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Electric vehicles (EVs) are widely recognized as low-carbon transportation that adopts green and clean technology with contributing to mitigating global climate change. However, it appears that the practice in using EVs has not gained widespread popularity despite the promotion of various incentives with the presence of various restricting factors and challenges. In conducting this study in the context of China, we hypothesize that restricting factors have varying impacts on promoting EVs in China, where the adoption of EVs is of great potential. This paper identifies these restricting factors by applying AHP-FCE integrated approach, and these factors are classified into five dimensions, namely, technical, infrastructural, economic, governance and social. The results indicate that the top five restricting factors are security issues, limited driving range, long charging time, improper distribution of charging stations and lack of sharing between charging piles respectively. Our research contributes to a better understanding of EV restricting factors and their significance, which offers the assistance in the formulation of policies and decisions in order to promote effectively EVs in China. • The promotion of EVs is of great potential in China for mitigating global climate change. • Explore the RFPEVs in China using AHP-FCE integrated approach. • The RFPEVs in China can be classified into five dimensions, namely, technical, infrastructural, economic, governance and social. • The technical and infrastructural related are the most important constraints. • The main three important restricting factors are security issues, limited driving range, long charging time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization and eco-efficiency are two interactive systems, contributing to sustainable urban development jointly. However, the synchronized development between them has not received sufficient attention. In light of this gap, this paper conducts an analysis on seeking the synchronized development between sustainable urbanization and eco-efficiency in the context of China. The aim of this study is to uncover the spatial and temporal performance of the synchronized relationship between urbanization process (UP) and eco-efficiency (EE) in a sample of 255 Chinese cities. To this end, entropy method, super efficiency SBM and coupling coordination degree model are employed to conduct the research analysis, covering the period of 2005 to 2019. The findings of this study reveal that (1) there is about 97% of the surveyed cities that exhibit a moderate level of coupling coordination between urbanization process and eco-efficiency (CC-UE). (2) Spatial disparities in the performance of CC-UE are evident, with cities in South and Southeast China demonstrating better CC-UE performance than their counterparts. However, this disparity has been gradually diminishing in recent years. (3) Local perspective presented an evident spatial autocorrelation within the 255 cities analyzed. These research findings provide valuable insights not only for the policy-makers and practitioners to adopt measures for achieving a synchronized development between urbanization process and eco-efficiency in the Chinese context, but also for further studies on sustainable development in the international context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective land use contributes to sustainable urban development. However, there are various reports suggesting that urban land resources used mismatch to different extents in many Chinese cities. This study measures the degree of the mismatch phenomenon in utilizing urban land resources from a supply–demand perspective, and a mismatching coefficient, namely land resource mismatch (LRM), is adopted as the measurement. The data used for the empirical analysis are from a sample of 35 cities in China. The empirical study shows the effectiveness of employing the mismatching coefficient LRM model in evaluating the degree of the mismatch phenomenon in utilizing urban land resources. The research findings suggest the following: (1) Overall, the mismatch phenomenon in utilizing urban land resources is significant in China in the form of either supply shortage or over-supply. (2) The degree of the mismatch phenomenon is different between different types of land, with the land for administration and public services showing more serious mismatching and the land for commercial and business facilities showing less mismatching. (3) There are significant differences both in the type and the degree of land use mismatch among different cities, which are contributed largely by the intensity of local government's controlling and planning role on land resources and the maturity of applying market mechanisms. The results from this study can inform the government of the importance and necessity of adopting effective policy measures for mitigating the mismatch phenomenon in utilizing urban land resources. The research method applied in this study can be applied in a larger context internationally for understanding the effectiveness of utilizing urban land resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban transportation carrying capacity (UTCC) plays a crucial role in sustainable urban development during rapid urbanisation. With the booming of big-data technologies, diverse multi-source heterogeneous data, including point of interest data, nighttime light data and congestion performance data, have been employed extensively to evaluate transportation performance. However, limited research has explored UTCC using such diverse data sources. Therefore, this study developed a multi-source heterogeneous data-based (MHDB) model by incorporating 12 types of research data to assess UTCC performance across different transportation analysis zones (TAZs) within a given city. A case demonstration of the proposed method is conducted using data collected from 144 TAZs in Chongqing City for 2021. The results demonstrate that 1) UTCC performance in these 144 TAZs exhibits a distinct spatial pattern characterised as 'central region > eastern region > western region', 2) TAZs in central areas of Chongqing present a "Over-Utilization" UTCC performance level, which is considered that urban policy-makers should take effective measures to alleviate traffic pressure. 3) TAZs with Low-Utilization UTCC performance level are located in the western and eastern regions of Chongqing. Tailor-made policy measures should be designed and implemented in these TAZs to better utilize existing transportation infrastructures. The demonstration confirms that the MHDB model used can provide an effective tool for comparing UTCC performance in different TAZs within a city. • Multi-source Heterogeneous Data Based (MHDB) model is introduced for assessing Urban Transportation Carrying Capacity(UTCC) • The research scope for conducting UTCC based on the traffic analysis zone (TAZ) within a city. • A case study of 144 TAZs in Chongqing in China is used to present the applicability and effectiveness of MHDB model. • The analysis results offer valuable references for formulating measures to improve the UTCC within a city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing low carbon city (LCC) has been widely appreciated as an important strategy for sustainable development. In line with this, an increasing number of cities globally have launched low carbon practices in recent years and gained various types of experience. However, it appears that existing studies do not present methods of how to use these valuable LCC experience in solving new problems. This study therefore introduces an experience mining approach to assist decision‐makers in reusing previous experience when tailoring LCC development strategies. The mining approach consists of three processes, namely, collecting historical cases which have been experiencing LCC, establishing LCC experience base, and mining similar experience cases. This study innovates the existing experience mining approach by introducing a two‐step mining process with considering the perspective of problem‐based urban characteristics (PBUCs) and the perspective of solution‐based urban characteristics (SBUCs). The application of the introduced mining approach has been demonstrated by a case study, where Shenyang's energy structure is adopted as the target problem. The new experience mining approach provides a valuable reference for decision‐makers to retrieve similar cases for improving LCC development with the consideration of city characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation has significantly boomed energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Understanding and forecasting the dynamic statuses of transportation CO2 emissions is a necessary step before making strategies to decrease CO2 emissions. Carbon Kuznets curve (CKC) hypothesis has been frequently validated properly to present the changing statuses of CO2 emissions in the literature. This study tests the CKC hypothesis using the data recording the CO2 emissions of transportation sectors of 119 countries over the period of 1995–2014, then turning points (TPs) are calculated for the countries where CKC hypothesis is turned out supported. Based on the CKC models, this study identifies different types of TPs, i.e. TP of carbon intensity (TPCI), TP of per capita CO2 emissions (TPPC), and TP of total CO2 emissions (TPTC) of the countries whose data support the CKC hypothesis. According to the earliness of the turning years (TYs) (TYCI, TYPC and TYTC) – the years when CO2 emissions peak – of individual countries, this study identified a step‐wise decoupling strategy for different countries, i.e. (1) first to reach the TPCI, (2) then to reach the TPPC, and (3) finally to reach the TPTC. As a result, the CKC hypothesis was supported by the data of 58 countries, among which, there are still seven countries having not reached any of the three TPs, 23 countries have reached the first‐step TP (TPCI), 9 countries have reached the second‐step TP (TPPC), and 19 countries have reached the third‐step TP (TPTC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A Super-SBM with undesirable output model is applied. • The environmental efficiency of 283 Chinese cities during 2003–2016 is analyzed. • The overall environmental efficiency performance across the Chinese cities is low. • China has achieved significant improvement in environmental efficiency across survey period. Abstract In the past decades, unprecedented dramatic economic development in the Chinese cities has also brought serious environmental problems. In line with this, the Chinese government has been investing great efforts and resources in addressing environmental problems. However, little previous studies have been conducted in examining whether this development is efficient from a win-win perspective balance between economic growth and environmental protection. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis on the environmental efficiency (EE) in the process of dramatic economic development in the Chinese cities. The Super-slack-based measure (Super-SBM) model is adopted to analyze the EE performance. Data used for analysis are collected from 283 sample cities in China. The research results indicate that the overall EE performance across the Chinese cities is relatively low, and the differences in EE performance among the 283 cities are significant. The top three EE performers are Shenzhen, Sanya and Erdos, and Baiyin, Xinzhou and Liupanshui are the bottom three performers. The results also suggest that the EE performance in the Eastern area, where most first-tier cities are located in, is significantly higher than that in the Central and Western areas (aggregated with fourth and fifth tier-cities). From the dynamic perspective, the results show that China has achieved significant improvement in environmental efficiency across the surveyed period of 2003–2016. The research findings provide valuable references not only for the Chinese policy-makers and practitioners to adopt measures for promoting a win-win balance between environmental protection and economic development in the Chinese context, but also for further studies on environmental efficiency in the international context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The recurrence of similar problems caused by human errors in urbanization process is common throughout the world. However, the knowledge learnt from these problems should become lessons and important references for decision-making to avoid the recurrence of these problems, thus urban development can be sustainable. It is considered of imperative importance to incorporate the lessons experienced into the decision-making process in a way that can help foresee the potential problems and take proper measures for addressing the problems. There are few studies that have been conducted to investigate the similarity between the current scenario of urbanization practice and the previous context of lesson cases. The ignorance of this similarity presents a significant barrier for decision makers to learn from the existing lessons effectively thus to have references of how to make better decisions for future urbanization practices. This paper presents a Lessons Mining System (LMS) to assist in mining lessons experienced from previous practices. The establishment of LMS is based on Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) theory and the similarity matching principles. The system includes five components, namely, Lessons-case Representation, Lessons-case Store, Lessons-case Retrieval, Lessons-case Application, and Lessons-case Update. LMS can facilitate decision makers to understand what potential problems might occur from their current actions by referring to the lessons experienced previously in similar circumstances. This understanding can help decision makers take preventive measures against the potential problems. The use of LMS can send alarming messages to decision makers about what possible problematic consequence may occur, thus they can modify their actions before too late. A demonstration of Yangwu Town is presented to show the application of LMS, and the result shows that the lessons mined can provide valuable references for the government of Yangwu Town to improve their decision-making quality. Graphical abstract Image Highlights • A Lessons Mining System (LMS) is proposed. • LMS is a new method of mining lessons learnt from urbanization problems. • LMS can facilitate decision-makers to foresee potential problems. • LMS can facilitate decision-makers to improve decision-making quality. • A demonstration of Yangwu Town is used to show the application of LMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite great efforts being devoted to, and substantial resources being consumed by low‐carbon economy (LCE) development globally, it appears that little is known about whether LCE development is efficient. This paper measures low‐carbon economy efficiency (LCEE) performance from a global perspective. The Super‐slack‐based measure model is adopted to analyse the LCEE performance of 115 sample countries during 1999–2013. The Malmquist Productivity Index is used to evaluate the dynamic change of LCEE between sample countries. The results indicate that overall worldwide LCEE performance is at low levels, and the differences in LCEE performance among the 115 sample countries are significant. It also indicates that LCEE performance is generally better in developed countries. From the dynamic perspective, a significant improvement in LCEE performance was achieved globally during the survey period, with an overall annual increase of 0.75%. These results provide a valuable reference to policy‐makers and practitioners for adopting measures to promote LCE development effectively at a global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective evaluation on the coordination between socio-economy (V) and carbon emission (W) is essential for sustainable urban planning, and this study introduces an improved coupling coordination degree (CCD) model for conducting such evaluation. The limitation of the traditional CCD model has been examined. The effectiveness of the improved CCD model is demonstrated with its application in 30 case provinces of China by using the data collected for the period 1995–2015. The results show that: (1) The subjectivity embodied in the traditional CCD model in analyzing the coordination between V and W significantly distorts the true coordination between the two systems. (2) The improved CCD model is effective as its application can reflect the reality of the sample cases. (3) The average coordination degrees of the 30 case provinces for the surveyed period show an upward evolution, and the coordination statuses of these provinces have been transforming from low-grade symbiosis to high-grade symbiosis. (4) The spatial distribution of coupling coordination degree in China is characterized by a higher degree of coordination in the Eastern provinces. The results of applying the improved coupling coordination degree model can help decision makers formulate effective sustainable measures to balance socio-economic development with carbon emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization, especially in developing countries, has led to numerous concerns, such as air pollution, traffic congestion and habitat destruction. Within this context, it is important to evaluate urban development as sustainable, and various sustainability assessment methods have been developed, including fuzzy logic approaches. However, predefined fuzzy rules and simple linear membership functions were used, which are largely based on the knowledge of subject experts. Therefore, this paper aims to introduce an adaptive neuro‐fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) approach for urban sustainability assessment. With collected training samples from the Urban China Initiative, and the ANFIS approach was used to rank 185 selected cities in China. The results show that the ANFIS approach is appropriate for assessing urban sustainability, and the nonlinear membership functions fit the training samples better than the linear membership functions. Further discussion indicates that future research on sustainability assessment should be more integrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By positioning in the discourse that economic output is always coupled with natural resource depletion, pollution, and carbon emission, decoupling analysis is widely adopted to evaluate how “quality” economic growth can lead to fewer such downsides so as to encourage sustainable development. This paper aims at examining the decoupling relationship between economic output and carbon emission by focusing on China's construction industry, which is a pillar industry for national economic growth, meanwhile contributes a huge amount of carbon emission. The method of Tapio decoupling model is used to examine the decoupling relationships at both national and provincial levels from 2005 to 2015. It continues to identify the driving force leading to a certain decoupling state by adopting the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI). Results show that: (1) there existed an expansive decoupling relationship between economic growth and construction carbon emission in most provinces of China during 2005–2015; (2) Shanghai presented the best decoupling performance, while in contrast, other provinces such as Guizhou and Fujian displayed expansive negative decoupling state; and (3) “Economic output” played the most significant role in inhibiting the decoupling at both national and provincial levels, while “Indirect carbon intensity” was the main driver for promoting the national decoupling. Although the paper refers to the specific construction of China, the decoupling analysis approach can be extended to other countries as well as to other pollutants such as land pollution, waste water and haze. The understanding of driving forces for the decoupling state in China's construction industry provides international policy-makers with valuable reference for formulating effective measures to balance the dilemma between economic output and carbon emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the constraints to achieving optimal infrastructure sustainability for mountainous townships in Southwest China. Although such townships are relatively less developed, it is well recognized that investment in infrastructure projects in less developed townships plays a vital role in China's sustainable development mission. While the benefits of infrastructure investments are usually measured by means of economic performance, their long-term sustainability performance is largely overlooked. It is therefore imperative to understand the constraints that impede infrastructure sustainability and what corrective actions can be taken. The constraints are identified in this study via exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Twenty-one townships in the mountainous regions of Southwest China were investigated by means of a questionnaire survey. The study reveals that the major constraints include four dimensions: “Economic Capacity”, “Governance and Management”, “Policy Instrument and Public Participation”, and “Local Geographic Characteristics”. Identification of these constraints provides a valuable reference for local governments to take adequate measures to ensure that their infrastructure sustainability can be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing demand for sustainable development, many international institutions and governments are seeking a balance between the environment, society and economy. With the aim of understanding and monitoring sustainability performance, various sustainability assessment methods have been developed. Fuzzy logic theory has been widely used for sustainability assessment. Good as these approaches are, there are criticisms that most studies use pre-defined simple linear membership functions (triangular or trapezoidal) and fuzzy rules, which are largely derived from experts' knowledge. However, sustainability is a very complex, multi-criteria issue, which contains various complex non-linear relationships. Moreover, it is time-consuming to find out the optimal membership functions and rules based on the expert knowledge. Therefore, it becomes necessary to explore a new approach for induction of membership functions and fuzzy rules. This paper introduces the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) approach for country level sustainability assessment. The membership functions and fuzzy rules are generated from 128 training samples. The assessment results are close to the SAFE, Sustainability Assessment by Fuzzy Evaluation , model. Furthermore, three different types of non-linear membership functions, including Gaussian, bell-shaped and sigmoidal, are tested. The Gaussian membership function is the best one for country sustainability assessment. This study explores sustainability assessment, and results show that, by using appropriate training data, the ANFIS method is effective to measure the countries' sustainability performance. Using ANFIS, assessment accuracy can be further improved through appropriate selection of training samples using alternative data from UN-Habitat, or World Bank, or even new data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) as the emerging leading powers in the world have great influence on the world development. Urbanization process has been a significant engine for development in these countries, which has important effect on the sustainable development globally. However, rapid urbanization has induced various problems, such as air pollution, traffic congestion, habitat destruction, and loss of arable land. These problems present the threats to the sustainable development of urbanization in these countries. This paper presents an evaluation on the dynamic sustainability performance during urbanization process in these countries by applying an elastic coefficient method and a new-type McKinsey matrix. The data used for analysis are collected from World Bank database for the period of 1990–2011. The findings from this study suggest that during the surveyed period the Brazil, Russia and India have been engaging a sustainable urbanization practice, whilst the urbanization processes in China and South Africa are unsustainable. The study provides valuable reference in searching for solutions to further promote sustainable urbanization practice globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A "Load – Carrier" perspective evaluation method has been introduced. • Overall tourism resource carrying capacity performance in China has been raised. • The performance in Northeast China has been Low-Medium Interval. • The performance of Eastern China has fallen in High Risk Overload Interval mostly. • The performance of the Central and Western provinces has been improved. Rapid development of the tourism industry has brought various challenges by causing unbalance between tourism resource load (TRL) and tourism resource carrier (TRC), such as the decline in tourist satisfaction, and the destruction of tourist attractions. The concept of tourism resources carrying capacity (TRCC) can be used to describe the relationship between TRL and TRC. Due to the vast territory, different provinces in China have different resource endowments and socio-economic environments, and their TRCC performances are different. Therefore, this paper investigates the temporal-spatial evolutionary performance of TRCC at provincial level in China. The theory of "Load-Carrier" is used to select evaluation indicators, the Entropy Weight Method and the Linear Weighted Summation Method are used to calculate the performance value, and the Quartile Method is adopted to classify the TRCC performance. Data used in this study were collected from 30 provinces in China from 2008 to 2019. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) From a temporal evolution perspective, the overall TRCC performance in China has been improved, due to the implication of various tourism development policies. (2) From a spatial differences perspective, the TRCC performance of Northeast China has changed from High Utilization Interval to Low-Medium Interval; TRCC performance of Eastern China maintained in High Utilization or High Risk Overload Interval, and TRCC performance in Central and Western China has been continuously rising. This study provides valuable references for both central and local governments to take appropriate policy measures to improve their TRCC performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the challenge of global tourism resources being overloaded or underutilization, there requires an adequate method for assessing the tourism resource carrying capacity (TRCC). However, the majority of previous evaluation perspectives on TRCC are limited by thresholds. This paper develops an innovative approach for assessing TRCC from the "load-carrier" perspective. TRCC is assessed by exploring the interaction between the carriers and loads of tourism resources. Chongqing city in China is employed as the case city to demonstrate the application of the established TRCC method. The conclusions are as follows: 1) This study elaborates the new connotation of TRCC from the perspective of "load-carrier", and establishes the TRCC evaluation system based on the dynamic relationship between the carrier and load of tourism resources. 2) The proposed TRCC evaluation method is proved effective through an empirical study of Chongqing. 3) Chongqing's case unveils that the overload performance of TRCC can be dynamically monitored and predicted. By applying the TRCC evaluation methodology developed in this study, tourism managers and policymakers can identify whether it is the load or the carrier of tourism resources that affect the performance of TRCC, thereby taking targeted policy measures to eliminate potential risks of overload or underutilization. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The responsibility borne by governmental departments measured by a set of indicators is a key factor affecting the performance of urban sustainability. Thus, responsibility analysis can guide the selection of sustainability indicators. In line with the principle of Management by Objective (MBO), this paper aims to introduce a responsibility-based method, named Strategic goal-Responsibility department-Response (SRR), for selecting sustainable urbanization indicators. By applying this method, indicators are selected from the perspective of concerned departments’ responsibility. In developing the SRR model, the tool of Responsibility Assignment Matrix is used to identify the concerned departments who assume responsibilities in the process of implementing sustainable urbanization. The content analysis is used to analyze the work scope and definitions of the concerned departments and sustainable urbanization indicators that can measure the responsibility performance of the concerned departments are filtered out. A case study of Jinan city in China is used to demonstrate the procedures of using the proposed method. Based on the strategic goals of Jinan city, 20 responsibility departments and 152 initial indicators are identified by using the SRR framework. The case study reveals that the method is a feasible and effective tool in assisting policy makers to select sustainable urbanization indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although urbanization can promote social and economic development, it can also cause various problems. As the key decision makers of urbanization, local governments should be able to evaluate urbanization performance, summarize experiences, and find problems caused by urbanization. This paper introduces a hybrid Entropy–McKinsey Matrix method for evaluating sustainable urbanization. The McKinsey Matrix is commonly referred to as the GE Matrix. The values of a development index (DI) and coordination index (CI) are calculated by employing the Entropy method and are used as a basis for constructing a GE Matrix. The matrix can assist in assessing sustainable urbanization performance by locating the urbanization state point. A case study of the city of Jinan in China demonstrates the process of using the evaluation method. The case study reveals that the method is an effective tool in helping policy makers understand the performance of urban sustainability and therefore formulate suitable strategies for guiding urbanization toward better sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government is a promoting sustainable urbanization process to develop future cities, and various indicator systems have been introduced for guiding the sustainable urbanization practice. This paper examines the effectiveness of these existing indicator systems introduced in China. Nine sample indicator systems were collected and compared. Principal criteria selected to analyze the effectiveness of the nine samples was based on a literature review. This study reveals that the existing indicator systems have limitations for guiding sustainable urbanization practice and the differences between the various indicator systems present barriers for their effective application. It is found that no official department in China supervises the application of these indicators. The lack of a systematic method for establishing indicators is considered as a major reason for contributing to the limited effectiveness of these established indicators. There is a need to develop an effective method to supervise decision makers to establish and select effective indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing appreciation of the use of concentrated rural settlement as an effective means of implementing infrastructure projects and helping to achieve sustainable development in rural areas. This occurs in China through the exchange of rural residential land for urban construction. However, this policy has not been effective under normal circumstances (called development-driven conditions) as frequently farmers are reluctant to accept such an exchange. By contrast, in a time of disaster, such as after the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, China, rural victims have accepted this policy of rural residential land exchange. Employing game theory, this paper identifies the reasons for the different outcomes and it contends that the implementation of concentrated rural settlement practice under disaster-induced conditions is more effective than its introduction under development-driven conditions. The results of the analysis indicate that, in China, concentrated rural settlement is feasible in a context of post-disaster reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing reconstruction is always the top priority issue in post-disaster reconstruction of rural areas in developing countries. However, the traditional reconstruction approaches, including reconstruction in situ, and resettlement are not sustainable enough for post-disaster reconstruction. Against the dispersion pattern of settlement, this study argues that developing concentrated rural settlement is able to increase the resilience of rural villages and to provide a basis for sustainable development post-disaster. Little study has reported developing concentrated rural settlement in post-disaster reconstruction until the reconstruction post 5.12 Sichuan Earthquake. Yet, there is still an unclear understanding of the factors taken into account when developing concentrated rural settlement in post-disaster reconstruction. This study aims to explore the critical determinant factors to be considered for developing concentrated rural settlement in post-disaster reconstruction with particular reference to the reconstruction post of 5.12 Sichuan Earthquake in China. Through content analysis, a preliminary list of determinant factors was firstly identified. Interviews with the local government officers, planners, and rural victims were conducted to collect opinions on the critical factors. It was found that governmental guidance, victims' willingness, and economic development condition are three critical dimensions. The findings from this research can help understand the preconditions for developing concentrated rural settlement in post-disaster reconstruction and promote this approach in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In recent years, there has been rapid urbanization worldwide, resulting in both benefits and problems. Sustainable urbanization has become an important aspect in promoting sustainable development. Existing studies have introduced various methodologies to guide urbanization towards sustainable practices. The application of these methods has contributed to improving urban sustainability. To further support the effective applications of the principles of sustainable urbanization, a tool is needed to evaluate whether a particular process of urbanization is sustainable. In this paper, we introduce an alternative model for evaluating sustainable urbanization by investigating the relationship between urbanization and urban sustainability. The practice of sustainable urbanization is defined as a dynamic process that enables urban sustainability to improve or to maintain a certain level of practice. By employing this definition, we introduce a sustainable urbanization elasticity coefficient eSU , which is defined by two parameters: urbanization velocity (VμR ) and urban sustainability velocity (VμS ). The sustainability of an urbanization process is measured by the value of eSU or read from the VμR –VμS coordinate. A case study demonstrates the application of the measure eSU and the VμR –VμS coordinate. The proposed model is an effective tool to help policy makers understand whether the urbanization processes they support are sustainable and thus whether to correct practices. The model also allows comparison of different urbanization practices and thereby encourages the sharing of successful experiences. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Air pollution problems caused from the development of infrastructures are getting serious, in which air flow is reduced and heat is trapped among high-rise buildings. In order to mitigate these problems, various methods have been developed in previous studies. Extensive green roof has been identified as one of the most important means to mitigate these problems and implement sustainable development principles in the building features. Governments world-wide have been introducing various policies and regulations for promoting extensive green roof particularly for building projects. However, the existing buildings in many large cities such as Hong Kong display few extensive green roof features. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities with many high-rise buildings. This paper examines the major barriers encountered in promoting extensive green roof systems for the existing buildings in Hong Kong. Case study approach is adopted to investigate how and why the barriers can hinder the implementation of extensive green roof features. Research results show that lack of promotion and incentives from governments and the increase maintenance cost are identified as the top barriers to the implementation. The paper concludes by providing further suggestions and actions that can help mitigate these existing barriers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Sustainable development principles have been implemented in various sectors including the construction industry since it was published in the Brundtland Commission Report in 1987. In line with this development, implementation of infrastructure construction projects has been given particular attention as they have more significant impacts on the environment, society and economy. It is considered that proper development and operation of infrastructure projects such as highways can contribute significantly to the mission of sustainable development. However, there is little existing work to provide appropriate methods to assess the sustainability performance of infrastructure projects. The study described in this paper introduces a simulation model, using system dynamics principle, to evaluate the sustainability performance of highway infrastructure projects during the construction and operation stage. The study introduces the indicators which measure the sustainability performance of highway projects and identifies the dynamic factors affecting indicator performance by referring to the relevant feasibility studies of highway projects. A real highway project is presented to demonstrate the application of the simulation model in evaluating the sustainability performance of the project. The case study is used to explore the solutions for improving those poor sustainability performance areas through policy scenarios. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The promotion of sustainable practice in property development has resulted in the development of various green technologies. Will green technologies bring about additional cost to the property projects? This paper examines the costs and barriers in applying the green elements to the process of developing property projects. By conducting three case studies in China, it is found that the passive design strategy, for example, walls insulation, low-E window and solar heating appliances are comparatively inexpensive to apply as opposed to ‘active’ design strategies such as solar PV or heat pump technologies. By analyzing the additional cost of the three types of green buildings, it is concluded that the major barrier, the higher costs has hindered the extensive application of green technologies in China. A green strategy plan (GSP) is proposed to provide a vehicle for a more systematic use of green strategies to increase the sustainability of a property project. Research findings in the study provide valuable references to guide property development practice towards the sustainable agenda and the manner in which stakeholders approach or low carbon property development projects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Infrastructure projects have major effects on implementing the principles of sustainable development. Infrastructure projects will continue to be developed in the coming years, particularly in developing countries such as China and India; therefore, it is important to find methods and solutions for improving the sustainability of them. Although existing studies have suggested various methods for practicing sustainable development principles in the process of implementing infrastructure projects, effective assessment indicators are unavailable, which presents a barrier to the effective assessment of infrastructure project sustainability. This study introduces key assessment indicators (KAIs) for assessing the sustainability performance of an infrastructure project. The research data used for analysis were collected from a questionnaire survey given to three groups of experts, including government officials, professionals, and clients in the Chinese construction industry. The fuzzy set theory was used to establish KAIs. A procedure for using the KAIs is demonstrated by a case study. These research findings provide an alternative solution to appraise the sustainability of infrastructure projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Light Time Light data is an effective source to assess decoupling performance. • The decoupling performance in China has been improving for period of 1997 to 2018. • Eastern cities of China have better decoupling performance than Western cities. • Cities in each decoupling status need adopt tailor-made emission reduction policies. Decoupling between urban economic growth (EG) and carbon emissions (CEs) has become a common goal globally for sustainable development. As the largest carbon emitter in the world, China has been attempting to reduce its carbon emissions in order to achieve the emission reduction goal promised to the world. This study examines the performance of decoupling between EG and CE in 289 Chinese cities by using the Tapio decoupling method. The Night Time Light (NTL) data are used for measuring the performance of EG. The NTL data are acquired from the data base Scientific Data. The carbon emission data are collected from the data sets released by CEADs. The main findings of this study are as follows. Firstly, Light Time Light data is an effective source to assess decoupling performance. Secondly, the decoupling performance in China has been improving during the study period. Thirdly, the cities in the Northeast and Eastern regions of China have better decoupling performance than those in Western and Central regions. This study shows a holistic picture of the decoupling status in China and provides supportive references for policy makers to make tailor-made measures for sustainable development in Chinese cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contradiction between industrial development (ID) and land resource carrying capacity (LRCC) is increasingly intensified with the rapid advancement of urbanization globally. This typical phenomenon exists particularly in these developing countries or regions. This study investigated the matching degree (MD) between ID and LRCC by using a coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) with referring to the main cities of Xinjiang, China. The data used in this study was collected from 16 sample cities in Xinjiang for the period of 2009–2018. The research findings reveal that (1) MD average value between 16 sample cities has been gaining steady growth; (2) although MD value in all sample cities has been increasing, there still exists a big room for improvement towards a well matching state; (3) the differences in MD values among all sample cities are very small; (4) the MD performance in the northern cities in Xinjiang is better than that in southern Xinjiang. This is mainly because of the radiation effect of Urumqi in northern cities. It is therefore suggested developing such a radiation city in southern Xinjiang in order to improve MD performance in southern Xinjiang. These research findings can provide policymakers in Xinjiang and other backward cities globally with valuable references in understanding the status of MD between ID and LRCC in the local cities, thus tailor-made policy instruments can be designated for the mission of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To present ways for empowering contractors in improving environmental performance particularly to meet the requirements defined in ISO 14000. Design/methodology/approach - To review the traditional methodologies for protecting the environment in undertaking construction activities, investigate the limitations of these methods and the associated reasons, and apply the principles of ISO 14000 environmental management system (EMS) to develop an effective framework for helping contractors to become competent in implementing environmental management. Findings - The major methodologies developed for protecting the environment in construction include governmental regulations, economic measures, and EMSs. However, the applications of these measures are limited. The typical causes contributing to the limitation include the clash between cost and environment, environmentally passive culture within construction industry, lack of cooperation among project parties, and clash between contract time and implementing environmental management methods. Furthermore, the practice of environment management is mainly driven by external impetus such as legal enforcement incentive programmes from government. However, the effectiveness cannot be gained if internal motivation does not exist This paper introduces a framework to help a contractor to cultivate an environmentally friendly culture within its organization. Originality/value - This paper proposes a framework for empowering contractors in improving environmental performance by identifying the weaknesses of the existing practice and applying a systematic approach of implementing environmental management approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There is no consensus on the evaluation of urban resources environment carrying capacity (URECC). • The load-and-carrier innovative perspective based method for evaluating URECC is proposed. • The conceptions of urban loads and urban carriers are incorporated to establish URECC evaluation method. • The new method is proven applicable and effective through the demonstration of urban water resources environment. Urban resources environment carrying capacity (URECC) is considered as a significant yardstick for guiding the practice towards sustainable urban development. It helps measure the interaction between human activities and urban resources environment system. Although existing studies on URECC have made great progress, there is still no consensus on the definition and evaluation method for URECC. In line with this background, this study proposes a theoretical method named URECC-LC from the load-and-carrier innovative perspective. In developing this method, urban resources environment is considered as a system, and the novel concepts of urban loads (UL) and urban carriers (UC) are introduced. Subsequently, the measurement of URECC is built up by incorporating both urban loads and carriers. This new method can be applied to evaluate effectively and properly the state of URECC. Several novel insights for this innovative method are highlighted as: (a) sustainable development based URECC assessment; (b) extension of URECC implication to urban resilience; (c) virtual threshold for measuring the limitation of URECC. Taking urban water resources environment as an example, a case demonstration with reference to cities Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing in China is conducted, and the case results shows: (1) Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin represents a URECC deficit state for water resources environment almost every year (2004–2017) and Chongqing shows a URECC surplus state during the whole surveyed period; (2) the resilience of urban water resources environment is differing between the four case cities; (3) Shanghai has the highest possibility (risk) for water resources environment carrying capacity to be overloaded, and the water resources environment carrying capacity in Chongqing has been less utilized. The demonstration conducted proves that the introduced URECC-LC method is applicable and effective in evaluating URECC. And this new method provides significant theoretical basis for studying urban resources environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building green retrofit is considered as an effective means of energy saving and achieving sustainable development goals. The success of a building retrofit is highly dependent on the retrofit strategies used. However, it remains challenging to select appropriate retrofit strategies for a specific retrofit building. There are numerous cases of building retrofit around the world, which can be collected, stored, and analysed. The knowledge gained from these cases could provide a useful reference for making decisions on new retrofitting projects. This study presents a case-based reasoning (CBR) approach to support building green retrofit decisions. A total of 71 retrofit cases in China were collected. The attributes of the retrofitting buildings were identified, including the general building information, component information, and energy and cost information. A synthetic optimisation weighting method was adopted based on both expert opinion and the attribute characteristics. A real retrofit case located in Shanghai was used as a case study to demonstrate the application of the CBR approach. The results indicate that the CBR approach can aid in identifying similar cases from the case database, and extracting valuable information from these. The experience and lessons learned from past cases can guide decision makers in making improved decisions on new green retrofit projects. • A CBR approach was introduced to support building green retrofit decisions. • The AHP-Entropy method was adopted to determine the attribute weights. • 71 retrofit cases in China were collected and stored in a case database. • A case study was used to demonstrate the application of the CBR approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abundant generation of construction and demolition (C&D) waste presents a significant challenge to the sustainable development of the construction industry in Mainland China. As the implementer of construction activities, the contractor’s C&D waste management performance plays an important role in C&D waste minimization. This paper aims to investigate the determinants of the contractor’s C&D waste management behavior in Mainland China. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was selected as the basis of the theoretical model. In addition, three contextual constructs (i.e., economic viability, governmental supervision, and project constraints) were introduced, formulating the initial model. Based on the initial model, eight constructs were identified and seven hypotheses were proposed. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data and a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. Results showed that the C&D waste management intention is not a significant determinant of contractor’s C&D waste management behavior. The most important determinant is economic viability, followed by governmental supervision as the second most important determinant. Nevertheless, the construct of project constraints is an insignificant determinant for contractor’s adoption of C&D waste management behavior. The research findings imply that, in Mainland China, the government, at this stage, plays an important role in guiding and promoting the contractor to exhibit better C&D waste management behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic studies on building industry have much to contribute to the mission of sustainable development and yet there has been a lack of proactive engagement with environmentalism in the project-based organizations (PBOs). The embedding of “green” in project-based organization is made particularly problematic due to the increasing conflict between organization-wide change initiatives and emerging cost occurred during daily operation. An independent environmental representative is introduced to develop a new mode of PBOs to help environmental paradigm shift in the construction industry. The paper is a contribution towards an environmental understanding of the project management process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proper understanding of the urbanization bubble is very important to assist local governments in adopting strategies to mitigate the effects of the bubble and guide urbanization toward sustainable development. This paper presents a method of measuring the urbanization bubble with particular reference to China. In referring to the definition of an economic bubble, this study defines the urbanization bubble as a dynamic process in which urbanization rate ( U R ) deviates from four urbanization performance variables comprising the proportion of urban population with registration ( T RP ), urban construction land area ( T BA ), level of industrial development ( L ID ) and level of public facilities ( L PF ). Four coordinates are formed between the rate of urbanization and the four performance variables to examine the practice of urbanization in terms of four quadrants. The ratios between changes in urbanization rate and the changes of the four urbanization performance variables are introduced to measure the urbanization bubble. The method is tested through a case study to show that the coordinate method has the potential to help policy makers detect any bubble in the process of urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many regions globally have been facing the challenges of water scarcity and water pollution along with the rampant urbanization process. These challenges highlight the urgency to investigate appropriately the regional water resource carrying capacity (RWRCC) which is a metric for examining and guiding sustainable regional development. Although existing studies have devoted efforts on RWRCC research, the definition of RWRCC and its evaluation method remain arguable. Given this background, this paper introduces a "carrier-load" perspective method for investigating RWRCC. In developing this method, RWRCC performance is determined jointly by two components, namely, carrier and load of regional water resources system. The two components are comprehended and identified through examining the regional water cycling system. A measurement model for RWRCC is established by investigating the interaction between carrier and load. The effectiveness of the "carrier-load" method on RWRCC is demonstrated by conducting an empirical study to 31 provinces of China. The results reveal that the RWRCC performances vary significantly between different regions as they are subject to different performances of carrier and load. The proposed "carrier-load" method provides a theoretical reference for conducting RWRCC research. The evaluation results by applying the method can facilitate decision-makers to formulate tailor-made policy instruments at regional level to ensure the capabilities of water resources are not overloaded or less-utilized in achieving their sustainable development mission. • Giving a carrier-load Concept of regional water resources carrying capacity (RWRCC). • Identifying watercarrier and load through examining regional water cycling system. • Developing the measurement of RWRCC based on a"carrier-load" perspective. • Conducting a China case for the established RWRCC measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has been experiencing a rapid urbanization process. Various relevant policies and strategies have been implemented for sustainable urbanization. For a better understanding of sustainable urbanization, many research efforts have been made on urban sustainability assessment. The traditional indicator index is normally used to evaluate the urban sustainability performance. However, the urban development is a complex system, and the existing methods cannot reflect the systemic interactions among variables. Therefore, this paper aims to develop a system dynamics model for simulating urban sustainability performance. The system dynamics model comprises four sub-systems, namely, the economic sector, social sector, environment sector and resource sector. Then, the system dynamics model is used to simulate the sustainability performance of the city, Beijing, with three scenarios. The results indicate that the system dynamics modelling is a useful tool for simulating urban sustainability performance and can help policy makers formulate relevant strategies for a better sustainable development of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attempts for implementing sustainable urbanization have been reported and documented around the world. These efforts have led to a vast number of exemplary sustainable urbanization practices, classified as best practices. Best practices contain valuable information in the form of experiences, and learning from them represents an opportunity to replicate successful practices in other cities. This study collected and analyzed 185 best practices in sustainable urbanization from around the world. The main areas of action, the key methods adopted and the outcomes achieved by these practices were identified. Key elements in successful sustainable urbanization strategies were found by conducting a series of association analyses between the areas of action, methods and outcomes. Findings highlight the importance of community participation, capacity building, education, partnerships and job creation in achieving urban sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a large amount of population moved from countryside to cities in China during its urbanization in the past two decades. The majority of these people have no formal qualifications for city residency, and they are so-called ‘floating population’. The increase of this group of people has induced the pressure of land use in cities, and the contradiction between the demand and the supply of urban land has been intensifying particularly in those developed regions in China. This paper examines the impacts of floating population on urban land by presenting the interrelations between floating population and urban land expansion from the perspective of production land and living land. Structural equation model (SEM) is employed in conducting the analysis. The result shows that the floating population alone does not have direct effect on urban land expansion, but have indirect impacts through engaging in the production or living process. It is particularly interesting that floating people's living conditions have no direct positive effect on the increase of construction land. Based on the research results, suggestions are offered for improvements in government policy towards a more sustainable and integrated urbanization, including the provision of housing support, the formation of more urbanized society and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past twenty years, various sustainable urban development policies and methods had been implemented within China, such that sustainable urbanization is now more widely accepted. Some of these policies and methods have been found to be successful in improving the sustainability of cities in China. Those practices can be defined as the best practices of sustainable urbanization, which can provide useful references for future urban developments. However, few existing studies examine how to learn from these best practices. Combining the methods of content analysis and social network analysis, this paper conducts a comprehensive study on 150 best practices of sustainable urbanization in China. The methods and outcomes of the 150 best practices are identified. The research findings demonstrate the statistics of categories, methods and outcomes of the 150 best practices and the main adopted methods. The achieved outcomes in different regions of China are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban and rural areas are two different yet coexisting systems. Developing countries such as China have been undergoing a rapid urbanization process. However, urbanization often causes competition for land resources between urban and rural areas, and such competition can result in conflicts between the two systems. To identify the risk factors of urban-rural conflict, this paper utilizes a research framework including content analysis, brainstorming and semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that the main risk factors between urban and rural areas comprise conflicts in property, resources and development. Suggestions are proposed to reduce the conflicts occurring between urban and rural areas during the urbanization process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advent of the era of global ecological limits, natural capital has become absolutely scarce. How to improve the level of human well-being within the ecological limits is the ultimate goal of sustainable development. China is challenged to improve ecological well-being performance (EWP), predominantly in urban areas. This paper presents an overall analysis of the EWP of 278 Chinese cities during the period of 2005–2016 using the Super-slack-based measure (Super-SBM) model. The index system of ecological well-being performance evaluation is constructed from the perspective of input (e.g., labour force, fixed assets investment) and output (e.g. per capita GDP and dust). The results demonstrate that (1) the average EWP value of Chinese cities is relatively low with the value of 0.5919; (2) the top three performers in EWP are Sanya, Haikou and Shenzhen, and the bottom three performers are JinChang, Guigang and Baiyin; (3) the average EWP value of 278 Chinese cities achieved significant improvement over the period 2005–2016; and (4) the EWP value is relatively high in the eastern region, medium in the western region and low in the middle region. Policy suggestions are thus proposed for improving the EWP in Chinese prefecture-level cities. The research findings provide significant references for urban ecological protection and human well-being improvement in China. Image 10311 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]