Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.3
2.5
Journals
Applied Sciences
Special Issues
Smart City and Sustainability: Advanced Technologies and Future Challenges
applsci-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Applied Sciences Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Smart City and Sustainability: Advanced Technologies and Future Challenges

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Sustainable Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2025 | Viewed by 976

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hong Xue

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Management, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
Interests: construction; sustainable construction; building; construction engineering; green building; building information modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Dezhi Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
Interests: smart city construction; urban resilience; sustainable city
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Zezhou Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518061, China
Interests: building sustainability based on smart technologies (construction waste management, green building, LCA, prefabricated building, BIM); sustainable urbanization; smart city
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Peng Mao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Civil Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Interests: sustainable construction; green building; building energy efficiency; energy use behaviour; built environment and health; smart city
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Smart cities, along with the booming development of 5G, blockchain, artificial intelligence and other advanced information technologies, have promoted the informatization, digitization and intelligentization of cities. In practice, numerous redundant advanced information technologies have been introduced into the construction, operation, and maintenance of smart cities, thus reducing the enthusiasm of stakeholders to use advanced information technologies and including the development of smart cities within the realm of ‘advanced information technologies. Therefore, identifying practical advanced information technologies, developing reasonable application scenarios, and enhancing technical innovation to reduce the risk of applying advanced information technologies in smart cities and improve the performance of smart cities could empower advanced technologies. In addition, sustainable performances, multiple governance mechanisms and practical policies are required to ensure the sustainable development of smart cities.

Hence, this Special Issue will offer an opportunity for researchers to share new via research- and practice- oriented studies and reviews. The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

  • Sustainable evaluation for smart cities;
  • The sustainable performance of smart cities;
  • Urban planning for smart cities;
  • Smart construction for smart cities;
  • Advanced information technologies for smart cities;
  • Risk management for smart cities;
  • Smart solutions for the built/operation environment;
  • Innovative technologies for smart cities.

Dr. Hong Xue
Dr. Dezhi Li
Dr. Zezhou Wu
Dr. Peng Mao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • smart cities
  • sustainable performance
  • urban planning
  • smart construction
  • advanced information technologies
  • risk management
  • built/operation environment
  • innovative technologies

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

28 pages, 8676 KiB  
Article
Research on the Implementation Effect of Incentive Policies for Prefabricated Buildings Based on System Dynamics: A Chinese Empirical Study
by Chunbing Guo, Weidong Yan and Zhenxu Guo
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(10), 5627; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15105627 - 18 May 2025
Viewed by 113
Abstract
Incentive policies for prefabricated buildings (PBIP) can effectively promote the development of prefabricated buildings (PB) and improve the sustainability of the construction industry, attracting increasing attention from academia and industry. The government has issued many PBIPs (including land policy, plot ratio reward policy, [...] Read more.
Incentive policies for prefabricated buildings (PBIP) can effectively promote the development of prefabricated buildings (PB) and improve the sustainability of the construction industry, attracting increasing attention from academia and industry. The government has issued many PBIPs (including land policy, plot ratio reward policy, fund policy, financial support policy, preferential tax policy, research and development support policy, and construction process management policy) but the implementation effect of PBIP remains to be clarified, especially regarding the research gap from a dynamic perspective. This study proposes an analytical framework of policy implementation effect based on the chain of “policy text content–policy impact path–policy implementation effect”, aiming to analyze the implementation stage and effect of PBIPs using the system theory analysis method. Combining the main factors affecting the PBIP impact system, a quantitative model containing 50 variables is established based on the system dynamics (SD) model. Finally, using Shenyang, one of China’s first PB pilot cities, as an example, the system simulation and sensitivity analysis of main parameters are carried out in Vensim software. The research results indicate that PBIP in Shenyang has not been fully utilized and targeted improvements and strengthened implementation of PBIP are needed. In the simulation of individual policies, the implementation effect of fund policy is the best, and the impact of research and development support policy on carbon reduction is the most significant. The promotional effect of the policy combination on PB development is more prominent. Using the policy combination reasonably is necessary to leverage the incentive effect fully. Simulation and sensitivity analysis results provide valuable insights for government departments to enhance the implementation effectiveness of the existing PBIP. This study responds to the global trend of promoting sustainable building development. It proposes a new framework for systematically analyzing the implementation effects of PBIPs, filling the research gap in policy evaluation from a dynamic perspective. Its methods and findings are not only applicable to the Chinese context but also provide valuable experience for other countries to develop and optimize PBIPs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart City and Sustainability: Advanced Technologies and Future Challenges)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

40 pages, 8617 KiB  
Article
Research on Stochastic Evolutionary Game and Simulation of Carbon Emission Reduction Among Participants in Prefabricated Building Supply Chains
by Heyi Wang, Lihong Li, Chunbing Guo and Rui Zhu
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(9), 4982; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15094982 - 30 Apr 2025
Viewed by 157
Abstract
Developing prefabricated buildings (PBs) and optimizing the construction supply chain represent effective strategies for reducing carbon emissions in the construction industry. Prefabricated building supply chain (PBSC) carbon reduction suffers from synergistic difficulties, limited rationality, and environmental complexity. Therefore, investigating carbon emission reduction in [...] Read more.
Developing prefabricated buildings (PBs) and optimizing the construction supply chain represent effective strategies for reducing carbon emissions in the construction industry. Prefabricated building supply chain (PBSC) carbon reduction suffers from synergistic difficulties, limited rationality, and environmental complexity. Therefore, investigating carbon emission reduction in PBSC is essential. In this study, PBSC participants are divided into four categories according to the operation process. Gaussian white noise is introduced to simulate the random perturbation factors, and a four-way stochastic evolutionary game model is constructed and numerically simulated. The study found the following: Stochastic perturbation factors play a prominent role in the evolution speed of the agent; the emission reduction benefit and cost of the participant significantly affect the strategy selection; the operation status of the PBSC is the key to strategy selection, and it is important to pay attention to the synergy of the participants at the first and the last end of the PBSC; the influence of the external environment on strategies is mainly manifested in the loss caused and the assistance provided; and the information on emission reduction is an important factor influencing strategies. Finally, we provide suggestions for promoting carbon emission reduction by participants in the PBSC from the perspective of resisting stochastic perturbation, enhancing participants’ ability, and strengthening PBSC management; external punishment and establishing a cross-industry information sharing platform is more important than the reward. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart City and Sustainability: Advanced Technologies and Future Challenges)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

28 pages, 5001 KiB  
Article
System Dynamics Simulation of Policy Synergy Effects: How Tradable Green Certificates and Carbon Emission Trading Shape Electricity Market Sustainability
by Lihong Li, Kun Song, Weimao Xu, Xue Jiang and Chunbing Guo
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(8), 4086; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15084086 - 8 Apr 2025
Viewed by 373
Abstract
With the rapid growth of global energy demand, the fossil fuel-dominated electric power industry has led to serious environmental problems. Tradable green certificates (TGC) and carbon emission trading (CET) have become key mechanisms for promoting sustainable development of the electricity market by serving [...] Read more.
With the rapid growth of global energy demand, the fossil fuel-dominated electric power industry has led to serious environmental problems. Tradable green certificates (TGC) and carbon emission trading (CET) have become key mechanisms for promoting sustainable development of the electricity market by serving as market-oriented policy tools. To deeply analyze the impact of TGC and CET on the sustainable development of China’s electricity market and provide a scientific basis for policymakers. This study uses system dynamics (SD) methods to construct a policy synergy analysis framework for TGC and CET. It explores the impact mechanism of dual policy incentives on the sustainable development of the electricity market. Firstly, the current application status of TGC and CET in China was reviewed. Based on the literature analysis, identify key factors that affect the sustainable development of the electricity market. Then, by deconstructing the interaction between TGC policy and CET policy, an SD model was established that includes multidimensional feedback such as policy, technology, funding, and market, and the dynamic functional relationships in the SD model were quantified. Finally, Vensim PLE software 7.3.2 was used to simulate the evolution of sustainable development in the electricity market under different policy scenarios. The research results indicate that (1) the adjustment of the TGC quota ratio can change the supply and demand mechanism to form a price leverage effect, effectively stimulate the growth of renewable energy generation capacity, and accelerate the low-carbon transformation of power enterprises; and (2) the CET market changes the cost structure of power generation through carbon price signals. When the carbon emission cap target tightens, CET prices quickly rise, leading to a significant trend of carbon reduction in the electricity market; (3) the application of policy combinations can significantly promote the sustainable development of the electricity market, but the unreasonable setting of policy parameters can trigger market risks. Therefore, policy design should focus on flexibility and implement appropriate policy combinations at different stages of electricity market development to promote green transformation while ensuring smooth market operation. This study innovatively reveals the synergistic effect of TGC and CET in the sustainable development of the electricity market from a systems theory perspective. The research results provide a scientific basis for decision-makers to formulate policy adjustment plans and have essential reference value for achieving the dual goals of energy structure transformation and electricity market stability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart City and Sustainability: Advanced Technologies and Future Challenges)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop