and diffusion of more sustainable practices for urban systems. The “Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Index” provides a composite indicator for benchmarking city performance based on 7 dimensions and 35 main indicators. In this research work, the Index is applied to a new sample of 18 cities in South East Europe for which data is collected, normalized, and aggregated. Klagenfurt (3.08), Velenje (3.06) and Pécs (3.01) are found to be the top three cities in the sample while an average city receives an index score of 2.85. The results are further compared to reference averages and evaluated based on the mean simulated values of 10,000 Monte Carlo experiments. The results are interpreted in quartiles for pioneering, transitioning, solution-seeking, and challenged cities. The results are then applied within a benchmarking tool of the Index that supports policy learning to trigger collaboration between cities and further used to match cities according to a search algorithm based on index performance. In addition, the results are compared to urban hierarchy as well as development contexts and mapped onto the spatial dimension as an initial step for enabling a “Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Future City Network”. The paper concludes with a set of four proposed steps to enable decision-makers and urban planners in using the Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Index in support of more sustainable urban systems.

Urban sustainability is one of the most prominent challenges in the global agenda waiting to be addressed since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. This research work applies a composite indicator that has been developed as the Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Index to benchmark the performance of a new sample of 26 world cities. The sample advances the geographical diversity of previous samples and represents cities in the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy as well as the C40 initiative. The benchmarking results are analysed based on quartiles of city performance and Monte Carlo simulations. The results indicate the top three cities in the sample to be Copenhagen, which obtains a score of 36.038, followed by Helsinki and Gothenburg. The top cities represent multiple best practices including those in district energy networks, water quality, and environmental management. A normative scenario up to the year 2050 is then applied to one of the cities in the sample, namely Rio de Janeiro. The normative scenario involves targets that take place in local plans, particularly Vision Rio 500. The benchmarking results for the new sample of 26 world cities and the normative scenario not only identifies the benchmark leaders but also underlines opportunities to pursue pathways in which higher levels of performance can be reached by cities that may face multiple challenges. The results of the research work holds significance for advancing the application of an original composite indicator to benchmark cities towards supporting the aim of decoupling economic growth from environmental pressures in more sustainable urban systems towards carbon neutrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tools that can benchmark cities, including cities in South East Europe, are necessary to enable the comparison and diffusion of more sustainable practices for urban systems. The "Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Index" provides a composite indicator for benchmarking city performance based on 7 dimensions and 35 main indicators. In this research work, the Index is applied to a new sample of 18 cities in South East Europe for which data is collected, normalized, and aggregated. Klagenfurt (3.08), Velenje (3.06) and Pécs (3.01) are found to be the top three cities in the sample while an average city receives an index score of 2.85. The results are further compared to reference averages and evaluated based on the mean simulated values of 10,000 Monte Carlo experiments. The results are interpreted in quartiles for pioneering, transitioning, solution-seeking, and challenged cities. The results are then applied within a benchmarking tool of the Index that supports policy learning to trigger collaboration between cities and further used to match cities according to a search algorithm based on index performance. In addition, the results are compared to urban hierarchy as well as development contexts and mapped onto the spatial dimension as an initial step for enabling a "Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Future City Network". The paper concludes with a set of four proposed steps to enable decision-makers and urban planners in using the Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Index in support of more sustainable urban systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benchmarking the performance of cities across aspects that relate to the sustainable development of energy, water and environment systems requires an integrated approach. This paper benchmarks a sample of 12 Southeast European cities based on a composite indicator that consists of 7 dimensions and 35 main indicators. The composite indicator is namely the Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) City Sustainability Index. The first three dimensions are energy consumption and climate, penetration of energy and carbon dioxide saving measures, and renewable energy potential and utilization. The last four dimensions are water and environmental quality, carbon dioxide emissions and industrial profile, city planning and social welfare, and research, development, innovation, and sustainability policy. The data collection process for the 12 cities integrates data from Sustainable Energy Action Plans and other sources. Data entries are normalized based on the Min–Max method and aggregated for a final ranking. Zagreb, Bucharest (District 1), and Ohrid are the top three cities. An average city receives a composite score of 2.69. Best practices are identified to allow cities to adopt well-rounded efforts to improve future performance. The SDEWES Index is useful to trigger learning, action, and collaboration among cities to transition to a more sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops and applies a Sustainability Ranking of Airports Index to benchmark the performance of airports across multiple factors. The index is a composite indicator with 5 dimensions and 25 indicators. The dimensions are airport services and quality, energy consumption and generation, carbon dioxide emissions and mitigation planning, environmental management and biodiversity, and atmosphere and low emission transport. The index is applied to a sample of 9 airports that take place among the busiest and best airports in the world based on passenger traffic and passenger satisfaction. Data is mined from Corporate Sustainability Reports and related sources. Amsterdam Schiphol, Frankfurt, Munich, Istanbul Atatürk, and London Heathrow airports are the top 5 airports in the sample. The linear regression between the results of the index and annual passenger traffic is found to be 0.1942. The results can be used to benchmark progress in decoupling airport operations from greater environmental impact. The paper provides recommendations for the 5 dimensions of the index based on best practices from the airports in the sample. The index is useful to allow airport managers to coordinate strategies for the sustainable development of energy, water, and environment systems in airports and lift-off towards more sustainable airport practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this investigation is to evaluate the phytotoxicity of selected metal oxide nanoparticles and microparticles as a function of maize seed germination and root elongation under different growth conditions (Petri plate, cotton and soil). The results of seed germination and root elongation experiments reveal that all the growth conditions show almost similar results. Alumina (Al2 O3) and titania (TiO2) nanoparticles significantly reduce the germination percentage, whereas silica (SiO2) nanoparticles and microparticles enhance the same. The results of nanoparticles and microparticles of zirconia (ZrO2) are found to be same as those of controls. Root elongation is enhanced by SiO2 nanoparticles and microparticles treatment, whereas inhibition is observed with Al2 O3 and TiO2 nanoparticles and microparticles. The X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry data of the treated and control seed samples show that seeds uptake SiO2 particles to a greater extent followed by TiO2, Al2 O3 and ZrO2. In addition, the uptake of nanoparticles is found to be greater than that of microparticles. Thus, the tested metal oxides penetrated seeds at the nanoscale as compared with the microscale. This study clarifies phytotoxicity of nanoparticles treated in different growth substrates and highlights the impact of nanoparticles on environment and agricultural systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]