Special Issue "Urban Management Based on the Concept of Sustainable Development"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Ecology and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Pingping Luo
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi'an 710054, China
Interests: urban flood; flood management; hydrological modeling; water quality analysis; statistical analysis; sustainable water resource management; ecohydrology
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Jianzhong Pei
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi'an 710064, China
Interests: road construction; highway materials; sponge road; urban sustainable road construction
Prof. Dr. Quanhua Hou
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture, Chang’an University, Xi'an 710054, China
Interests: urban planning; village planning; urban management; sustainable urban development
Prof. Dr. Wenke Wang
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi'an 710054, China
Interests: urban planning; sustainable groundwater management; hydrological modeling; environment management; ecohydrology
Prof. Dr. Jiahong Liu
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100044, China
Interests: urban hydrology; water ecosystem protection and restoration; digital watershed; water resource management
Prof. Dr. Jingming Hou
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Water Resources and Hydro-electric Engineering, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an 710048, China
Interests: hydrodynamic modeling; flood management; low-impact development measures; eco-hydraulics; environmental hydraulics; sediment transport
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Van-Thanh-Van Nguyen
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, McGill University, Montreal H3A 0G4, QC, Canada
Interests: urban flood management; hydrological modeling; statistical analysis; sustainable water resource management
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The rapid development of social economy and urbanization has led to large-scale urban expansion, which has destroyed the original hydrological environment and reduced the bearing capacity of the urban ecosystem to cope with various natural disasters, so that many cities are faced with frequent flood, water loss, ecological environment imbalance, and other issues. Due to the continuous development of urbanization, impervious pavements and building roofs have been added, which further change the hydrological cycle of the city. This has led to the occurrence of urban flood disasters caused by the rainstorm season, which is harmful to the lives and property of the people. Based on the current problems of flood disaster and water resources, it is necessary to form a sustainable urban management strategy of rainwater utilization.

With the increase of global urban population, the pressure of urban water resources will continue to rise. Therefore, urban management must be carried out under the concept of sustainable development in order to improve the shortage of water resources and mitigate the impact of flood and inundation disasters. In the process of urban management, we should promote the comprehensive utilization of rainwater and flood resources and the protection of ecological environment under the concept of sustainable urban development, which can avoid the occurrence of flood disasters in the city, improve the utilization rate of water resources, and ensure the balanced development of urban ecology.

This Special Issue focuses on highlighting state-of-the-art research that promotes the concept of the sponge city in the process of urban management to reduce urban flood disasters and ensure sustainable development of the urban ecological environment and put forward reasonable ideas for sponge city management and construction through numerical simulation. This Special Issue seeks articles that utilize approaches including, but not limited to, numerical simulation, empirical methods, and related methods using urban planning and management under sustainable development.

Prof. Dr. Pingping Luo
Prof. Dr. Jianzhong Pei
Prof. Dr. Quanhua Hou
Prof. Dr. Wenke Wang
Prof. Dr. Jiahong Liu
Prof. Dr. Jingming Hou
Prof. Dr. Van-Thanh-Van Nguyen
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 papers will be 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. Sustainability 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 1900 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

  • sponge city
  • rainwater resource utilization
  • urban planning
  • urban management
  • waste water treatment
  • sustainable water resource management

Published Papers (7 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Article
Evaluation on the Change Characteristics of Ecosystem Service Function in the Northern Xinjiang Based on Land Use Change
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9679; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179679 (registering DOI) - 28 Aug 2021
Viewed by 183
Abstract
Monitoring the interannual changes in land use and the temporal and spatial characteristics of the ecosystem services value (ESV) can help to comprehensively and objectively understand the distribution of regional ecological patterns. The mountain–oasis–desert transition zone in the northern Tianshan Mountain region of [...] Read more.
Monitoring the interannual changes in land use and the temporal and spatial characteristics of the ecosystem services value (ESV) can help to comprehensively and objectively understand the distribution of regional ecological patterns. The mountain–oasis–desert transition zone in the northern Tianshan Mountain region of Xinjiang, China, is a geographically unique area with a highly sensitive ecosystem. As a data source, the study uses Landsat TM images from 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2018 along with GIS-extracted data to calculate the dynamic degree of land use. As well, the spatial and temporal patterns of land use change and ESV are quantitatively analyzed by using the equivalent factor method, sensitivity index, and spatial correlation studies. The results reveal the following: (1) From 1990 to 2018, the land use changes in the northern Tianshans are relatively drastic, mainly due to the increase in cultivated land, grassland and construction land, and the decrease in forest land, water, and unused land. (2) The ESV increases and then decreases, for a total loss of about 271.63 × 108 yuan. The largest decrease is in forest value, and the largest increase (around 129.94%) is in construction land. (3) The spatial distribution pattern of ESV in the northern Tianshans is apparent, showing high in the north and southwest, and low in the central and southeast portions of the study area. Additionally, there is a visible spatial correlation and aggregation in ESV. The present research can provide theoretical support for the environmental protection of the ecologically vulnerable area of the northern Tianshans as well as for further construction across the region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Management Based on the Concept of Sustainable Development)
Article
Risk Analysis for Short-Term Operation of the Power Generation in Cascade Reservoirs Considering Multivariate Reservoir Inflow Forecast Errors
Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3689; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073689 - 26 Mar 2021
Viewed by 380
Abstract
In the short-term operation of the power generation of cascade reservoirs, uncertainty factors such as inflow forecast errors could cause various types of risks. The inflow to a downstream reservoir is not only affected by inflow forecast errors from upstream reservoirs but also [...] Read more.
In the short-term operation of the power generation of cascade reservoirs, uncertainty factors such as inflow forecast errors could cause various types of risks. The inflow to a downstream reservoir is not only affected by inflow forecast errors from upstream reservoirs but also the forecast errors associated with inflow to the stream segment between the reservoirs, such as from a tributary. The inflow forecast errors of different forecast periods may also be correlated. To address this multivariate problem, the inflow forecast error variables were jointly fitted in this study using the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) and a t-Copula function based on the analysis of the error distribution characteristics in different forecast periods. Therefore, a stochastic model that coupled with the GMM and t-Copula to calculate inflow forecast errors in multiple forecast periods was established. Furthermore, according to the simulation results of the stochastic model and the predicted runoff series, a set of simulated runoff processes were obtained. Then they were combined with the existing power generation plan to carry out the risk analysis for short-term operation of the power generation in a cascade reservoir. The approach was evaluated using the Jinguan cascade hydropower system within the Yalong River basin as a case study. For this case study, the risk analysis for short-term operation of the power generation was analyzed based on stochastic simulation of the inflow forecast errors; the results show the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Management Based on the Concept of Sustainable Development)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Article
Meta-Evaluation for the Evaluation of Environmental Management: Standards and Practices
Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2567; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052567 - 27 Feb 2021
Viewed by 578
Abstract
Environmental management plays a key role in the sustainable development of cities. The effectiveness of environmental management is commonly examined through some evaluation schemes, but the effectiveness of such evaluation schemes also needs to be verified. As such, in this study, meta-evaluation was [...] Read more.
Environmental management plays a key role in the sustainable development of cities. The effectiveness of environmental management is commonly examined through some evaluation schemes, but the effectiveness of such evaluation schemes also needs to be verified. As such, in this study, meta-evaluation was creatively introduced into environmental management to improve the evaluation of environmental management (EEM). Meta-evaluation is the evaluation of an evaluation scheme, and can verify and enhance the evaluation quality. First, a set of new meta-evaluation standards and criteria was proposed based on the unique characteristics of environmental management, which made meta-evaluation standards more adaptable and effective. After that, the efficacy of the proposed meta-evaluation standards was verified through their application to two evaluation schemes used in different fields of EEM. Based on meta-evaluation, suggestions for improving these two EEM schemes were also provided. The major contributions of this study are to introduce meta-evaluation into environmental management, establish new evaluation standards, and examine the efficacy of EEM. The research showed that it is critical to carry out meta-evaluation before and/or after the implementation of EEM. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Management Based on the Concept of Sustainable Development)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Article
Research on Runoff Simulations Using Deep-Learning Methods
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1336; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031336 - 27 Jan 2021
Viewed by 528
Abstract
Runoff simulations are of great significance to the planning management of water resources. Here, we discussed the influence of the model component, model parameters and model input on runoff modeling, taking Hanjiang River Basin as the research area. Convolution kernel and attention mechanism [...] Read more.
Runoff simulations are of great significance to the planning management of water resources. Here, we discussed the influence of the model component, model parameters and model input on runoff modeling, taking Hanjiang River Basin as the research area. Convolution kernel and attention mechanism were introduced into an LSTM network, and a new data-driven model Conv-TALSTM was developed. The model parameters were analyzed based on the Conv-TALSTM, and the results suggested that the optimal parameters were greatly affected by the correlation between the input data and output data. We compared the performance of Conv-TALSTM and variant models (TALSTM, Conv-LSTM, LSTM), and found that Conv-TALSTM can reproduce high flow more accurately. Moreover, the results were comparable when the model was trained with meteorological or hydrological variables, whereas the peak values with hydrological data were closer to the observations. When the two datasets were combined, the performance of the model was better. Additionally, Conv-TALSTM was also compared with an ANN (artificial neural network) and Wetspa (a distributed model for Water and Energy Transfer between Soil, Plants and Atmosphere), which verified the advantages of Conv-TALSTM in peak simulations. This study provides a direction for improving the accuracy, simplifying model structure and shortening calculation time in runoff simulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Management Based on the Concept of Sustainable Development)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Article
The Relationship between Coordination Degree of the Water–Energy–Food System and Regional Economic Development
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1305; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031305 - 27 Jan 2021
Viewed by 467
Abstract
The sustainable development of the water–energy–food (WEF) system has gained global attention as a result of limited land resources, inadequate energy supply and growing water stress. Coordination degree is an important indicator to measure the sustainable development of the WEF system. Improving the [...] Read more.
The sustainable development of the water–energy–food (WEF) system has gained global attention as a result of limited land resources, inadequate energy supply and growing water stress. Coordination degree is an important indicator to measure the sustainable development of the WEF system. Improving the coordination degree contributes to the sustainable development of the WEF system and affects regional economic development. The extended Cobb–Douglas function is applied to examine the relationship between coordination degree of the WEF system and regional economic development in 31 provinces of China during the period of 2007–2018. By using the system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation, empirical results indicate that in the regions with low coordination degree, improved coordination degree of the WEF system will hinder regional economic growth. In the regions with high coordination degree, it will promote regional economic growth. The results indicate that there is a lag period for the influence of improved coordination degree on regional economic growth. When making resources management policies, shortening the lag period is conducive to achieving sustainable development and promoting regional economic development. Governments of various regions should formulate different resource management policies based on the conditions of each region and the different relationships between coordination degree of the WEF system and regional economic development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Management Based on the Concept of Sustainable Development)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Article
Basin Water Sensitivity and Its Impact on Spatial Expansion: A Case Study of the Taihu Basin, China
Sustainability 2020, 12(24), 10353; https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410353 - 11 Dec 2020
Viewed by 449
Abstract
Water is the most important and sensitive factor controlling urban development in basins. This paper developed a novel approach to construct a Basin Water Sensitivity Index (BWSI) from the perspective of integrated basin management. The correlation between the spatial expansion of development and [...] Read more.
Water is the most important and sensitive factor controlling urban development in basins. This paper developed a novel approach to construct a Basin Water Sensitivity Index (BWSI) from the perspective of integrated basin management. The correlation between the spatial expansion of development and water sensitivity over the past 30 years in the Taihu Basin was analyzed using BWSI and urban development data. The analysis found that, (1) from 1985 to 1995 the spatial expansion of developed areas in the Taihu Basin was unrelated to BWSI; (2) from 1995 to 2007 the expansion intensity decreased with an increase in BWSI; and (3) from 2007 to 2017 there was a significant increase in the spatial development expansion intensity and the area of expansion was concentrated in low BWSI areas, while the constraints of water sensitivity on spatial expansion were more obvious than in previous years. The analysis illustrated how BWSI affected spatial growth in a basin and this research can be used to help formulate a spatial growth management policy that includes water sensitivity and provides a scientific basis for coordinating the relationship between economic and social development with water resources and the environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Management Based on the Concept of Sustainable Development)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Article
Soil Quality Assessment Based on a Minimum Data Set: A Case Study of a County in the Typical River Delta Wetlands
Sustainability 2020, 12(21), 9033; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219033 - 30 Oct 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 652
Abstract
Purpose: The Yellow River delta boasts rich land resources but lacks fresh water and exhibits poor natural conditions. To rationally develop and utilize the land resources therein, it is necessary to evaluate the soil quality. Methods: Adopting specific screening conditions, principal component analysis [...] Read more.
Purpose: The Yellow River delta boasts rich land resources but lacks fresh water and exhibits poor natural conditions. To rationally develop and utilize the land resources therein, it is necessary to evaluate the soil quality. Methods: Adopting specific screening conditions, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to construct a minimum data set (MDS) from 10 soil indicators. Then, a complete soil quality evaluation index system of the Yellow River delta was developed. The soil quality comprehensive index (SQI) method was used to assess the soil quality in the Kenli District, and the soil quality grades and spatial distribution were analyzed. Results: (1) The average SQI of the Kenli District is 0.523, and the best soil quality is concentrated near the Yellow River, especially in Huanghekou town. (2) The normalized difference vegetation index was positively correlate with SQI, whereas Dr (nearest distance between the sampling site and Yellow River) and Ds (nearest distance between the sampling site and Bohai Sea) were negatively correlated with SQI. Elev (sampling site elevation) was not correlated with SQI. (3) The SQI of agricultural planting is greater than that of the natural land type and significantly greater than that of nudation. The main factors limiting farmland soil quality are SK (water-soluble potassium) and pH, whereas the factor limiting the natural land type are the soil nutrient indicators. Conclusions: To improve soil quality and develop and utilize land resources, the towns should adopt systematic land development/utilization methods based on local conditions. These results have important guiding significance and practical value for the more objective and accurate evaluation of soil quality in coastal areas and the development and utilization of land resources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Management Based on the Concept of Sustainable Development)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop