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Abstract Solutions that effectively promote sustainable development in urban environments require an understanding of the complexity of human-environment interactions. This paper adopted a systems-based framework to understanding how social, organisational, and environmental factors interact within an urban system in China. Drawing upon a case study from the industrial city of Jinchang, it applied a qualitative bottom-up approach to understand these key factors operating from three perspectives: the commitment of stakeholders, institutional development and personal development of social systems. It revealed that decision-making mechanisms play a key role in improving the sustainability of governance, and that public-private cooperation and public participation are critical for innovative knowledge-based strategies. The key for improving institutional development is to reform the evaluation system of governance thus enhancing the capacities of decision and policy makers, and consequently improve the process of decision-making. Cultural and personal development are important soft power components that influence individual pro-environmental behaviour and performance toward sustainability. The results demonstrated how, in a Chinese context, the urban social system can be understood and urban sustainability can be promoted through environmental adaptation supported by joint efforts from governments, businesses, society and individuals. In this, China does not differ from other nations in spite of significant differences in cultural and political systems. This study contributed to a better understanding of complex urban systems, providing a bottom-up approach and knowledge for enhancing the adaptive capacity toward urban sustainability. Highlights • Adaptive capacity driven by urban social system is essential for sustainability. • A bottom-up approach is effective to understand urban social system. • Multi-stakeholders cooperation benefits innovative knowledge-based strategies. • Reforming evaluation system of governance is critical for governance development. • Cultural and personal development are soft power for individual initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The recent development of metropolitan cities, especially in Europe, requires an effective integrated management of city services, infrastructure, and communication networks at a metropolitan level. A preliminary step towards a proper organizational and management strategy of the metropolitan city is the analysis, benchmarking and optimization of the metropolitan areas through a set of indicators coherent with the overall sustainability objective of the metropolitan city. This paper proposes the use of the Analytic Hierarchy Process multi-criteria decision making technique for application in the smart metropolitan city context, with the aim of analysing the sustainable development of energy, water and environmental systems, through a set of objective performance indicators. Specifically, the 35 indicators defined for the Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Index framework are used. The application of the approach to the real case study of four metropolitan areas (Bari, Bitonto, Mola, and Molfetta) in the city of Bari (Italy) shows its usefulness for the local government in benchmarking metropolitan areas and providing decision indications on how to formulate the sustainable development strategy of the metropolitan city. Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process characteristics, the results highlight that although one specific area (Mola in the considered case) is globally ranked at the first place, it is only ranked first with respect to some dimensions. Such a result has strong implications for the metropolitan city's manager who has the possibility to identify and implement targeted actions, which may be designed ad hoc to improve specific dimensions based on the current state of the city, thus maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of the actions undertaken for the sustainable development of energy, water and environmental systems of the whole metropolitan city. Highlights • AHP multi-criteria decision making technique for smart metropolitan city. • Analysis of the sustainable development of energy, water and environmental systems. • Supporting the local government in benchmarking metropolitan areas. • Supporting formulation of the metropolitan city's sustainable development strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioproducts, such as energy and fertilizers, are strongly interrelated with the biodegradable waste treatment processes, within a holistic management strategy. Although different forms of biological treatment technologies are available, anaerobic digestion represents a process of major importance in the overall management strategy of biodegradable waste. This paper presents a methodology to support decision making for efficient management of biodegradable waste. The decision support framework provides the background towards the selection and design of a biodegradable waste installation with emphasis on the recovery of energy and organic fertilizer. The discrete steps are analytically defined and illustrated to assist managers and policy makers to organize their decision making in the whole spectrum of procedures required to promote sustainable biodegradable waste management programs. The methodological approach developed can be generically applied by public authorities, producers and stakeholders following essential basic steps regarding safe and environmentally friendly production of high-quality final product. Moreover, a demonstration is performed for a real-case study for the Region of Serres, Greece. The proposed installation is expected to manage 3,285 t of biodegradable waste and generate approximately 160,000 m3/a of biogas, 400 MWh el /a and 450 MWh thermal /a. The final bioproduct exceeds 3 kt of digestate that will be valorized in arable land close to the installation. Crucial interactions and managerial insights are also highlighted. The decision support framework aims to assist the research community, the private sector and decision makers to produce affordable and sustainable compost/digestate recovered from waste, also supporting the transition to a low carbon future and sustainable -circular- development. • Methodology to support decision for efficient management of biodegradable waste. • Emphasis on the recovery of energy and organic fertilizer via anaerobic digestion. • Demonstration for a real-life agricultural intensive area in Greece. • 3285 t of waste generate 160,000 m3/a of biogas and 3121 t of digestate. • The proposed installation is depreciated within a 7-to-8-year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]