Constructing a standard system of city sustainable development assessment technology based on the SDGs

Given the rapid development of China’s new urbanization,cities with different locations and varying functional positioning,resource endowments,and development stages have insufficient scientific and applicable technical tools for implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).City managers and policymakers must urgently establish SDG benchmarks to diagnose city development.Moreover,successful experiences from similar cities regarding sustainable development and self-improvement must be learned from to promote diversified,sustainable development across the country.Furthermore,emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence,the Internet of Things,big data and 5G are widely used in smart cities.Therefore,there is a growing need for“knowledge-based,personalized and intelligent”technologies to support monitoring,evaluation,and decision-making processes facilitating sustainable development in cities.This paper uses standardization as the theoretical support and technical basis.This approach can help clarify the sustainable development processes in China and clarify the evaluation results of and provide data on horizontal city comparisons,which can be used to develop evaluation technology for sustainable development in cities and construct a standardized system.The results provide a standard framework for intelligent assessment and decision-making regarding cities’sustainable development capabilities in China.Evaluating major international standardization institutions reveals that the practices of Chinese national standards should be fully absorbed and integrated to guide the evaluation of smart,resilient,and low-carbon cities.To this end,an indicator library of city sustainable development is proposed to provide standard evaluation technology methods.Finally,analyzing the response relationship of the indicator library to SDGs reveals the need for a standardized knowledge map of sustainable development assessment techniques and methods from the perspective of integrated management for sustainable development in cities.

Assessment of rural sustainable development and analysis and prediction of obstacles and coupled coordinated development:A case study of Zaozhuang City

In China,the Innovation Demonstration Zone for the National Sustainable Development Agenda is a key initiative for executing the United Nations(UN)2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.The Zone also plays critical roles in addressing the developmental bottlenecks that China faces and sharing Chinese insights into global sustainable development efforts.On July 15,2022,the State Council endorsed the Zone’s establishment in Zaozhuang City,Shandong Province,where it focuses on innovation-led sustainable development in rural areas.Research into the levels,impediments,interdependencies,and evolutionary trends of rural sustainable development is crucial.Therefore,this research aimed to assist in comprehensively assessing developmental challenges and facilitating the harmonious advancement of social,economic,and environmental aspects in rural areas.In pursuit of the three fundamental dimensions of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs),namely development’s drivers,quality,and equity,this study was grounded in China’s national Rural Revitalization Strategy and the demands of sustainable development strategies.It also aligns with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the associated SDG indicators.Focusing on four key areas,namely production elements,natural elements,social elements,and rural governance,this study developed an evaluation index system for assessing the level of rural sustainable development.It employed a range of analytical models,including the game theory-based combination empowerment method,barrier degree model,coupling degree model,coupling coordination degree model,and gray prediction GM(1,1)model,to analyze the status and evolving trends of rural sustainable development in Zaozhuang City from 2015 to 2022.The key findings were as follows:①Relative to the baseline year 2015,the sustainable development level in Zaozhuang’s rural areas has shifted toward an improved state overall.②The primary barrier to achieving rural sustainable development in Zaozhuang is the city’s rural governance system.③While the components of rural sustainable development in Zaozhuang are in the early stages of both basic and moderate coordination,an overall enhancement has occurred in their integrative coordination.④Between 2023 and 2025,the level of integrative coordination in Zaozhuang is expected to rise steadily.However,reaching a state of advanced coordination will require additional time for development.

Identifying influencing factors and characterizing key issues in urban sustainable development capacity through machine learning

In response to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and China’s“Dual Carbon”Goals(DCGs means the goals of“Carbon Peak and carbon neutrality”),this paper from the perspective of the construction of China’s Innovation Demonstration Zones for Sustainable Development Agenda(IDZSDAs),combines carbon emission-related metrics to construct a comprehensive assessment system for Urban Sustainable Development Capacity(USDC).After obtaining USDC assessment results through the assessment system,an approach combining Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator(LASSO)regression and Random Forest(RF)based on machine learning is proposed for identifying influencing factors and characterizing key issues.Combining Coupling Coordination Degree(CCD)analysis,the study further summarizes the systemic patterns and future directions of urban sustainable development.A case study on the IDZSDAs from 2015 to 2022 reveals that:(1)the combined identification method based on machine learning and CCD models effectively quantifies influencing factors and key issues in the urban sustainable development process;(2)the correspondence between influencing factors and key subsystems identified by the LASSO-RF combination model is generally consistent with the development situations in various cities;and(3)the machine learning-based combined recognition method is scalable and dynamic.It enables decision-makers to accurately identify influencing factors and characterize key issues based on actual urban development needs.

The Human Sustainable Development under Biologically Evolutionary Background

Evolution,adaptation and selection always exist in the evolutionary process of any species,which is the result of interrelation and interaction between living things and their environments,and the incarnation of natural laws in the evolutionary process of any species. Only if accurately understanding their connotation and interrelation among them,taking the evolution of living things as the line with centralizing the human sustainable development,dialectically unifying the active adaptation of the human being to their environments and oriented selection of nature and the society to species,we can acquire a better understanding of evolution of living things and a deeper understanding of the human sustainable development under biologically evolutionary background and uphold the true Darwinism,modern evolutionary point of view and the concept of current sustainable development in theory and in practice.

Human Rights Dilemma of Migration Targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development explicitly and specifically includes migration in the global development agenda for the first time, and establishes relevant targets, including promoting regular migration and protecting the rights of migrant workers. These targets are significant achievements of the United Nations in promoting the topic “Migration and Development” and strengthening the human rights-based global migration governance.However, there are many difficulties in achieving these targets, especially when the rights of regular and irregular migration are undermining national sovereignty and security, or are not in line with national development needs. With the continued spread of the CoVID-19pandemic, rising tensions among major powers, and the prevalence of populism and anti-foreigner sentiment in the West, the process of migration and development has been seriously influenced, and the divergent positions and conflicting interests of countries have pushed the migration targets further out of reach. However, in the long run,exploration in this area will help promote global economic recovery in the post-pandemic era and benefit all parties from the positive interactions of migration, development, and human rights.

Recognizing ecosystem service’s contribution to SDGs:Ecological foundation of sustainable development

There is less than half the time left to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs),and progress toward SDGs is obviously insufficient.The contribution of ecosystem services(ES)to SDGs realization has received extensive attentions,but systematic generalization and recognition are still lacking.Based on a review of the progress and challenge of sustainable development,this study summarized ES’s potential contribution to 17 SDGs,and systematically reviewed empirical researches focused on the ES’s contribution to SDGs based on the RepOrting standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses(ROSES).The results showed that from the 1960s to the 2020s,the ES’s contribution has gradually become more important in sustainable development.ES has potential contribution to all SDGs,but the contribution to different SDGs varies.In the empirical study,ES’s contribution to SDG2,SDG6,SDG13,and SDG15 were strongly focused.ES’s contribution to SDG4,SDG5,SDG10,SDG16,and SDG17 were weakly focused.Most researches have explored the ES’s contribution to SDGs based on ES supply at a single scale,lacking attentions to ES demand and scale differences,and insufficient attentions to intervention factors affecting the ES’s contribution to SDGs.Faced with the above deficiencies,future research could deepen the exploration of ES’s contribution to SDGs from the following four perspectives:clarifying true contributions,exploring leverage point,integrating multi-scale differences,and focusing on intervention factors.

Distribution dynamics,regional differences,and convergence of sustainable development of cities and communities in China

China is one of the most populated and rapidly urbanizing countries worldwide and was among the earliest countries to integrate sustainable development into urban construction.To achieve high-quality development and implement the objectives of“Transforming Our World:The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”,it is crucial to measure and analyze the current level of sustainable development of cities in China.Following the principles of relevance,scientific rigor,universality,reliability,and timeliness,this study constructs an assessment index system for sustainable development,covering seven themes corresponding to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 11.Through detailed calculations,we obtained sustainable development indices for 139 Chinese cities from 2016 to 2022 and analyzed them in three dimensions:distribution dynamics,regional differences,and convergence.The key findings are as follows.First,the level of sustainable development showed improvement,with the average score of included cities increasing by 11.88%from 2016 to 2022.Second,the level of sustainable development was relatively balanced,maintaining low Gini coefficients between 0.05 and 0.06.Third,a weak overallσconvergence feature existed,with increased differentiation in 2021.From a regional perspective,aσconvergence feature was observed in the northeastern but not in the western region.Fourth,both overall absoluteβ-convergence and conditionalβeffects were significant.Regional absoluteβ-convergence and conditionalβ-convergence were also significant.This study contributes to the literature by providing evidence of China’s urban sustainable development,offering policy insights for deepening the implementation of development goals in the future,and providing experiential reference for other developing countries to achieve sustainable development.

Role of self-help groups on socioeconomic development and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)among rural women in Cooch Behar District,India

This study examines the transformative role of self-help groups(SHGs)in the socioeconomic development of rural women in Cooch Behar District,India,and their contribution toward achieving Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)of the United Nations.In this study,we explored the effect of SHGs on rural women by specifically addressing SDGs,such as no poverty(SDG 1),zero hunger(SDG 2),good health and well-being(SDG 3),quality education(SDG 4),and gender equality(SDG 5).Given this issue,a cross-sectional survey and comparison analyses are needed to assess the socioeconomic development of rural women and their awareness level before and after the participation of rural women in SHGs.The survey conducted as part of this study was divided into three sections,namely,demographic characteristics,socioeconomic development,and awareness level,with each focusing on different aspects.A group of 400 individuals who were part of SHGs completed the questionnaire survey form.The results showed that the participation of rural women in SHGs significantly improved their socioeconomic development and awareness level,as supported by both mean values and t test results.Memberships in SHGs and microcredit programs were the major elements that boosted the socioeconomic development of rural women,which also achieves SDGs 1,2,3,4,and 5.This study revealed that participation in SHGs and related financial services significantly aided rural women in economically disadvantaged communities in accumulating savings and initiating entrepreneurial ventures.Moreover,participation in SHGs was instrumental in enhancing the self-confidence,self-efficacy,and overall self-esteem of rural women.Finally,doing so enabled them to move more freely for work and other activities and to make family and common decisions.

Knowledge mapping of research on sustainable utilization of landscape resources:a case study of Guilin National Innovation Demonstration Zone for sustainable development in China

Worldwide interest has increasingly focused on the sustainable utilization of landscape as a resource in urban areas,emphasizing its ecological,cultural and social significance.This study examines Guilin City,China,as a representative case study due to its rich landscape resources and status as a national innovation demonstration zone for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.This study uses bibliometric visualization tools like CiteSpace and VOSviewer to analyze research trends from 1980 to 2021 in the Chinese Academic Journal Network Publishing Database(CNKI).The results show increasing academic interest over three stages:initiation(1982-1997),exploration(1998-2004),and diversified development(2005-2021).Contributions are predominantly from local academic and tourism sectors,indicating a strong regional influence;however,relatively weak interinstitutional collaboration occurs,suggesting potential for more integrated research efforts.Primary research is also concentrated within economic disciplines,particularly tourism-related ones.The evolution of research frontiers reveals three main paths:urban development strategies,industrial economic theories and empirical validation,and ecosystem analysis and evaluation.A multidisciplinary approach and stronger collaborative efforts are crucial to enhance research on ecological values and empirical models while supporting evidence-based urban development strategies in Guilin City and comparable cities globally.

Spatial differences of Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)among counties(cities)on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains

The county(city)located on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains is the primary area to solidify and extend the success of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,China in poverty alleviation.Its Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)are intertwined with the concerted economic and social development of Xinjiang and the objective of achieving shared prosperity within the region.This study established a sustainable development evaluation framework by selecting 15 SDGs and 20 secondary indicators from the United Nations’SDGs.The aim of this study is to quantitatively assess the progress of SDGs at the county(city)level on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains.The results indicate that there are substantial variations in the scores of SDGs among the nine counties and one city located on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains.Notable high scores of SDGs are observed in the central and eastern regions,whereas lower scores are prevalent in the western areas.The scores of SDGs,in descending order,are as follows:62.22 for Minfeng County,54.22 for Hotan City,50.21 for Qiemo County,42.54 for Moyu County,41.56 for Ruoqiang County,41.39 for Qira County,39.86 for Lop County,38.25 for Yutian County,38.10 for Pishan County,and 36.87 for Hotan County.The performances of SDGs reveal that Hotan City,Lop County,Minfeng County,and Ruoqiang County have significant sustainable development capacity because they have three or more SDGs ranked as green color.However,Hotan County,Moyu County,Qira County,and Yutian County show the poorest performance,as they lack SDGs with green color.It is important to establish and enhance mechanisms that can ensure sustained income growth among poverty alleviation beneficiaries,sustained improvement in the capacity of rural governance,and the gradual improvement of social security system.These measures will facilitate the effective implementation of SDGs.Finally,this study offers a valuable support for governmental authorities and relevant departments in their decision-making processes.In addition,these results hold significant reference value for assessing SDGs at the county(city)level,particularly in areas characterized by low levels of economic development.

Understanding carbon footprint:An evaluation criterion for achieving sustainable development

Excessive greenhouse gas emissions lead to global warming,which poses a critical challenge for human society.Worldwide consensus that carbon emissions must be reduced to achieve sustainable development has raised research interest on the topic of carbon footprint,an assessment standard for measuring greenhouse gas emissions.To shed light on this important topic,we introduce carbon footprint-related international standards and domestic policies,and conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of the current carbon footprint literature.Specifically,through a bibliometric analysis of 13203 carbon foot-print publications circulated over the past decade,we quantify the publication volume,influence,and collaboration networks of countries/regions,institutions,and journals.The results show that publications on carbon footprint have been increasing since 2013,and more so after 2017.Regarding domain influence,China and its academic institutions show a strong influence.In addition,a cluster analysis of the keywords of all publications shows seven categories,encompassing carbon footprint accounting methods and research priorities.Furthermore,a qualitative analysis of the research methods and subjects related to carbon footprint reveals the need to increase communication and collaboration among different disciplines and countries/regions to strengthen the construction of carbon footprint systems.Accordingly,this study identifies popular topics and development trends in the carbon footprint literature to provide research direction for promoting green and low-carbon transformation of the social economy to achieve sustainable development.

Design of a sustainable development path in Chenzhou based on a knowledge graph

Sustainable urban development involves many fields with complex data types and rich semantic relationships,such as the economic,societal,and ecological fields.Knowledge graphs provide a new means for sustainable urban development research by leveraging their strengths in the construction of knowledge networks and display of knowledge associations.Focusing on Chenzhou,a resource-based city serving as a China’s Innovation Demonstration Zone for Sustainable Development Agenda,this study adopted a top-down approach,applying the“seven-step”and“skeleton”methods to construct an ontology for sustainable urban development through manual editing.A knowledge graph was constructed for Chenzhou’s sustainable development,comprising 515 nodes,3209 relations,and 28157 attributes.Sustainable measures and pathways were proposed based on this knowledge graph.The results showed that Chenzhou’s future sustainable development should focus on innovation,growth,emissions reduction,centering around high-quality and sustainable development.Promoting the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements,accelerating the optimization and upgrading of industrial structures,and enhancing talent cultivation and recruitment will foster new quality productive forces,providing strong momentum and support for the high-quality and sustainable development of Chenzhou.To accelerate the green economy transition,Chenzhou should improve the market-oriented allocation system for resources and environmental factors,explore the“gross ecosystem product+eco environment-oriented development”project implementation model,encourage enterprises to adopt environmental,social,and governance principles,and foster synergies between supply and demand.Furthermore,coordinating Chenzhou’s low-carbon city pilot projects and constructing carbon sequestration pathways that leverage nature-based solutions will help implement the“dual carbon”actions and enhance the city’s ability to respond to climate change.

Economy Function in the Mode of Sustainable Development

To implement the previously formulated principles of sustainable economic development, all solutions of the linear system of equations and inequalities, which are satisfied by the vector of real consumption, are completely described. It is established that the vector of real consumption with the minimum level of excess supply is determined by the solution of some quadratic programming problem. The necessary and sufficient conditions are established under which the economic system, described by the “input-output” production model, functions in the mode of sustainable development. A complete description of the equilibrium states for which markets are partially cleared in the economy model of production “input-output” is given, on the basis that all solutions of system of linear equations and inequalities are completely described. The existence of a family of taxation vectors in the “input-output” model of production, under which the economic system is able to function in the mode of sustainable development, is proved. Restrictions were found for the vector of taxation in the economic system, under which the economic system is able to function in the mode of sustainable development.

Influence Factors of Urban Sustainable Development of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region——with a Case of Urumqi

Urban sustainable development is under influence of social, economic and environmental factors. Xinjiang is in a new cross-domain development stage, and the research on urban sustainable development in Xinjiang wil be an important contribu-tion to sustainable development in western China. In this paper, with the district of Urumqi city as the study area, environmental indicators in 2011 economic society were col ected to establish an index system of factors affecting the sustainable de-velopment, and to make analysis and comprehensive evaluation on the influence factors, proposing suggestions and countermeasures of sustainable development in districts or counties in Urumqi County as per quantitative and qualitative analysis methods.

Innovative Technologies for Large-Scale Water Production in Arid Regions: Strategies for Sustainable Development

Water scarcity in arid regions poses significant challenges to sustainable development and human well-being. This article explores both existing and innovative technologies and methods to produce large amounts of water to address these challenges effectively. Key approaches include atmospheric water generation, advanced desalination techniques, innovative water collection methods such as fog nets and dew harvesting, geothermal water extraction, and water recycling and reuse. Each method is evaluated for its feasibility with existing technology, potential time of implementation, required investments, and specific challenges. By leveraging these technologies and combining them into a multifaceted water management strategy, it is possible to enhance water security, support agricultural and industrial activities, and improve living conditions in arid regions. Collaborative efforts between governments, private sector entities, and research institutions are crucial to advancing these technologies and ensuring their sustainable implementation. The article provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of these technologies, their potential for large-scale application, and recommendations for future research and development.

The Impact of Sustainable Development Strategies on Corporate Performance

Enterprises must develop and implement effective strategic measures to achieve sustainable development.This entails evaluating corporate performance,understanding the impact of sustainable development strategies on corporate performance,and implementing such strategies.The article proposes eight critical countermeasures to foster harmony and sustainable development among humanity,nature,the economy,and society:innovation-driven initiatives,green development practices,social responsibility initiatives,talent cultivation programs,collaborative cooperation efforts,sound financial management,brand-building endeavors,and effective information management.

The Sustainable Development Pathway of the Biomedical Industry Based on Environmental,Social,and Governance(ESG)Concepts

There is a growing global awareness of environmental,social,and governance(ESG)concerns.The biopharmaceutical industry is an important field that affects human health and well-being,and its sustainable development is now the industry’s focus.Based on the current state of the green development of China’s biopharmaceutical industry,the article proposes suggestions and paths for promoting the industry to better fulfill its social responsibilities and protect the environment while pursuing economic benefits.By doing so,the industry can make a greater contribution to global public health and become an important factor in promoting human health and social prosperity.

Hungry and Angry Society: Implications for Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Hunger is a physiological need,but the production and consumption of adequate and balanced food is a function of social forces.At every point,social,political,and economic processes intervene,for better or(more common)for worse.Food is one fundamental need of human beings for survival.But in Nigeria there is widespread food shortage and hunger.Development scholars have put forward reasons why poverty,hunger persists in the country,from the platitudes about population growth,inadequate implementation of agricultural policies,and neglect of agriculture,bad leadership,corruption,and the issue of distribution.Nigeria is richly blessed with arable land and citizens eager to unlock its food potentials.Unfortunately,this is far from being realized as the country depends on foreign countries for food,a situation that is tragic and sad.She spends about$10 billion a year importing food and agricultural products,the majority of which are wheat,rice,poultry,fish,and consumer-oriented foods.The pressure on the exchange rate results in devaluation-triggered inflation and food costs that fly up beyond the grasp of people at the bottom of the ladder as it is now is one of the negative repercussions of high food importation bills.Examining the effects of hunger is one of this paper’s key concerns and goals,and anger crisis for achieving sustainable development in the country using the Frustration-Aggression Theory,The Relative Deprivation and Political Economy Approach as guide.

The Sustainable Development＇s Added Value to Humanity： An Improvement or Degradation Compared to the Past？

Sustainable development is the latest concept in a long series of conceptual innovations aimed to bring a space of dream to our harsh reality due to economic growth. This inflation of adjectives added to the development, like sustainable, viable, etc., is an attempt to blur our eyes about its negative effects; it is like a magic conjuration. When we look at all its implications, we are so far. There are reasons to be pessimistic： The paths that this concept will lead us to are not clear. In the sustainable development concept, we find only a new packing to our harsh reality： a matter of marketing. Sustainable development was presented as a ＂solution＂ to our innumerable recent problems; on the contrary, it may be a problem to solve. Shouldn＇t this concept be seriously questioned and maybe condemned？ Assuming no drastic measure taken to control earth problems, by the year 2032, 70% of the planet will be destroyed. Sustainable development is a rhetorical ploy which seeks to reconcile what is irreconcilable： the environment and the development. A policy which is not carefully enough thought will carry along various perverse and adverse effects for the ecology as much as for the economy.

Parallel Event of UNHRC50 Held in Beijing:Climate Change & Sustainable Development of Human Beings

On July 6,2022,a parallel event,organized during the 50th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council(HRC50),was co-hosted by Beijing NGO Network for International Exchanges(BNIE),China Association for NGO Cooperation(CANGO)and Beijing International Peace Culture Foundation(IPCF).The subject of this meeting focused on addressing climate change and promoting sustainable development of human beings.Experts,scholars and representatives of international organizations from relevant institutions at home and abroad had in-depth exchanges and discussions,making NGOs’contribution to international affairs and global ecological environment governance.