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.

Regional Sustainable Assessment at City Level Based on CSDIS(China Sustainable Development Indicator System)Concept in the New Era,China

The core issue of sustainable development refers to the coordinated development of economic-social-environmental issues.In the present study,by complying with the China Sustainable Development Indicator System(CSDIS)concept,a comprehensive index system was built;besides,Natural Breaks(Jenks)Classification Method,Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis and Geographic Detector Analysis were conducted to delve into the sustainability and coordinated degree at city level in China from 2007 to 2017.The achieved results are presented as follows.First,for spatial differentiation,the overall spatial distribution pattern was characterized by the high-value units in eastern China and the low-value units in western China from 2007 to 2017.To be specific,the high-value units were radiated along the Beijing-Guangdong Axis(Jing-Guang Axis)centered on the core of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region,the middle-value units were distributed in strips along the coast,and the low-value units were vastly gathered in western China and gradually break via the Hu Huanyong line(Hu Line)in south China from 2007 to 2017.More specifically,based on the five subsystems,the pattern of each system was consistent with the whole,whereas the degree of concentration was different.Second,for spatial correlation,the significant High-High(HH)areas were primarily distributed in the core of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei,Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta Regions.The significant Low-Low(LL)areas were continuously distributed in the southwest China and broke through the Hu Line from 2007 to 2017.There were insufficient number of significant High-Low(HL)and significant Low-High(LH)areas,whereas the spatial agglomeration of them was less obvious.Third,for internal coupling coordination,the spatial differentiation between the coupling degree and the coupling coordinated degree was significantly consistent in 2007 and 2017.The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei,Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta Regions have demonstrated a high level of coordinated evolution,and the pattern of western mountainous areas exhibited a low degree of coordinated growth.Lastly,based on the combination of quantitative and qualitative,its factors were underpinned by robust economic strength,the vitality support of the information level and the basic support function of the topography,active guidance of national policies and path dependence and industrial transfer.

Comprehensive Evaluation on Urban Sustainable Development of Harbin City in Northeast China

It is an effective way in realizing urban coordinated and sustainable development to establish a series of in- dicators and to evaluate urban environmental and socioeconomic development. According to the characteristics of Harbin City in Northeast China, an indicator system including five subsystems and 37 indicators was established for comprehensive evaluation on urban sustainable development. The development indexes of all urban subsystems and complex system were calculated quantitatively using the comprehensively integrated methods composed of Principle Component Analysis, Analytic Hierarchy Process and weighed index method, and then the comprehensive level of ur- ban sustainable development and the degree of urban interior coordination were analyzed. The results indicated that 1) the overall urban development presented an uptrend, however, the interior development was not well balanced from 1996 to 2006; 2) the development in each subsystem presented a strong fluctuation; and 3) the development in re- sources subsystem showed a downtrend. Based on those results, the suggestions of urban sustainable development were put forward at the end.

Assessment of Sustainable Development System in Suihua City, China

Sustainable development is a complex and systemic issue. It is essential to study it by the component analysis method from the view of system science. The urban developmental sustainability is one of focuses that people has paid more attention to, however, little common understanding how to measure and evaluate the sustainability has been gotten. In this paper, a framework is designed to evaluate the developmental sustainability of Suihua City, Heilongiiang Province in China from the aspects of economy, society, population, resources and environment. We adopt the Principal Components Analysis （PCA） to decrease dimensions and simplify the original indexes into 12 indexes. Also, the hierarchy and comprehensive multiple-criterion evaluative methods are employed to assess the sustainable development system in Suihua City. Then, the weights of indexes are attained by Analytic Hierarchy Process （AHP） method. Furthermore, urban comprehensive development level, developmental sustainability, coordinate degree are calculated and analyzed. By analyzing, we know the fluctuation of development level of subsystem, especially resources and environment subsystem, is acute. The comprehensive development level of sustainable development system in Suihua has been on the rise since 1999. That results from the effect of traditional economic development mode with high energy-consumed being decreased in the city after 1999. At the same time, it is obvious that there was an instability of development level in Suihua City during 1990-2002, the status＇trend was more harmonious in 1999-2002. with a turn in 1998, and the development could be sustainable,

City Environment Art and Sustainable Development

The development of everthing follows its own law, which does not change at people’s own sweet will. Therefore, we must study the development of things so as to grasp the essence of things in their deep meanings, explore the direction of their de- velopment, and make them better serve the people. As a part of the thought of sustainable development, city environment art will be of active significance to the perfection of the thought and will also be the concrete embodiment of the synthetic index of economic development. Such a thesis, starting from the macroscopic angle, and relying on the leading thought of sustainable development, takes hold of the development trend of city environment art, and explores the various problems that have arisen in city environment in the process of city management by combining thoughts on city planning, so as to guide urban harmonious development theoretically. The present paper expounds on the views comprehensively and, through the synthetic analysis on city planning, city environment, art esthetics and the thought of sustainable development, makes a detailed analysis of the effects of the present rapid city development on city environment.

Coalition Emergency Response System, City Security and City Sustainable Development

The relations among the establishment of Coalition Emergency Response System （CERS）, city security and city sustainable development are analyzed in the article. According to the relation analysis, it is concluded that cities should build up their CERS to deal with the thread of damage in China. The recommendations about the establishment of the system are also provided.

Sustainable Development of Wuhan City Based on Methods of Conventional Ecological Footprint and Emergy Ecological Footprint

This article uses the conventional ecological footprint method and its improved model of ecological footprint to analyze the state of the sustainable development of Wuhan City in 2009, the results show that the per capita ecological deficit calculated by the method of emergy ecological footprint is 3.8629 hm2, and the per capita ecological deficit calculated by the method of conventional ecological footprint is 2.0169 hm2. The results obtained by the two methods respectively show that current development of Wuhan is unsustainable. The emergy ecological footprint method introduces the energy flow to reflect the relationship between human resource demand and supply of nature to human and adopts parameters—emergy conversion rate and energy density to calculate the ecological carrying capacity data which is more accurate.

Strategies for Construction of Sustainable Development Experimental Zone in Fumian District,Yulin City

From strengthening the construction of an innovation system,adhering to the green development model of the industry,advancing the rural revitalization strategy,strengthening the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage,accelerating the development of social undertakings,and expanding the space for regional cooperation,this paper discusses the strategies for the construction of sustainable development experimental zone in Fumian District,Yulin City.It is intended to build Fumian District into a vibrant,economically prosperous,urban and rural integrated,characteristic cultural,safe and harmonious,inclusive and open district.

Interdependency Between Sustainable Development and Economic Growth （Investment Attraction）： The Role of City＇s Governance, Branding and Monitoring Strategies

Sustainable development is now considered the only option for collective happiness. This paper aims to highlight the interdependent role of city governance, its quality of life and corporate sustainable development process. A place that is good to live in, means that it is good to inhabit, work at, study invest, and visit. Therefore, public policies makers should think about the role of city administration in order to provide a good environment for entrepreneurship and corporate sustainable development. Territories, regions, cities and firms, must know their capabilities and competencies and define a common vision of the future, taking into account the present and the context in which they operate. Being defined as the strategy based on the principles of collective efficiency and market orientation, the successful implementation of activities requires ＂an operational framework for monitoring, supported by mechanisms of interdepartmental cooperation, and performance measurement procedures based on indicators and monitoring progress＂ （ENDS-2015, 2007）. This paper discusses the implementation of place marketing strategies and adoption, by the city governance, of the best practices of business management such as： balanced score card methodologies, leading to the enhancing of the wellness produced by cities; promoting productivity, innovation and rational use of resources; and developing competences and expertise in order to strength their competitive advantages and achieve the desired sustainable development.

Opportunities,Challenges and Safeguard Measures for Sustainable Development of Fumian District,Yulin City

This paper first analyzes the main opportunities for sustainable development of Fumian District,Yulin City,and then discusses the challenges faced by Fumian District in its sustainable development.Finally,it proposes safeguard measures for sustainable development of Fumian District:(i)strengthening leadership and implementing responsibilities;(ii)enhancing cooperation and gathering forces;(iii)reinforcing supervision and ensuring implementation;(iv)increasing input and integrating resources;(v)strengthening publicity and creating an atmosphere.

Changing Trend and Sustainable Development of Farmland Resources in Pingdingshan City,China

The grey forecast and the sustainable use evaluation are conducted on the data of farmland resources from 2010 to 2020 in Pingingshan City by using the area of farmland land from 1999 to 2010 and by applying the grey forecast and land pressure system.The results show that from 2010 to 2020 the quantity of farmland resources maintains balance;the minimum per capita farmland in Pingdinshan stays around the lower limit of per capita amount of farmland in China;the pressure of farmland is rather huge and the farmland protection is not so optimistic.Therefore,in order to realize the sustainable use of land resources in Pingdinshan City,the government should try to improve the efficiency of farmland use and implement stricter land protection system.as well as the requisition-compensation balance of farmland resources,land consolidation and land reclaimation and so on.

Inheritance and Sustainable Development of Concession Gardens of Tianjin City,China

Through reviewing development history of concession gardens in Tianjin City,features,advantages and problems of these gardens were analyzed.It was stressed that cultural context should be inherited,and features of the city highlighted.The gardens should be protected from the perspective of development,combined with urban green space system,integrated with cultural life of local citizens,and coordinated with contemporary architectural style of the city.In addition,plant landscapes should be enriched,and infrastructure of the gardens supplemented to properly handle the relationship between urban construction and protection of historical image,and provide reference for inheriting cultural context of the city in the urban development.

Economic Cost Analysis of the Urban Sustainable Development——A Case of Guiyang City,China

Based on the constitution identification of the urbanization economic costs,econometric model of urbanization economic costs is constructed from four aspects of the investment cost in employment opportunities,the investment cost in urban land use,the investment cost in urban infrastructure,and the investment cost in urban management.Taking Guiyang City as an example,economic cost for each additional urban population in Guiyang City is measured under the current level of social and economic development.Capital requirement for the urban development of Guiyang City in the next 10 years is forecasted.And it is pointed out that there will be significant financing gap in the sustainable development and urbanization process of Guiyang City in future,which provides the basis for the development speed and the reasonable goals of urban sustainable development in future.

Vulnerability and Sustainable Development Mode of Coal Cities in Northeast China

In this study, by carrying on the spot investigation to the seven coal cities in Northeast China and interview-ing with the local authority and the residents, the authors definite the vulnerability that is closed to exposure, sensitiv-ity and resilience, and set up vulnerability model of coal cities in Northeast China. At the same time, the authors broadly illustrate how the components of natural-social-economic system act in the coal area, so as to probe the ways to reduce vulnerability more effectively, such as preferential national policy and so on. Furthermore, the article studies the relationship between vulnerability and sustainable development. Vulnerability is a spatio-temporal function of sus-tainable development. The regional sustainable development refrains the spiral ascending of vulnerability. And the re-gional vulnerability and sustainable development appear in turn. Then the article analyzes the natural vulnerability, so-cial vulnerability and economic vulnerability of coal cities in Northeast China. At last, combing vulnerability model and situation of coal cities in Northeast China, the authors put forward regional technology innovation mode, multi-dimension structure transformation mode, attracting investment mode and recycling economy mode to reduce vulnerability.

World cities in terms of the sustainable development concept

The article considers the issue of the world cities in terms of sustainable development.The population has been increasing in such intensive rates never reached during the middle of the 20th century.The expansion of the cities indicates,on the one hand,the growth of the world’s general socio-economic development,on the other hand,it raises a number of economic,social and environmental problems.The purpose of this paper is to analyze the current state and prospects of the world cities in terms of the sustainable development concept,to identify opportunities,threats,strengths and weaknesses of the world cities,to determine the role of cities in the con-temporary global world and consider further research of the world’s cities.The authors analyzed the world cities rankings and noted that highly developed cities have more chances to quickly implement the sustainable devel-opment concept compared to medium-sized cities due to larger financial resources.The authors built a SWOT analysis of the world cities transformation in terms of the sustainable development concept,identified strengths,weaknesses,opportunities and threats.According to the results of the SWOT analysis,the authors established that sustainable development of cities requires significant investments,particularly in the social sphere develop-ment,purification,and preservation of urban nature from the anthropogenic impacts.The research result is the systematization of the sustainable development criteria used in compiling the world cities rankings,determining the possibilities of the contemporary cities transition to the sustainable development concept.

From Compact City to Smart City： A Sustainability Science ＆ Synergy Perspective

This brief conceptual paper contributes a sustainability theoretic perspective of an urbanization paradigm known as Compact City. Compact City is an urban planning and development concept which promotes relatively high population density associated with an integrated and mixed-use land district. It is enabled by transit-oriented development and results in low transport-related energy consumption and reduced the GHG （Greenhouse Gases） pollution. Compact City conserves the natural capital of land mass and subscribes to the strong sustainability ethics. ICT （Information and Communications Technology） could be deployed to optimize the Compact City operations by first tackling some of the development problems associated with Compact City and also unleashing new urban innovations and functionalities to achieve sustainable urbanization. The paper suggests and elucidates several general systemic synergies archetypes such as co-benefits, cascading, ICT infrastructure reuse, etc., which could be leveraged to facilitate the emergence of compact green smart and resilient city. These archetypes are solutions to the Compact City paradigm thus conductive to the development ofa Sustainability Science of Compact City.

Smart Buildings for A Sustainable Development

The use of sustainable technologies for buildings, with the goal of creating an environment for living and working that uses fewer resources and generates less waste, also aims to retrofit existing buildings to be more efficient in terms of energy and water. Many cities are following this way targeting both commercial and municipal buildings. These cities are called smart cities where all life processes and nerve centers of social life are read, in order to radically improve quality of life, opportunity, prosperity, social and economic development, thanks to the use of technology. This paper deals with the study of smart buildings within smart cities, namely the use in an integrated project of computer and telematics tools with automation organized systems and passive bioclimatic strategies in architecture, determining a socio-technical management of intelligent building. The article is the result of a research carded out within the framework of intelligent buildings in the last generation cities, such as those ones with zero emissions that are taking place in the Middle East countries （Dubai, Masdar, Tiajin, and Kochi）. The topic deals with the issues of building automation as a form of technological intelligence and the study of those smart technologies integrated into the building envelope that improve its performances, making it more sustainable. The research methodology has provided a bibliographic retrieval on the state of the art and the latest technological trends in the building field, later has followed a theoretical and comparative approach of the examined technologies, which led to the development of reasoning on operation, performance and functional capabilities of a building that is both sustainable and home automation, to arrive at the final concept of sustainable intelligent building, able to combine the artificial intelligence, home automation, and technological devices of the architectural project to enhance the building energy performance. In conclusion, the proposed result is that of an integrated intelligent building in which artificial intelligence will become part of the shell-building in order to achieve high levels of energy efficiency and thus environmental sustainability.

Cooperative Game Among Cities in Urban Agglomerations and Economical Sustainable Development

This paper analyses redounded profits of cooperation and non-cooperation among cities in urban agglomerations based on game theory. It discusses the problems of economical development among cities with feeble cooperation, and deduces the conclusion that only cooperation of cities produces the maximum profits and realizes Pareto efficiency for cities and urban agglomerations. The paper states that cooperation is the cornerstone of economic sustainable development in urban agglomerations in profits produced by cooperation among cities. Some suggestions to accelerate cooperation among cities are proposed.

A Research on Problems for Sustainable Development of Mining Cities in China

As a significant issue, mining cities, especially the resource-exhausted mining cities have already been given intensive attention by academia and government. This article discusses the intrinsic and extrinsic reasons for problems of the mining cities from the perspective of sustainable development, quantitatively analyzes the economic benefit of the mining cities with statistical data, and presents the strategies and measures for sustainable development of the mining cities based on the theoretical discus- sion and empirical study of different types of mining cities. The research shows that: (1) the conflict between the mining cities and the mining enterprises which has been incorrectly dealt with for a long time is the primary reason for the problems of the mining cities. More seriously, the development gap between mining cities and non-mining cities is becoming larger than ever before, due to the domestic and international competition. (2) As a whole, the economic development level of the mining cities is lower than the average level of countrywide cities. The economic benefit of the mining cities is increasing owing to the economic scale, and the economic situations of oil-mining cites and iron-mining cites are relatively better than those of other types of mining cities. (3) The prerequisite of sustainable development of the mining cities is the realization of the transformation of capital superiority so as to promote non-mining economy and substitute the mining economy step by step.

Spatial-Temporal Differentiation of Sustainable Development in Cities and Counties of Hainan Province

A total of 18 cities and counties in Hainan from 2012 to 2015 were selected as the basic research units to construct an index system for evaluating the ability of sustainable development that includes four guidelines of economic development capacity, population development capacity, social support capacity, and resource utilization and environmental protection capacity. The improved entropy method was used to determine the weight, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution(TDPSIS) was used to calculate the capacity for sustainable development of the cities and counties and sort these cities and counties, and Arcgis10.2 was used to draw the provincewide distribution of the four guidelines. Thereupon, the author reached following conclusions: there was no big regional difference in the sustainable development capacity of cities and counties in Hainan, and they were basically in a general state of intermediate stage in the past four years; Haikou City and Sanya City, as the key cities, had a higher ability of sustainable development and had shown a remarkable capacity to drive the sustainable development of surrounding areas; according to the development level, the four guidelines were in the following order: resource utilization and environmental protection capacity, population development capacity, social support capacity, and economic development capacity.