Review Reports - Mapping the Landscape of Carbon-Neutral City Research: Dynamic Evolution and Emerging Frontiers

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

MDPI Review

Mapping the Landscape of Carbon-Neutral City Research: Dy-2 namic Evolution and Emerging Frontiers 3

Yang Miao a,b , Le Yang a, Feng Chen a and Jiawei Chen c*

This is an interesting article. I really enjoyed reading it and appreciated the novel approach to bibliographic mapping and the way in which the software utilized (CitiSpace) was able to generate systems analyses of research communications and efforts on carbon neutrality in city environments. A neat approach! I was again impressed with China’s efforts and Japan’s efforts in this area of research. Doing a bit of research on the software has led me to see this article as unique and valuable to further the field of sustainability science. The article has also made me strongly think about the areas of science not contributing research to this topic, thank-you!

My biggest concern with the article was a few areas of English language difficulty. It did not exceed my personal threshold for a major rewrite, however.

All the following need work in English Grammar and Syntax. I will post about 10 of them and then suggest a major rewrite with English assistance prior to publication

1. The current research hotspots and frontiers 20 are how to make city more climate resilient, sustainable and liveable and help country achieve its 21 climate mitigation plan or carbon neutrality goal as soon as possible. 22

This sentence needs a little work. For example: Current research foci and cutting edge findings will help to make cities more climate resilient, sustainable and liveable. Understanding and magnifying these foci is what will help countries achieve their climate mitigation and carbon neutrality goals, sooner, rather than later. (Is that what you were striving for?) The other wording is vague and unclear, not focused and using the English to its best potential.

2. As a major challenge threaten progress towards sustainable development, climate 25 change has attracted the mainstream attention

3. The definition of carbon peak is the total emis- 34

sions of CO₂ reach a historical peak in a certain period, and after the peak, the emissions 35

gradually decrease.

4. and perspectives to guide future research and policies. Nevertheless, previous research- 61 es have not provided an overall picture of the state of research (i.e., have used single ra- 62 ther than multiple perspectives) and they lack information on its development and fails 63 to elucidate the context, which hinders our ability to systematically integrate multiple 64 perspectives on urban renewal. 65

5. neutral development theory and practical research. It is expected to provide a scientific 140 reference for the research of carbon-neutral city development, making city be climate re- 141 silience, sustainability and livability and assist country in achieving its climate mitiga- 142 tion plan and carbon neutrality goal as soon as possible. 143

6. The vertical perspective emphasizes governance processes that aresignificantly 382

structured by formal jurisdictions and a hierarchical set of governance institutions. Re- 383

7. (1) Scenario analysis. Consistent with the research in China, international studies 424

utilize scenario analysis as the primary calculation method used by relevant. Chen and 425

8. It should extend, 465 refine, and plan the content of the planning (Li, 2011). (maybe extend, refine and structure the content of the planning….instead of plan and planning…awkwardly redundant use of English.)

9. In the process of carbon-neutral city construction, technological innovations and 482

industrial structures play two pivotal mechanisms that affect urban economic develop- 483

ment (Li and Deng, 2019). (play two pivotal roles?)

10.

The following need clarification:

1. climate governance, #3 lmdi, #4 low-carbon cognition, #5 policy, #6 waste management, 367

#7 lifestyle, #8 transport, and #9 CO₂. The top five most frequent keywords in the study 368

What does “low-carbon cognition” mean? Can you clarify this?

2. With extensive research on achieving carbon neutrality in transportation, the con- 509

cept of “slow traffic” has gained prominence. Slow traffic has become an indispensable 510

Please explain, “slow traffic a bit” just enough for the inexperienced reader to follow this.

3. Therefore, promoting the inter-572 nationalization of carbon trading in Renminbi must occur promptly (Zhang and Wu,

This needs some context..this was a general discussion but Renminbi is specifically cited here? It is an abrupt shift without context? Can you improve this?

4. power plants is crucial. Increasing the portion of natural gas in fossil fuel usage is neces- 635

sary to balance the energy supply and achieve net-zero emission targets. 636

(2) Vigorous development of new and renewable energy such as photovoltaic, 637

wind, and hydropower, should be prioritized in suburban areas based on local condi- 638

tions. Active efforts to develop nuclear power, hydrogen energy, and nuclear hydrogen 639

Nuclear power comes with it’s own serious waste management issues. Should this be encouraged as a viable alternative? What about encouraging the nascent technology of nuclear fusion? It that not far better than nuclear fission?

Comments on the Quality of English Language

You need to review the writing and correct some areas for grammar and clarity. This was a moderate, not a major issue but should be addressed.