Search Results (14)

Waste-to-energy (WtE) are clean technologies that support a circular economy by providing solutions to managing non-recyclable waste while generating alternative energy sources. Despite the promising benefits, technology adoption is challenged by financing constraints, technical maturity, environmental impacts, supporting policies, and public acceptance. A growing number of studies analyzed the acceptability of WtE and identified the factors affecting the adoption of WtE technologies. This study aims to analyze these research hotspots, technologies, and acceptability factors by combining bibliometric and systematic analyses. An initial search from the Web of Science and Scopus databases identified 817 unique documents, and the refinement resulted in 109 for data analysis. The results present a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art, providing researchers a basis for future research directions. Among the WtE technologies in the reviewed literature are incineration, anaerobic digestion, gasification, and pyrolysis, with limited studies about refuse-derived fuel and landfilling with gas recovery. The identified common factors include perceived risks, trust, attitudes, perceived benefits, “Not-In-My-BackYard” (NIMBY), awareness, and knowledge. Moreover, the findings present valuable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and WtE project planners to support WtE adoption while achieving sustainable, circular, and low-carbon economies. Full article

The role of NIMBY (“Not in My Backyard”) phenomena in sustainable urban development and tourism was analyzed, with a focus on stakeholder dynamics and implications for spatial planning. Based on an analysis of worldwide case studies, the main barriers and opportunities presented by these phenomena were identified, including the impact of project preparation time (t_p) and benefit realization time (t_b). A mixed methods approach was used, combining qualitative analysis of case studies with quantitative evaluation of project timelines. The results show that effective stakeholder engagement significantly reduces t_p, while maximizing t_b increases long-term benefits for communities and the environment. This research emphasizes the systemic interdependence of urban planning, environmental sustainability, tourism, and cultural heritage preservation, offering actionable insights for policymakers and developers. The conclusions emphasize the importance of participatory approaches to ensure equitable and sustainable urban transformation. Full article

Cultural heritage conservation planning in China advocates for differentiated planning measures tailored to different heritage elements with diverse values, functions, and locations. However, limited research has focused on the spatial heterogeneity of these multi-dimensional planning measures and the subjective well-being (SWB) of residents within these protected historic districts. This study investigates the spatial differentiation pattern and mechanism of residents’ SWB in three Historic Conservation Areas of Yangzhou, China, by employing a combination of spatial data digitization and data spatialization methods. The findings reveal: (1) All three cases demonstrate notable spatial differentiation in terms of residents’ SWB; (2) A common feature across the three cases is that strengthening community participation, tourism traffic control, and housing improvement projects can significantly improve residents’ SWB. But proximity to historic buildings has little explanatory power for the spatial differentiation of residents’ SWB; (3) Planning factors of traffic accessibility, public facility accessibility, park service areas, and NIMBY areas of public toilets, have significant spatial heterogeneous effects on residents’ SWB across the three cases, which are closely correlated to the varying degrees of tourism development within each district. The findings of this study provide targeted planning strategies for historic districts with different functional orientations and heritage conservation duties, aimed at more effectively enhancing the well-being of heritage site residents by utilizing limited public resources. Full article

The key to obtaining the Social License to Operate (SLO) for businesses in the not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) infrastructure projects is the justice of the process. The study constructs a model to analyze the effect of the four components of procedural justice (procedural regulations and the behavior and attitudes of the government and construction enterprises) on the SLO. A large-scale questionnaire survey is conducted to assess the role and the extent of the influence of these four components in obtaining the SLO for NIMBY infrastructures. The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and mediation effects tests show that procedural justice significantly influences the SLO for NIMBY infrastructure projects. All four components significantly improve community trust and social acceptance of the project. The construction enterprise’s informal treatment of the public’s behavior and attitudes has the largest influence, whereas the government’s formal treatment of the public’s behavior and attitudes has the least influence. The findings provide theoretical and practical guidance for improving the SLO for NIMBY infrastructure projects and promoting the sustainable development of these projects. Full article

“Not In My Back Yard” (NIMBY) conflicts have emerged as a significant challenge in the siting and construction of power grid projects. Traditional risk management methods are often inadequate for addressing the complex interactions between the multiple factors involved in such projects. To explain the relationship between different influencing factors, this paper constructs the hierarchy between the influencing factors using the Interpretive Structural Model (ISM) and carries out a causal analysis of NIMBY conflicts in power grid construction projects using the Bayesian network model. The results of the ISM hierarchical map show that high risk perception and construction practices lacking refinement are the most direct causes of NIMBY incidents. The Bayesian network model indicates that poor construction practices, negative public opinion, high risk perception, inadequate risk assessment and emergency response mechanisms, and negative externalities are the most sensitive factors within the causal system of NIMBY incidents and require priority attention. An increase in risk perception is also found to significantly escalate the severity of NIMBY conflicts. The insights gleaned in this study may provide valuable guidance for managing NIMBY conflicts in power grid construction projects. Full article

The risk level of the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) phenomenon is crucial for the safety and economy of transmission and transformation projects which is rarely studied, especially for site selection and the construction of transmission lines and substations. In order to effectively evaluate the risk level to solve the dilemma caused by the NIMBY phenomenon, an evaluation method for quantifying the level of the NIMBY phenomenon is proposed. In this paper, thirty-one evaluation criteria and a risk model are put forward according to relevant laws and regulations that should be followed in the transmission and transformation project in China, then the scores corresponding to these criteria are obtained by a questionnaire survey. The radar chart method and minimum area method are applied to determine the weights of the element and unit layers. Furthermore, the overall risk level is evaluated by the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. In addition, a transmission and transformation project in Xi’an City, China, is used as an example to verify the correction of the risk model and its evaluation method. The results show that the weaknesses in the transmission and transformation project are analyzed, and suggestions for decreasing the risk level are put forward to minimize losses due to the NIMBY phenomenon. Full article

In the process of modernization and urbanization, some government projects or facilities with negative externalities have caused the psychology of residents nearby to “Not in My Backyard” (NIMBY). That is, adopting strong and resolute, sometimes highly emotional collective opposition or even resistance behavior. This triggered a NIMBY conflict. From the perspective of Complexity, this study re-examines the characteristics and evolution mechanism of NIMBY conflict and draws the following conclusions: (1) NIMBY conflict is a complex system that interacts between multiple subjects and the environment; (2) Adaptability is the driving force for the evolution of NIMBY conflict. Through detectors, regularizers, and effectors, NIMBY subjects can be encouraged to gradually adapt to changes in the external environment and maximize their own interests; (3) In NIMBY conflict, the government conflict response method is more important than the intervention time. Residents’ communication efficiency and connection probability will affect residents’ behavior choices. The lower the residents’ communication efficiency, the less likely it is to form a NIMBY conflict. Full article

The present study explored an experience in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in which a community-based solid waste management experience was created by joining a waste pickers’ cooperative; a collective of urban agroecology activists; an alliance of social actors, including a university, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and membership-based organizations (MBOs); and a local community in a collaborative experience of zero waste that integrates waste pickers. More specifically, we focused on the Zero Waste Nucleus, which is an “intentional place” built in the territory that supports this experience and, as a facility, can face the “Not in My Backyard” (NIMBY) effects in the local production. The core of the analysis and discussion was how the process of developing the social acceptability of this space with the neighborhood took place, and how this space contributes to enhancing residents’ involvement in the project. We showed that daily care with negative externalities, the emergence of positive externalities, and the development of immaterial resources within the community, such as trust, are main factors for good social acceptability. Our conclusion presents the operational concept of Place for Assisted Voluntary Delivery (LEVA, in Portuguese) as a synthesis of design elements that can help build places to support community-based waste management systems, and reveals the limits of this study and the opportunities for future research in this field. Full article

The speedy increase in wind parks has brought to light a plethora of conflicts. Despite their benefits, there are more than a few who are opposed. The goal of this research is to study and evaluate the causes, so that such a project can take place in conditions of cooperation, mutual interest and profit for society and investors. The method chosen was a survey with approximately 600 responses in Attica, continental Greece and the islands. The data collected were analysed via SPSS on three levels: (i) descriptive statistics, (ii) binomial logistic regression to model the attitude towards wind farms, and (iii) factor analysis to identify latent factors that influence people’s thoughts. The results show that the NIMBY effect has no significant influence on the acceptance of the project, contrary to expectations. Moreover, the acceptance of a project does not seem to be a class issue, as the analysis showed that attitude is independent of income. The frequency and logistic analysis showed as the main determinants of the public attitude: (i) in a positive way, open and continuous briefing during all the construction stages and minimisation of greenhouse gases emissions (i) in a negative way, the impact on flora and fauna and the lack of trust in the investors. Full article

Infrastructure, such as waste incineration infrastructure, is entangled in the “not in my back yard” (NIMBY) dilemma. Consequently, the closed public decision-making model has difficulty adapting to the increasingly strong public-participation needs. Thus, a new mode of negotiated decision making is urgently required. This paper focuses on the negotiation problem, considers the government and society as game players, builds an evolutionary game model of negotiated decisions based on the bounded rationality hypothesis, and simulates the process and results of the evolution of the players’ strategy. The study concludes that the stable state of system evolution depends on the initial state of the dual populations and the comparative relationship between changes in revenue and cost, and the sufficient and unnecessary condition for the government and society to both agree on the given strategy. Taking the waste incineration projects in Yuhang and Chaonan as examples, the negotiated decision-making practice of NIMBY facilities is analysed, and it is found that it takes less time for the system to reach equilibrium in the latter. Finally, optimisation strategies for decision making regarding NIMBY facilities are systematically proposed. Full article

The objective of the study was to demonstrate attitudes towards wind energy facilities in the area of the Korsze Commune. The results of the study were processed using structure indices calculated from the respondents’ answers, which were analyzed in terms of social and economic factors. The study revealed that both the NIMBY syndrome and the lack of civic engagement influence attitudes towards renewable energy technologies in rural areas. The NIMBY (“not in my backyard”) term describes negative public attitudes towards proposed development projects. However, some trends towards more pronounced attitudes can be observed, depending on socioeconomic conditions. The research results imply that the measures taken to promote renewable energy technologies should be designed differently depending on the socioeconomic situation of the targeted audience. Young people might be reached via social media appropriate to their age, and through campaigns promoting local investments. For older people, traditional ways of communication can be used, but the information transmitted should include specific benefits for the whole society as well as for individual households. The conducted research revealed that, despite the fact that many authors deny the occurrence of NIMBY syndrome in relation to the wind energy, the NIMBY problem has occurred in the Korsze Commune. The biggest challenge in the survey was the unwillingness of the residents to participate in it, which only confirms the lack of social involvement. Full article

The use of renewable energy sources, especially wind energy, has been widely developed, mostly during the last decade. The main objective of the present study is to conduct a literature review focused on the evaluation under uncertainty of wind energy investment using the real options approach to find out whether public opposition (NIMBY projects) has been contemplated, and if so, what have been the flexible strategies applied for its intervention. Overall, 97 publications were analyzed, identifying 20 different models or approaches, which were grouped into eight categories: 1. Real options, 2. Optimization, 3. Stochastics, 4. Financial evaluation, 5. Probabilistic, 6. Estimation, 7. Numerical prediction, and 8. Others. The real options approach, present in 32% of the studies, was the most popular. Twenty-eight types of uncertainties were identified, which were grouped, for better analysis, into nine categories. In total, 62.5% of the studies included the price of electricity as a source of uncertainty; 18.8%, the velocity of wind; and 15.6%, the feed-in rates-subsidy. Both random and non-random techniques were applied to assess the real options and to model the uncertainties. When evaluating real options, the Monte Carlo simulation technique was the most preferred, with 16 (51.6%) applications, followed by non-randomized techniques, decision tree, and dynamic programming, with eight (25.8%) applications each. There is a marked tendency to use stochastic processes to model uncertainty, particularly geometric Brownian motion, which was used in 61.3% (19) of the studies in the sample. When searching for “real options AND (nimby OR public opposition)”, no study was found, which shows the possibility of developing research on this aspect to determine its impact on investments in wind energy projects. Full article

This article explores the land use conflict. Coal exploitation precludes agricultural production and, as a result, mining-energy projects come across NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) opposition from the farming community. An investigation was carried out in two rural communes: Krobia and Miejska Górka in the Wielkopolska Region in Poland. The aim was to obtain an answer to the following questions: (1) if acting in the name of energy security, should we accept the state government interest and start exploitation of the lignite resource? (2) If acting in the name of landowners’ rights, should we accept the local community interest and maintain the current farming production? and (3) is it possible to reconcile the interests of the conflict beneficiaries? The following qualitative methods were used: keyword and content analysis of word data, such as scientific papers, legal documents, and parliamentary questions (PQs), while the discourse analysis was focused on the policy and procedural conflicts. In the results section, possible solutions for heading off the conflict are presented. The results contribute to an integrated understanding of conflicts over mining and farming land use. Full article

Environmental conflicts have been a top global focus and issue for human’s sustainable development. China is confronted with a serious situation with a rigid demand of ecological governance, in which the “Not In My Back Yard” (NIMBY) crisis outbreaks frequently. NIMBY has a great impact on government management and social stability. This study aims to analyze the NIMBY crisis transformation path for municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) in China. Considering environmental, social and economic influences, this study seeks to find methods of transforming dangers into opportunities. A conceptual framework for realizing the NIMBY crisis transformation in waste management decision-making was conducted with a hybrid approach. A fishbone diagram was applied to explain the key factors of NIMBY crisis transformation for MSWI. Integrating Bayesian network structure discovery and co-word analysis into a qualitative analysis, searched data and key factors from a literature search engine with specific themes were used for structure learning. The results showed that project location, benefit compensation, publicity and education, public decision, public participation, the rule of law and multiple governance have distinct influences on the NIMBY crisis transformation process in China. In summary, the conceptual framework describes the complex process of NIMBY crisis transformation and helps to deepen data mining for municipal solid waste management (MSWM). Full article