Search Results (651)

Recent years have seen frequent heavy rainfall events in Japan, often linked to Baiu fronts and typhoons. These events are exacerbated by global warming, leading to an increased frequency and intensity. As floods represent a serious threat to sustainable urban development and community resilience, this study contributes to sustainability-focused risk reduction through integrated analysis. This study focuses on the 2 June 2023 heavy rain disaster in Toyohashi City, Japan, which caused extensive damage due to flooding from the Yagyu and Umeda Rivers. Using numerical models, this study accurately reproduces flooding patterns, revealing that high tides amplified the inundation area by 1.5 times at the Yagyu River. A resident questionnaire conducted in collaboration with Toyohashi City identifies key trends in evacuation behavior and disaster information usage. Traditional media such as TV remain dominant, but younger generations leverage electronic devices for disaster updates. These insights emphasize the need for targeted information dissemination and enhanced disaster preparedness strategies, including online materials and flexible training programs. The methods and findings presented in this study can inform local and regional governments in building adaptive disaster management policies, which contribute to a more sustainable society. Full article

Clarifying the coordination and impediments of social, economic, and spatial connection in rural areas is essential for advancing rural revitalization, urban-rural integration, and regional coordinated development. Utilizing the 24 counties and districts in western Hunan as case studies, we developed an evaluation index system for sustainable rural development across three dimensions: social, economic, and spatial. We employed the coupling model, coordination model, and obstacle factor model to investigate the comprehensive development level, coupling and coordination status, and obstacle factors of the villages in the study area at three temporal points: 2002, 2012, and 2022. The findings indicate the following: (1) The degree of rural development in western Hunan has escalated swiftly throughout the study period, transitioning from relative homogeneity to a heterogeneous developmental landscape, accompanied by issues such as inadequate development and regional polarization. (2) The overall rural social, economic, and spatial indices are low, and the degree of coupling has increased variably across different study periods; the average coordination degree has gradually improved over time, yet the level of coordination remains low, and spatial development is unbalanced. (3) The criterion-level impediments hindering the sustainable development of rural society, economy, and space are, in descending order, social factors, spatial factors, and economic factors. The urbanization rate, total fixed investment rate, and arable land change rate are the primary impediments in most counties and cities. The study’s findings will inform the planning of rural development in ethnic regions, promote sustainable social and spatial advancement in the countryside, and serve as a reference for rural revitalization efforts. Full article

The relationship between ecosystem services (ESs) and human well-being (HWB) is a central issue of sustainable development. However, current research often relies on qualitative frameworks or indicator-based assessments, limiting a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between natural environment and human acquisition, which still needs to be strengthened. As an element transferred in the natural–society coupling system, carbon can assist in characterizing the dynamic interactions within coupled human–natural systems. Carbon, as a fundamental element transferred across ecological and social spheres, offers a powerful lens to characterize these linkages. This study develops and applies a novel analytical framework that integrates carbon flow as a unifying metric to quantitatively assess the spatiotemporal dynamics of the land use and land cover change (LUCC)–ESs–HWB nexus in Guizhou Province, China, from 2000 to 2020. The results show that: (1) Ecosystem services in Guizhou showed distinct trends from 2000 to 2020: supporting and regulating services declined and then recovered, and provisioning services steadily increased, while cultural services remained stable but varied across cities. (2) Human well-being generally improved over time, with health remaining stable and the HSI rising across most cities, although security levels fluctuated and remained low in some areas. (3) The contribution of ecosystem services to human well-being peaked in 2010–2015, followed by declines in central and northern regions, while southern and western areas maintained or improved their levels. (4) Supporting and regulating services were positively correlated with HWB security, while cultural services showed mixed effects, with strong synergies between culture and health in cities like Liupanshui and Qiandongnan. Overall, this study quantified the coupled dynamics between ecosystem services and human well-being through a carbon flow framework, which not only offers a unified metric for cross-dimensional analysis but also reduces subjective bias in evaluation. This integrated approach provides critical insights for crafting spatially explicit land management policies in Guizhou and offers a replicable methodology for exploring sustainable development pathways in other ecologically fragile karst regions worldwide. Compared with conventional ecosystem service frameworks, the carbon flow approach provides a process-based, dynamic mediator that quantifies biogeochemical linkages in LUCC–ESs–HWB systems, which is particularly important in fragile karst regions. However, we acknowledge that further empirical comparison with traditional ESs metrics could strengthen the framework’s generalizability. Full article

The gradual recovery of the economy has positioned the digital economy as a vital force driving global economic growth. However, the sustainability of this emerging economic sector is being tested by unexpected systemic shocks. There is a scarcity of research on the factors influencing the sustainable development of the digital economy. Therefore, developing a framework to assess the sustainability of the digital economy is significant. Building on previous research, this study established an evaluation system that extracts key indicators across four dimensions: society, the economy, the environment, and technology. Data were then collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews with experts. Subsequently, this study employed the fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory–Analytical Network Process (fuzzy DANP) method to determine the weight of each indicator and used the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method to evaluate the sustainability of the digital economy in three cities. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to validate this comprehensive evaluation method. The results indicate that society and the economy are the two most crucial dimensions, while the regional economic development level, enterprise innovation culture, and digital divide are the top three indicators affecting the sustainable development of the digital economy industry. This work suggests that the digital economy industry should enhance regional economic levels, strengthen technological and innovative corporate cultures, and narrow the digital divide to achieve the goal of sustainable development in the digital economy sector. Full article

This study examined urban vulnerability in the three northeastern provinces of China—Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning—from 2000 to 2020, addressing challenges such as resource shortages, harsh environments, and inadequate education and healthcare. Using the weighted summation method and geographic detector model, this study analyzes the temporal and spatial evolution of urban vulnerability in 34 prefecture-level cities. The results show that overall vulnerability initially increased and then decreased, while economic vulnerability continued to rise. Spatially, vulnerability shifted from weak agglomeration to dispersion by 2020. Key drivers include new fixed assets, local fiscal revenue, and altitude. The findings highlight the need for tailored, coordinated development strategies to reduce urban vulnerability and promote sustainable regional growth, emphasizing the importance of balancing resources, environment, economy, society, and nature. Full article

The increase in garbage generated in modern societies demands the implementation of a more sustainable model as well as new methods for efficient waste management. This article describes the development and implementation of a prototype of a smart bin that automatically sorts waste using a multi-agent system and blockchain integration. The proposed system has sensors that identify the type of waste (organic, plastic, paper, etc.) and uses collaborative intelligent agents to make instant sorting decisions. Blockchain has been implemented as a technology for the immutable and transparent control of waste registration, favoring traceability during the classification process, providing sustainability to the process, and making the audit of data in smart urban environments transparent. For the computer vision algorithm, three versions of YOLO (YOLOv8, YOLOv11, and YOLOv12) were used and evaluated with respect to their performance in automatic detection and classification of waste. The YOLOv12 version was selected due to its overall performance, which is superior to others with mAP@50 values of 86.2%, an overall accuracy of 84.6%, and an average F1 score of 80.1%. Latency was kept below 9 ms per image with YOLOv12, ensuring smooth and lag-free processing, even for utilitarian embedded systems. This allows for efficient deployment in near-real-time applications where speed and immediate response are crucial. These results confirm the viability of the system in both accuracy and computational efficiency. This work provides an innovative solution in the field of ambient intelligence, characterized by low equipment cost and high scalability, laying the foundations for the development of smart waste management infrastructures in sustainable cities. Full article

This article discusses the digital activism model for advocacy of press freedom in Indonesia. This study examined the model and characteristics of digital activism and inhibiting factors in advocacy of press freedom, carried out by civil society organizations, social activists, and media professionals. Using qualitative methods, this paper provides answers to the question of how is the digital activism model aimed at countering threats to press freedom in a post-authoritarian country with a case study of Indonesia? How does digital activism emerge and form cross-sector collaboration? Given the broad scope of digital activism in Indonesia, the researchers chose two cities that represent the national and regional/provincial spectrum, namely Jakarta as the nation’s capital and Yogyakarta as a prominent student city in the country. The current study found a unique digital activism model in Indonesia that is a spectator collaboration: participants and initiators of activism are involved together in clicktivism, metavoicing, and assertion. Social activists and independent media activists develop systematic collective actions in the digital realm, such as online petitions and press releases, republication, and fundraising for the sustainability of the activism itself. This paper also found a gladiatorial model: media managers as victims and activists merged with more organized social movements, signaling that press freedom has become a collective agenda of pro-democracy advocates in Indonesia. Full article

Urban areas and their surrounding regions play a pivotal role in supporting population concentration, economic activities, and social interaction in modern society. However, the accelerated pace of urbanization and economic expansion has led to increasing ecological and spatial imbalances, posing significant challenges to sustainable urban development and human well-being. Therefore, China has implemented territorial spatial zoning policies aimed at guiding urban spatial structure transformation and improving ecological environmental quality (EEQ). This study employed the improved remote sensing ecological index to analyze the spatiotemporal dynamics and driving mechanisms of EEQ in Beijing from 2000 to 2020. The findings revealed a significant spatial pattern where the EEQ in both summer and winter decreased from the surrounding ecological conservation areas towards the central city. Notably, the overall EEQ was consistently higher in summer than in winter. Regarding the aggregation patterns of EEQ, the ecological conservation areas exhibited more favorable concentration distributions during both seasons, whereas the plain and urban areas displayed poorer aggregation characteristics. Overall, evapotranspiration was the dominant positive factor influencing EEQ across all spatial zones. These results provide a robust scientific basis for promoting sustainable development and informed spatial planning in metropolitan regions. Full article

Assessing the seismic performance of buildings from various epochs is essential for guiding retrofitting policies and educating occupants about their homes’ conditions. However, limited resources pose challenges. Some approaches focus on detailed analyses of a limited number of buildings, while others favor broader coverage with less precision. This paper presents a seismic risk assessment method that balances and integrates the strengths of both, using a comprehensive building survey. We propose a low-cost indicator for evaluating the structural resilience of individual buildings, designed to inform both authorities and property owners, support building rankings, and raise awareness. This indicator classifies buildings by their taxonomy and uses analytical capacity curves (2D or 3D studies) obtained from consulting hundreds of studies to determine the ultimate acceleration (agu) that each building type can withstand before collapse. It also considers irregularities found during the survey (to the exterior and interior) through structural modifiers Δ, and adjusts the peak ground acceleration the building can withstand, agu, based on macroseismic data from past events and based on potential retrofitting, Δ+. Although this method may not achieve high accuracy, it provides a significant approximation for detailed analysis with limited resources and is easy to replicate for similar constructions. The final agu value, considered as resistance, is then compared to the seismic demand at the foundation of the building (accounting for hazard and soil conditions at the building location), resulting in a final R-value. This paper provides specificities to the methodology and applies it to selected areas of the City of Lisbon, clearly supporting the advancement of a more sustainable society. Full article

Since China’s reform and opening up over 40 years ago, rapid urbanization has led to significant progress, but also severe air pollution. Understanding how air pollution affects the sustainable development of different city types is crucial for formulating targeted mitigation strategies. Thus, we propose the hypothesis that air pollution affects urban sustainable development through the synergistic interactions of population, industry, space, and society. To test this hypothesis, we construct a simultaneous equation system incorporating pollution, population, industry, spatial, and social factors, utilizing the Three-Stage Least Squares method for estimation. The robustness of our results is rigorously verified. Additionally, to explore deeper mechanisms, we perform a multi-dimensional heterogeneity analysis. Our results indicate that: (1) Air pollution negatively impacts urban sustainable development by reducing urban population size, with a coefficient of −0.950; (2) Air pollution hinders urban sustainable development by reducing manufacturing agglomeration, with a coefficient of −0.962; (3) Air pollution induces disordered urban spatial expansion, undermining sustainable development, with a coefficient of 2.596; and (4) Air pollution leads to stricter environmental rules, with a coefficient of 17.428, and these rules boost urban sustainability in the long term. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that the intensity, direction, and statistical significance of air pollution’s effects vary across cities with different regional characteristics, pollution levels, population scales, industrial structures, spatial patterns, and regulatory intensities. Full article

This study investigates how pandemic-induced emotional disruption has reshaped sustainable consumer behavior in the digital age, with a focus on the continued influence of safety measures in the restaurant industry. As societies transition beyond COVID-19 restrictions, health-related anxieties persist, driving consumers to prioritize hygiene and risk reduction in their decision-making. Drawing on large-scale data from TripAdvisor and OpenTable, we analyze the effects of digitally communicated safety protocols on restaurant booking behavior across major U.S. cities. Our findings reveal that safety communication remains a salient factor in consumer choice, even after the acute phase of the pandemic. This effect is particularly pronounced in lower-tier restaurants, where visible digital safety signals help build trust and compensate for weaker brand equity. Conversely, in upscale establishments, where baseline hygiene standards are presumed, the marginal benefit of safety signaling is reduced. The study also identifies enduring patterns of emotional expression and anxiety in online reviews, indicating the long-term psychological imprint of the pandemic on consumer sentiment. By situating safety communication as both a psychological reassurance mechanism and a strategic digital marketing tool, this research contributes to the emerging discourse on sustainable marketing in post-crisis contexts. The results offer theoretical and managerial insights into how businesses can integrate health assurance into long-term brand strategies, reinforcing trust and resilience in digitally mediated, post-pandemic consumption environments. Full article

In promoting sustainable cities and societies, accelerating the shift from sustainable building design to sustainable building operations is essential. A persistent challenge lies in the absence of a unified, multidimensional metric that enables meaningful performance comparisons across buildings of similar types and functions, both regionally and globally. This study develops and demonstrates the operational sustainability index (OPSi)—a novel metric grounded in case study research that integrates indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and energy utility quality (EUQ). OPSi is applied to six buildings in three comparative cases: (1) LEED-certified and non-certified dormitories, (2) LEED-certified and non-certified event buildings, and (3) male- and female-occupied multifamily housing units. Results show that the LEED-certified dormitory underperformed in two of five OPSi variants compared to its non-certified counterpart despite achieving up to 18% higher objective IEQ performance. The LEED-certified event building outperformed its non-certified counterpart across all OPSi metrics, with up to 88% higher objective IEQ scores. Findings also include higher energy performance in male-occupied housing units than in female-occupied ones, highlighting behavioral differences worthy of future study. This research addresses longstanding criticisms of green certification systems—particularly their limited capacity to holistically measure post-certification operational performance—by offering a practical and scalable evaluation framework. OPSi aligns with global sustainability goals, including SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), and supports smart, data-driven decision-making. Future applications may extend OPSi to include carbon life cycle assessment and maintenance metrics to further strengthen building sustainability in urban contexts. Full article

Against the backdrop of increasing urban population and continuous expansion of urban scales, achieving “people-centered” urban sustainable development, namely building livable and sustainable cities, faces formidable challenges. Under the shared global vision of achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), existing research has rarely explored the alignment between the construction of livable cities and the SDGs. This study constructs a scientific and universally applicable evaluation system for urban livability to clarify that building livable cities is a crucial pathway to promoting urban sustainable development. This study integrates the core principles of the three pillars of the United Nations’ sustainable development, the five-dimensional classification logic of the Global Urban Monitoring Framework, and the performance evaluation key points of ISO/TC 268 standards for SC1 “smart community infrastructure” to construct a six-dimensional livable city evaluation system covering society, economy, culture, environment, governance, and infrastructure. Starting from theoretical research on the connotation of livable cities and their alignment with the SDGs, and based on the research team’s evaluation experience and assessment paradigm of SDGs progress at the urban level, this study uses the “Indicator Library for Cities’ Sustainable Development (ILCSD)” as a technical tool to explore the technical methods for establishing an evaluation index system for livable cities. Meanwhile, combining qualitative research and statistical analysis with China’s development strategic needs, it selects 24 sample cities to analyze the level differences among different types of cities under the proposed index system and to identify the key factors and mechanisms influencing the sustainable development of livable cities. Through theoretical research and empirical analysis, this study has derived a set of evaluation indicators for livable cities oriented towards the SDGs, offering urban management stakeholders a reasonable and comprehensive universal evaluation technical tool to enhance urban livability and promote the implementation of the SDGs. Full article

Water security is a basic requirement of a region’s residents and also an important point of discussion worldwide. The middle route of the south-to-north water diversion project (MR-SNWDP) represents the most extensive inter-basin water allocation scheme globally. It is the major water resource for the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, and its security is of great significance. In this study, 28 indicators including society, nature, and economy were selected from the water sources of the MR-SNWDP from 2000 to 2017. According to the Drivers-Pressures-States-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework principle, the entropy weight method was used for weight calculation, and the comprehensive evaluation method was used for evaluating the water security of the water sources of the MR-SNWDP. This study showed that the total loss of nonpoint source pollution (NPSP) in the water source showed a trend of slow growth, except in 2007. Over the past 18 years, the proportion of pollution from three NPSP sources, livestock, and poultry (LP) breeding industry, planting industry, and living sources, were 44.56%, 40.33%, and 15.11%, respectively. The main driving force of water security in all the areas of the water source was the total net income per capita of farmers. The main pressure was the amount of LP breeding and the amount of fertilizer application. The largest impact indicators were NPSP gray water footprint and soil erosion area, and water conservancy investment was the most effective response measure. Overall, the state of the water source safety was relatively stable, showing an overall upward trend, and it had remained at Grade III except for in 2005, 2006, and 2011. The state of water safety in all areas except Shiyan City was relatively stable, where the state of water safety had fluctuated greatly. Based on the assessment findings, implications for policy and decision-making suggestions for sustainable management of the water sources of the MR-SNWDP resources are put forward. Agricultural cultivation in water source areas should reduce the application of chemical fertilizers and accelerate the promotion of agricultural intensification. Water source areas should minimize retail livestock and poultry farming and promote ecological agriculture. The government should increase investment in water conservancy and return farmland to forests and grasslands, and at the same time strengthen the education of farmers’ awareness of environmental protection. The evaluation system of this study combined indicators such as the impact of agricultural nonpoint source pollution on water bodies, which is innovative and provides a reference for the water safety evaluation system. Full article

The rapid urbanization of the world has brought significant environmental, social, and economic challenges to human society. To build a sustainable county, there are many limiting factors, such as the environment, financial resources, and population. Based on this, the purpose of this study is to investigate how countries can empower their development through a sustainable design path for parks with the participation of all. The core of public participation in co-construction lies in the interactive relationship between the government, society, citizens, and many other groups. That is, “co-construction, co-governance, and sharing” is the basic content of the new pattern of social governance from the perspective of the park city; at its core is joint participation, division of labor, and cooperation. Using qualitative research methods, Kaiyuan, a county in Yunnan Province, was selected as a case study, focusing on the Phoenix Ecological Park and Happiness Lawn; citizens and managers were interviewed to explore paths for sustainable design in the counties. The contribution of this study is a research model of sustainable design for county parks with the participation of all the people. The study found that public participation should consider multiple co-constructions and formulate a sound sustainable design path from three dimensions: counties, managers, and citizens. Combined with the local characteristics of counties, the government has called on enterprises, organizations, and citizens to participate together in improving the quality of life and happiness of county residents. The results can be further verified in other counties. Full article