ALBERT

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): N. Befort〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The bioeconomy is steadily becoming more important to regional, national and European public policy. As it encompasses the transformation of agricultural, marine and organic resources into food, feed, fuels, energy and materials, the bioeconomy should become a major new industry replacing oil-based products. However, policymakers take two main approaches to developing the bioeconomy. The first, biotech-oriented approach depicts the bioeconomy as a biotechnology subsector. The second, biomass-oriented approach (i) considers biomass transformation as its starting point, (ii) raises the issue of bioeconomy sustainability, and (iii) considers biotechnology as just one of many transformation technologies. The growing literature on defining the bioeconomy has not yet covered the articulation between biotechnology and bioeconomy. This paper fills this critical gap and provides policy recommendations depending on whether the goal is to develop biotechnology or to contribute to green growth and sustainability.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 129〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Justice A. Tambo, Bellancile Uzayisenga, Idah Mugambi, Mary Bundi, Silvia Silvestri〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉An estimated 40% of potential global crop production is lost annually to pests and diseases. Reducing this level of crop loss is critical to increasing agricultural productivity, which is essential in achieving the sustainable development goals of zero hunger and no poverty. However, the lack of access to timely and relevant advice on crop health problems poses a significant challenge to farmers to take action at the right time to mitigate crop losses. In efforts to address this issue, over 4000 plant clinics have been established in 34 countries worldwide where farmers who are struggling with plant pests and diseases can take samples of their ‘sick’ crops to trained plant doctors for diagnosis and plant health advice. The plant clinic initiative began in 2003, but thus far, there has not been a rigorous assessment of the impact of this innovative approach of delivering targeted agricultural extension services. Using a recent panel survey of smallholder maize producers in rural Rwanda, this paper attempts to address this gap by analysing the impact of plant clinics on farm performance (measured by technology adoption, and maize yield and income) and on poverty alleviation (measured by the Progress out of Poverty Index). Employing the correlated random effects estimation methods to account for unobserved heterogeneity, we find that plant clinics significantly increase the adoption of crop protection technologies to control devastating maize pests, such as fall armyworm and maize stalk borer, and this, in turn, results in significant maize yield and net income gains of 28% and 23%, respectively. We also show that seeking plant health advice from plant clinics is significantly associated with a 5% reduction in the likelihood of a household falling below the extreme poverty line of $1.25 per day. The results imply that policies and programmes aimed at promoting the establishment of and farmers’ participation in plant clinics can contribute to increased agricultural productivity and poverty reduction.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 23 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sara Haghifam, Mojtaba Dadashi, Kazem Zare, Heresh Seyedi〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉With utilizing the advanced automation services and communication technologies, distribution systems have been transferred from passive to smart networks. In this regard, owing to widespread and complicated interactions between varied entities, distribution system operators (DSOs) encounter various challenges in terms of energy management. Hence, in this paper, a novel Multi Follower Bi-Level framework is presented for operational scheduling of smart distribution networks (SDNs) in the presence of two players, the Demand Response Aggregator (DRA) and Microgrid Owner (MGO). In the proposed method, the upper-level problem minimizes the DSO's operating costs, while, the lower-levels maximize the MGO and DRA's profits from exchanging power. In this procedure, a non-profit agent, the Distribution-Independent System Operator is introduced to coordinate operational conflicts and interests of the network. The considered model is a non-linear Bi-Level problem which is converted into a linear Single-Level problem through KKT conditions and the Big-M method. The presented scheme is implemented on two modified SDNs. The results demonstrate that the Bi-level technique is appropriate for each entity to promote its benefit without any negative influence on the other players. Finally, to evaluate effectiveness of the proposed model, sensitivity analysis is conducted by transferring the DRA's interest to the upper-level.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 22 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xilin Zhou, Tsubasa Okaze, Chao Ren, Meng Cai, Yasuyuki Ishida, Hironori Watanabe, Akashi Mochida〈/p〉 〈h5〉ABSTRACT〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The Local Climate Zone (LCZ) scheme is an urban form and land cover/land use classification system used to study urban heat islands (UHIs). Many studies have evaluated the relationship between LCZs and air temperature. While the intensity and spatial pattern of an UHI can be influenced by the land-sea breeze, especially in coastal cities, few studies have been done to examine this using the LCZ scheme. In this study, Sendai, Japan, has been selected as a case study to evaluate whether the LCZ scheme can be used to study UHIs that are exposed to sea-land breeze since it has two urban-rural areas: mountain side and coastal side. UHI analysis was based on LCZ classes with GIS-derived geometric and land cover properties. By dividing Sendai into two regions along its urban center, the mitigating effects of sea-land breeze on the magnitudes of UHIs in each urban-rural area were demonstrated. Based on the results of this study, two specific UHI mitigation strategies were proposed for Sendai. This study confirmed that the LCZ scheme can be used by urban planners to assess both surface UHI (SUHI) and UHI effects, and proposed a feasible process for developing targeted UHI mitigation strategies.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 22 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Marc Gimenez-Maranges, Viviana Pappalardo, Daniele La Rosa, Jürgen Breuste, Angela Hof〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are solutions which use natural processes to manage storm-water. Having detected the inability of conventional storm-water management to cope alone with e.g. urban flooding, the incorporation of SuDS in action plans can enable a shift towards a more sustainable handling of storm-water. The principles underlying adaptive storm-water management can potentially be realised through the implementation of SuDS. However, the SuDS concept remains undeveloped and poorly researched in Mediterranean countries. This paper explores the extent to which SuDS have been used to manage floods in Italy and Southern France. Examples of SuDS are identified through a review of grey literature and then analysed by a set of socio-technical criteria that evaluate the adoption of the principles of adaptive storm-water management. Findings show an ongoing transition towards an adaptive approach, although mature adaptive storm-water management has been neither supported in policy nor realised in practice. SuDS are fostered in both countries but while a recent increase in their adoption can be observed in Southern France, their implementation is more limited in Italy. However, a conservative and technically focused policy and implementation process has been promoted. Governance practices have, for instance, undergone almost no change.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zakaria Yahia, Anup Pradhan〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper addresses the load scheduling problem in residential sector while considering preferences of consumers and reduction of peak load. This study proposes an optimization model using multi-objective mixed integer linear programming considering a time-of-use (ToU) electricity tariff. Furthermore, this study considers the coordinated peak load reduction in a multiple-household environment. The proposed model aims to minimize three objectives: the electricity cost, the scheduling inconvenience and the peak load. Considering three objectives could enable consumers and utility companies to control their priority in minimizing one over the others. Three multi-objective optimization approaches are applied to solve the proposed model: normalized weighted-sum approach, preemptive optimization and compromise optimization. Numerical experiments show that the proposed solutions lead to significant savings in electricity costs, eliminate consumer inconvenience, while reducing the system peak loading. Furthermore, the results show outstanding performance when compared against three schedules from the literature and the consumer’s preferred schedule. Moreover, the coordinated schedules for the multiple-household problem lead to a significant reduction and levelling of the aggregated peak load.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Loiy Al-Ghussain, Remember Samu, Onur Taylan, Murat Fahrioglu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The hybridization of renewable energy systems (RES) and further integrating them with Energy Storage Systems (ESS) can help improve the RESs’ reliability and reduce the mismatch between energy consumption and generation profiles. The main aim of this study is to suggest a sizing methodology for the RES components with various ESS scenarios in a microgrid through techno-economic feasibility analysis. Although the suggested methodology is flexible to include several RESs and ESSs, the methodology is demonstrated to compare the techno-economic performance of Wind and Photovoltaic (PV) energy systems under four different ESS scenarios; (i) no ESS, (ii) Pumped Hydro Storage (PHS), (iii) Hydrogen Fuel Cell (HFC), and (iv) hybrid ESS (PHS/HFC). The optimal RES configuration is determined by maximizing the RES fraction while equating the Cost of Electricity (COE) to the national utility tariff. However, in the event that there is no feasible system configuration that satisfies the mentioned criteria, the main objective becomes maximizing the RES fraction at the lowest attainable COE. This study outlines that the incorporation of PHS and HFC with the PV/Wind hybrid system increased the demand-supply fraction from 46.5%–89.4% and the RES fraction from 62.6%–91.8% with COE equals to 0.175 USD/kWh.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 21 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Salsabeel Shapsough, Mohannad Takrouri, Rached Dhaouadi, Imran Zualkernan〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉One of the most significant visions to come out of the Internet of Things revolution is Smart Cities. Equipped with sensing and communication technologies and powered by renewable energy, Smart Cities could be the key to protecting environmental resources and ensuring sustainable urbanization as the world population continues to grow. Solar energy is one of the most promising renewable energy sources. However, solar energy is a function of its environment, and sudden changes in meteorological conditions can cause intermittency and disrupt power generation. Furthermore, solar facilities in smart cities are distributed over rooftop installations and parking lots to make use of available space, which represents a challenge to maintenance. This paper presents the design of a solar monitoring system for large-scale and distributed facilities in smart cities. The system uses IoT technologies to remotely assess the performance of individual modules or strings in remote facilities. A prototype was implemented and used to study PV module soiling loss in a harsh desert environment. The prototype was able to successfully and reliably collect data and communicate it to a cloud-based server for researchers to view and analyze. The data is used to enable optimized and preventative maintenance in city-wide solar facilities.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 21 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zahra Jandaghian, Umberto Berardi〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The modelling of the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon is becoming critical to allow better prediction and assessment of mitigation strategies. This paper compares different urban canopy models to characterize the UHI in Toronto. In particular, the effects of urban parameterization modeling are investigated using the state-of-the-art Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). The WRF is coupled separately with three Urban Canopy Models (UCMs) to predict the heat and moisture fluxes from the canopies to the atmosphere. The three UCMs are a slab (SB), single-layer (SL), and multi-layer (ML) representation of the canopy. The SB, SL, and ML respectively consider buildings as increased roughness elements, a single orientation of the two-dimensional approximation, and the three-dimensional urban surfaces that also accounts for the vertical exchange of heat, moisture, and momentum. The WRF-UCMs are used to investigate a specific heat wave period. The simulations are evaluated comparing the results of the air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, and dew point temperature with the measurements from several weather stations. The correlation (r-squared) of the air temperature and dew point temperature was close to 0.9 and 0.85, whereas the correlation of the wind speed and relative humidity was 0.6 and 0.7 respectively. The UHI magnitude is also estimated by the air temperature changes between urban and rural areas. The results illustrate that the daily heat island magnitude is around 1.2 to 1.5 °C, while the daytime is near 0.7 °C. The UHI is magnified during the nighttime and is up to 2 °C. The analysis indicated that the SL is reliable for climate simulations, but for the evaluation of the UHI magnitude and to analyze more sophisticated structures, the ML urban canopy model has to be applied as it is critical to account for the air turbulences and multi-reflections in the urban canopy.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 21 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ahmad Almuhtady, Marwa Alfaouri〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Heating has been always considered a necessity for humans. Nonetheless, it has always imposed a sustainability challenge, both economically and environmentally. This paper proposes a solution for sustainable residential heating in regions experiencing moderate Winters. The solution integrates the effects of intelligent design and operation. It encompasses minimization of thermal inadequacy, renewable energy incorporation, and optimal policy for the heating controls. Through a case study for an apartment in Jordan, the merits of the proposed solution are highlighted in terms of performance, feasibility, and environmental-friendliness using a detailed physical model. It was found out that thermal inadequacy could double both electricity consumption and generated CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉. Additionally, despite having global warming potential for their working fluids, utilization of heat pumps instead of electric heaters can reduce CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 emissions by 75% with a payback period as short as 15 heating months. Finally, various heating schemes are examined. A proposed policy which represents a hybrid control technique merging threshold controller with demand-based zone heating was found to be capable of handling the trinary trade off resulting from thermal comfort, cost reduction, and minimum number of heating system starts. An optimal set of lower and upper bounds for active and inactive periods were found.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zahoor Ahmed, Muhammad Wasif Zafar, Sajid Ali, Danish〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The G7 countries are facing the challenges of high urbanization, growing ecological footprint, and decreasing biocapacity. In these countries, urban areas are the center of economic activities and resource consumption. On this note, current study examines the effect of urbanization and human capital on the ecological footprint in G7 countries. The study uses advanced panel data estimators, such as CUP-FM and CUP-BC on data from 1971 to 2014. The findings reveal that urbanization increases the ecological footprint, whereas human capital reduces it. The reliability of long-run estimates is also examined by using CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 emissions as a proxy of environmental impact. The results of causality test disclose unidirectional causality from human capital and urbanization to the ecological footprint. However, the causality between urbanization, human capital, and economic growth is bidirectional. Moreover, energy consumption, economic growth, and import increase environmental degradation, while export and foreign direct investment reduce environmental degradation. Finally, detailed policy options are proposed to combat environmental challenges of G7 countries.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): M. Talaat, Abdulaziz S. Alsayyari, Adel Alblawi, A.Y. Hatata〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this research, a complete vision of using the technology of the smart grid system with a new communication, information technology techniques and devices has been investigated. In addition, a strategy of using a hybrid or private cloud for security, sorting and data storage that is obtained from the power grid has been suggested. The proposed strategy suggested that; construct a wireless sensor network with high reliability and performance for monitoring the various important measurement parameters in the power system grid. All data coming from a large and complicated wireless sensor network spread along the power system can be sorted and classified in the cloud using data processing hardware with high performance and good accuracy. Therefore, an automated decision making in the case of the system outage or fault current condition can be programmed depending on the sorting and analysis of the received data. This will develop the power system design using smart grid architecture to enhance the performance for verifying the various demand applications in power systems (faults, security, monitoring, and control), integrate with available renewable energy sources (wind or solar or biomass or wave energy) and enhance the storage capability and reliability in power system grid to deal with the suddenly change in the power system flow.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 129〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Boscow Okumu, Edwin Muchapondwa〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper examines whether offering landless forest-adjacent communities options to grow appropriate food crops inside forest reserves during early stages of reforestation programmes increases incomes of low-income households and conserve forests. We consider the forest cover and household welfare impacts of a unique incentive scheme in Kenya known as the Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme (PELIS). PELIS seeks to deepen community participation in forestry, and improve the livelihoods of adjacent communities. Using cross sectional data collected from 22 Community Forest Associations and 406 households, we use propensity score matching methods to evaluate the mean impact of the scheme on forest cover and household welfare. We also assess the heterogeneous impacts of the scheme on household welfare using an endogenous quantile treatment effects model. The results show that on average, PELIS has a significant and positive impact on the welfare of participating households (estimated between 15.09% and 28.14%) and on forest cover (between 5.53% and 7.94%). However, the scheme cannot be defended on equity grounds as it has inequitable distributional impacts on household welfare. The scheme raises welfare of groups other than the poorest and marginalized sections of the community. Our observations from the field blame elite capture for this outcome.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 24 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Dachuan Shi, Jiyun Song, Jinxin Huang, Chaoqun Zhuang, Rui Guo, Yafeng Gao〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Both green and blue space are found to be effective for urban heat mitigation and air quality improvement. However, studies on the Synergistic Cooling Effects (SCEs) of green-blue spaces are limited. This paper aims to investigate the SCEs of green-blue spaces in Chongqing, a typical hot humid city in China, through the field measurement and numerical simulation. First, air temperature and relative humidity over different land-use sites (forest, lawn, and impervious pavement) were measured with and without water simultaneously, from July to August, 2018. Experimental results revealed the SCEs of green-blue spaces were obvious in 7–12 m surrounding waterfront areas, where the mean air temperature reduction was 3.3 °C higher than the sums of cooling effect of standalone water and forest. Additionally, an ENVI-met model was validated against the measured data before conducting simulation for the study area in five scenarios, including one control group with no trees and four greening cases with different Leaf Area Index (LAI) values to investigate the importance of green infrastructure on the waterfront thermal environment. Simulation results showed that a decrease of 1.0 LAI can lead to a reduction of average air temperature by 0.19–0.31 °C, possibly owing to the enhanced ventilation flow.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 25 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Edna J. Molina Bacca, Andy Knight, Milana Trifkovic〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In the smart grid environment, optimal placement and sizing of microgrids have attracted a great deal of attention. Here, we propose a multi-scale optimization model for determining microgrid configuration, capacity, and geographical location, and we apply it to a municipality in Southwestern Ontario. The proposed approach accounts for the net present value of the project, power balance of the grid, maximum capacity of the current substations, and the geographic availability for the installation of a microgrid. The problem is tackled in two stages. First, a geographic information system/multicriteria decision analysis (GIS/MCDA) is performed to determine the suitable locations for the installation of distributed energy resources (DERs). Then, a mixed integer optimization model is used to determine the capacities and final installation locations of the DERs based on the results obtained in the GIS/MCDA. Finally, three different scenarios are evaluated to elucidate the influence that retail price, microgrids’ minimum contribution to the demand, and available land have over the final architecture, cost, and allocation of a renewable energy project.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 24 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lei Zhang, Guochen Sang, Weixiao Han〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study describes the experimental testing of the hygrothermal properties of the earth brick and the numerical analysis of the hygrothermal behaviour of a residential building in a desert climate in order to evaluate the effect of the earth brick on the indoor environment. The hygrothermal properties, i.e. thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, equilibrium moisture content and water vapour permeability, were characterized to be used in the following numerical simulation of indoor environment. The numerical analysis was conducted by whole building simulations using EnergyPlus which can be used to simulate the indoor climate in buildings. An existing residential building was monitored for two days in summer in order to validate the accuracy of the model. The simulated results showed that compared with the fired brick, the earth walls reduce the amplitude of both indoor air temperature and relative humidity fluctuations, especially the maximum of relative humidity, due to both thermal inertia and moisture capacity of the earth bricks. Besides, the heating energy consumption results of the earth brick rooms were significantly lower than the fired brick rooms during the heating period.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 24 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tengfei Huo, Xiaohui Li, Weiguang Cai, Jian Zuo, Fuyuan Jia, Haifeng Wei〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Urbanization is a key driving force for building carbon emissions. However, few studies have explored the relationship between urbanization and urban building carbon emissions. This study comprehensively analyzes the impact of urbanization on urban building carbon emissions from both quantity and structure dimensions based on the STIRPAT model, using the panel data of China’s 30 provinces from 2001 to 2015. Urbanization is measured from the three perspectives: population, economy and space. Results show that the urban population, the added value of tertiary industry and the urban building area contributes positively to the urban building carbon emissions from the quantity dimension, of which the added value of tertiary industry is the main driver. From the structure dimension, the urban population ratio and the proportion of tertiary industry on gross domestic product (GDP) are the driving factors of urban building carbon emissions, but the plot ratio of urban buildings contributes negatively during the study period. This study can help better understand the driving factors of growing urban building carbon emissions under the background of China’s rapid urbanization, and will provide valuable reference for governments’ efforts to set building energy efficiency and carbon emissions mitigation policy.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 24 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Seunghwan Wi, Seong Jin Chang, Sumin Kim〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The use of phase change material as an efficient way to use building energy has recently been discovered as this material occupies 40% of the total carbon emissions through energy used in the building sector. In order to apply phase change materials to buildings, phase stabilization must first be achieved; some researchers have developed shape-stabilized phase change material (SSPCM). In this study, the enthalpy-temperature function based on the thermal properties of 22 types of SSPCMs were analyzed and applied to a dynamic energy simulation program. The SSPCM was applied to improve the low heat storage performance of wooden buildings along with building energy savings. The SSPCM was applied to the inner side of a 20-mm-thick external wall in a case study concerning the inside and outside of an external wall. An analysis of the annual energy consumption of buildings showed that applying SSPCM resulted in average savings of 5%. To confirm the improvement in the heat storage performance of buildings, the indoor temperature behavior during the heating and cooling periods was analyzed. Maintaining the thermal inertia of SSPCM was found to have reduced the peak temperature in summer by 4.1 °C.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 25 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Fernando Lezama, Joao Soares, Bruno Canizes, Zita Vale〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Several initiates have been taken promoting clean energy and the use of local flexibility towards a more sustainable and green economy. From a residential point of view, flexibility can be provided to operators using home-appliances with the ability to modify their consumption profiles. These actions are part of demand response programs and can be utilized to avoid problems, such as balancing/congestion, in distribution networks. In this paper, we propose a model for aggregators flexibility provision in distribution networks. The model takes advantage of load flexibility resources allowing the re-schedule of shifting/real-time home-appliances to provision a request from a distribution system operator (DSO) or a balance responsible party (BRP). Due to the complex nature of the problem, evolutionary computation is evoked and different algorithms are implemented for solving the formulation efficiently. A case study considering 20 residential houses equipped each with seven types of home-appliances is used to test and compare the performance of evolutionary algorithms solving the proposed model. Results show that the aggregator can fulfill a flexibility request from the DSO/BRP by re-scheduling the home-appliances loads for the next 24-hours horizon while minimizing the costs associated with the remuneration given to end-users.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yanfei Li, Qiang Ji, Dayong Zhang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Technological progress is critical for achieving sustainable growth and thus an important issue to study. China has recently emerged as a key power of innovation with both increasing investment in research and clear improvements in research output. The main questions behind these facts are how this country makes such achievements in a short period of time and whether they are sustainable in the future. This paper proposes a new theoretical framework to explain the phenomenally accelerated technological catching-up process of China. Specifically, we set up an inverted S-curve model based on the existing theories. The empirical analyses herein provide clear evidence supporting the proposed theoretical framework. At the aggregate level, an empirical model is developed for the purpose of identifying the main driving forces of the technological progress of China. Based on the theoretical framework and the existing literature, a seven-variable model is used to investigate the contribution of key factors to the innovation outcome of China. At the micro-level, case studies on China General Nuclear (CGN), a leading state-owned nuclear energy company, as well as Huawei, a prominent Chinese private company in the telecommunications industry, provide further insights into what firm-level strategies, in combination with or leveraging state-level policies, enable successful stories in practice.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Timo Tammi, Jani Saastamoinen, Helen Reijonen〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper contributes to the literature on the role of public procurement in encouraging innovations in the economy by empirically examining how the inverted-U relationship between competition and innovation is related to SME behavior in public procurement. First, we establish the inverted-U relationship in our data. We find that ‘intra-provincial suppliers’ (SMEs supplying mainly to public sector customers in their own municipality and province) are less innovation-oriented than ‘supra-provincial suppliers’ (supplying mainly to public sector customers residing outside their own province). In addition, a descriptive analysis suggests that the innovativeness of intra-provincial suppliers exhibits a weakly positive relationship with competition. However, the innovativeness of supra-provincial suppliers appears to be negatively related to competition at high levels of competition, but not at low levels of competition.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ribeiro-Soriano Domingo, Juan Piñeiro-Chousa, M. Ángeles López-Cabarcos〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In recent years, initial coin offerings (ICOs) have received considerable attention as a new form of crowdfunding. Because of the rapid growth in their popularity, ICOs have become a prominent research topic. However, the lack of knowledge about the nature of this kind of financial operation inevitably raises several important unanswered questions. This study starts by providing a comprehensive description of the characteristics, benefits, and risks associated with ICOs. Then, using a panel data set comprising daily information for 125 ICOs (44,217 observations gathered from December 2017 to December 2018), this study explores the influence of the ICO presale period, ICO category, Bitcoin spot returns, Bitcoin futures returns, and sentiment extracted from social media on ICO returns. The results suggest that while Bitcoin spot and Bitcoin futures returns exert a positive influence on ICO returns, the existence of a presale period exerts a negative influence, and ICO category seems to be non-significant. Sentiment extracted from social networks positively influences ICO returns. Further conclusions of this study are presented in the last section.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 24 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jinhan Mo, Enze Tian, Jin Pan〈/p〉 〈h5〉ABSTRACT〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Influx of ambient particulate matter (PM) to the indoor environment has threatened human health due to its adverse impacts on respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological systems. Consequently, PM removal devices with high efficiency and low cost like electrostatic precipitator (ESP) are essential for a healthy and sustainable indoor environment. Traditional two-staged ESP includes particle charging and collection part. In this study, we innovated the collection part by coating the repelling electrodes with dielectric films. Four performance influencing parameters were examined: the voltage difference (〈em〉V〈sub〉c〈/sub〉〈/em〉) and distance (〈em〉d〈sub〉c〈/sub〉〈/em〉) between the repelling and collecting electrodes, and both the dielectric material and thickness (〈em〉d〈sub〉e〈/sub〉〈/em〉). The new ESP achieved its best performance when coated with PET (〈em〉d〈sub〉e〈/sub〉〈/em〉 =60 µm) at 〈em〉d〈sub〉c〈/sub〉〈/em〉 =3 mm. The breakdown voltage was promoted from −4 kV (without dielectric film) to −9 kV, and PM removal efficiency was enhanced from 60% to 92%. The new ESP had low net ozone production (3 - 5 ppb), low pressure drop (10 - 13 Pa), and low energy consumption (18 W/m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉), making it an eco-friendly device. Running continuously for one week, the new ESP maintained a single-pass PM removal efficiency of around 90%, notwithstanding changes in ambient air temperature and relative humidity.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphic Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2210670720300500-ga1.jpg" width="301" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 152〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shan Song, De Wang, Wei Zhu, Can Wang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Background〈/h6〉 〈p〉The rapid population aging arouses the enormous demands of elderly people for institutional care services. Although the supply of nursing homes is still short in quantity, a structural imbalance on the utilization of nursing homes has appeared in many cities of China recently. Namely, when elderly people wait a long time for a bed of downtown nursing homes, many suburban ones are not fully utilized.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Purpose〈/h6〉 〈p〉This paper aims to reveal the elderly people's preferences for the nursing homes, in order to clarify the reason for utilization imbalance and put forward the efficient strategies for planning practice.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Method〈/h6〉 〈p〉A stated preference survey was undertaken to collect the choice data of respondents (〈em〉n〈/em〉=293) in Shanghai, 2013. Discrete choice models were used in data analysis to explain the mechanism of preferences.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Findings〈/h6〉 〈p〉All seven attributes of nursing homes significantly affect elderly people's preferences. Disparities on the medical condition, transportation, and distance to home between downtown and suburban nursing homes are the leading cause of utilization imbalance. By optimizing the configuration of those factors, the crowded downtown elderly people could be attracted to suburban nursing homes. Finally, the mechanism was applied to a simulation of nursing home planning.〈/p〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Adriana Amaya Rivas, Yen-Chun Chen, Ta-Kai Yang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Given different strategic logics and implications of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and alliance orientation (AO), this study develops an integrative model of an alignment between EO and AO in the context of new product development (NPD) and articulates the results of a study designed to examine its effects on a firm's NPD activities and performance outcomes. The authors empirically investigate the model through a cross-sectional survey of 141 Taiwanese electronics firms. Drawing from the coalignment perspective, these firms are distinguished into four strategic groups labeled as EO (high EO and low AO), AO (low EO and high AO), EA (high EO and high AO), and CO (low EO and low AO) firms. Empirical results suggest that the four groups of firms significantly differ in terms of NPD process characteristics (decision-making flexibility, market-focused learning, and internally focused learning), program characteristics (product program meaningfulness and newness), and performance outcome (new product success). Theoretical and managerial implications of the results are demonstrated.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jindian Liu, Mingwang Cheng, Xinyu Wei, Ning Neil Yu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Based on data from the Chinese General Social Surveys from 2012, 2013, and 2015, this paper empirically studies the impact of the Internet on sexual attitudes, using ordinary least squares regressions and ordinal logistic regressions, followed by regressions that use the instrumental variable method and propensity score matching method for causal inferences. Our results suggest that Internet-usage frequency has a significantly positive impact on sexually permissive attitudes, including attitudes toward premarital sex, extramarital sex, and homosexual behavior. For example, a regression that uses instrument variables reveals that an increase of one standard deviation for Internet-usage frequency is associated with an increase of 0.6154 standard deviations for sexually permissive attitudes. Further, through the mediation effect model, this study probes the influence of Internet usage on sexually permissive attitudes, revealing that social network and education attainment account for 2.37% and 11.09%, respectively, of the total effect. The findings bolster the common perception that the Internet plays a crucial role in the sexual revolution in China.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Wenru Cheng, Yifei Zhang, Peng Wang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Biomass is disadvantageous as it has low energy density and poor fluidity. High transportation costs lead to bottlenecks in the development of biomass. This paper aims to find a spatial distribution model of biomass collection points to effectively control the transportation cost of raw materials. Considering a variety of influencing factors to assess the potential of forestry, agricultural biomass, and domestic waste; and to establish transport cost models with the help of ArcGIS software, the most economical location of biomass thermal power plant is determined and the shortest path and transportation cost from resource point to biomass thermal power plant are obtained. The analysis results show that the transportation cost for a single vehicle has a positive linear relationship with the transportation distance. The transportation cost rapidly increases when the transportation distance reaches 90 km. The total transportation cost and transportation distance within the distance range are positively correlated and follow an S curve. Setting a transportation distance of 22 km as the threshold for the first level raw material collection locations and 63 km as the second level for raw material collection locations. effectively lowered the transportation costs for biomass.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 129〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): S. Manda, A. Tallontire, A.J. Dougill〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Integration of smallholders in outgrower schemes has been advanced as a strategy for poverty reduction in the global south, but how terms and conditions of inclusion and exclusion shape divergent outcomes, and processes underpinning these local dynamics remain an under-researched area. This study, set in Zambia’s southern ‘sugarbelt’ region of Mazabuka, draws on two contrasting outgrower schemes to examine determinants of smallholder inclusion in sugar value-chains, and consider how various terms and conditions underpining inclusion shape various interests, reactions and pathways for value capture among different local groups. Our study reaveals terms and conditions are important in shaping divergent outcomes for smallholders included in sugar value-chains. It shows determinants of inclusion and exclusion are complex and go beyond market imperatives that are production related (structural) to include social-cultural dynamics (non-structural). The centrality of the paper points to lived realities and experiences for different groups and political reactions from below, underlining how socially contested intersection of global–local value-chain produces diverse but interdependent hierarchies of inclusion and exclusion. For an early stage in planning of outgrower schemes by state and non-state actors, recognition of the various social groups and their complex engagement and reactions to changes in land-use and land control will not only expose competing interests but should inform polices, institutions and investments to improve value-chain impacts. This paper hopes to contribute towards a more nuanced understanding of the complex engagement of smallholders in changes in land use and land control in developing countries in the era of land-grabbing.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yang Lv, Yuwei Zhou, Xi Chen, TongKe Zhao, Tao Liu, Xin He, Jing Liu, Xiao Ye〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉To control severe air pollution and promote cities sustainable development in an old industrial base of severe cold region in China, it obtained indoor and outdoor PM〈sub〉2.5〈/sub〉 permeability coefficients, also bacterial community and source by 16s rDNA gene sequencing technique and BLAST (〈em〉The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool〈/em〉) source apportionment through long-term monitoring of residences in two typical cities of Heilongjiang Province (Harbin and Mudanjiang) in Northeast China during heating and non-heating season. The results showed that the average permeability coefficient of indoor and outdoor fine particles in Harbin is similar to that in Mudanjiang during non-heating season (Harbin: 0.7131, Mudanjiang: 0.7312) mainly due to natural ventilation. In heating season, Harbin (0.5325) was lower than that in Mudanjiang (0.6918) due to the differences in industrial characteristics and building tightness. The dominant bacteria on indoor and outdoor fine particles was Proteobacteria for two cities, accounted for more than 95 % in non-heating season, while for heating season were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, which were proportional different due to the different average permeability coefficients, intensities of ultraviolet rays and temperature. And no matter which city in different season, their source proportions of indoor human and outdoor soil are larger than others.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tanveer Ahmad, Hongcai Zhang, Biao Yan〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The benefits of renewable energy are that it is sustainable and is low in environmental pollution. Growing load requirement, global warming, and energy crisis need energy-intensive management to give sincere attempts to promote high accuracy energy monitoring techniques in order to enhance energy system efficiency and performance. The energy consumption data of domestic, commercial and industrial are becoming accessible to estimate the notable share of various sectors in the energy market. Energy forecasting algorithms play a vital role in energy sector development and policy formulation. Energy prediction and power supply management are the key roots of energy planning. A large number of prediction models have been used in the recent past. The selection of a prediction model usually based on available data, the objectives of the model network mechanism and energy planning operation. In this review, we conduct a critical and systematic review of renewable energy and electricity prediction models applied as an energy planning tool. The forecasting intervals is divided into three sections including: i) short-term; ii) medium-term; iii) and long-term. Three renewable energy resources, i.e. wind, solar, and geothermal energy, and electricity load demand requirement are considered for review forecasting analysis. Three major states-of-art forecasting classifications: i) machine learning algorithms; ii) ensemble-based approaches; iii) and artificial neural networks are analyzed. These approaches are investigated for prediction applicability; accuracy for spatial and temporal forecasting; and relevance to policy and planning objectives. The machine learning models can handle large amount of data with accurate forecasting analysis. Applying ensemble techniques enables us to obtain higher forecasting accuracy by combining different models. Artificial neural networks if used in the right way can contribute a robust choice, given that it is capible to extract and model unseen relationships and features. Furthermore, unlike these conventional techniques, artificial neural networks do not force any limitation on residual and input distributions. Findings from this review would help professionals and researchers in obtaining recognition of the prediction approaches and allow them to choose the relevant methods to satisfy their desired tasks and forecasting requirements.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chunping Miao, Shuai Yu, Yuanman Hu, Rencang Bu, Li Qi, Xingyuan He, Wei Chen〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Exposure to near-ground air pollution in urban street canyons poses a serious threat to pedestrian health. To develop design guidelines for air quality improvement, correlations among PM〈sub〉1〈/sub〉, PM〈sub〉2.5〈/sub〉, PM〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, PM〈sub〉10〈/sub〉, TSP, street canyons morphology and climatic conditions were investigated by field experimental studies. The results showed that street canyons morphology and air humidity were two of the most important factors affecting suspended particulate matter concentration in urban street canyons. The concentrations of PM〈sub〉1〈/sub〉 (9.18 ± 0.17 μg/m〈sup〉3〈/sup〉), PM〈sub〉2.5〈/sub〉 (18.12 ± 0.43 μg/m〈sup〉3〈/sup〉), PM〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 (31.66 ± 0.82 μg/m〈sup〉3〈/sup〉), PM〈sub〉10〈/sub〉 (77.57 ± 2.04 μg/m〈sup〉3〈/sup〉) and TSP (104.06 ± 2.85 μg/m〈sup〉3〈/sup〉) in deep canyons were significantly lower than those in medium and wide canyons. The pollutants distributed in E-W or N-S street directions were at a lower concentration compared with those in NE-SW or NW-SE street directions. Moreover, the pollutants showed significantly lower concentration in high-rise building areas than in multilayer building areas. This study provides a reference for future urban planning to reduce suspended particulate matter concentration in street environments.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ke Wang, Zhenyu Li, Jianjun Zhang, Xia Wu, Mei Jia, Liu Wu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The optimization of green infrastructure networks (GINs) is an essential part of sustainable urban development, and the expansion of built-up land has to be treated as an important disturbing force of urban GINs. This paper employs morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) to extract the GINs in Wu’an (a resource-dependent city in China), and five factors of production and a three-dimensional digital model are involved in predicting the possibility of built-up land expansion. The entire city is then divided into different eco-sensitive areas, and ecological protected areas with different GIN optimization objects are determined. The main findings indicate that the stability of GINs in Wu’an is reduced. From 1987–2016, the number of large ecological cores increased by 5, but the total area of the large ecological cores decreased by 359.81 km〈sup〉2〈/sup〉, and the number and area of small ecological cores increased by 5 and 26.16 km〈sup〉2〈/sup〉, respectively. The expansion of built-up land leads to disconnection of the GINs, and the possibility of built-up land expansion gradually decreases from the downtown and satellite towns to their surrounding areas. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a new way to optimize the GINs from the perspective of built-up land expansion.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Bao-Jie He, Lan Ding, Deo Prasad〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The reduction of urban ventilation is one of the significant causes of the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. Reasonable urban planning and design can guide cooler wind into cities, thereby mitigating UHI phenomenon. However, existing knowledge of the cooling effect of urban ventilation is mainly at the regional or city scale, while the lack of information on ‘realistic’ precinct ventilation limits the use of wind for UHI mitigation. Therefore, this study aims to understand the precinct ventilation and its associated influences on UHI effects and outdoor thermal comfort. In specific, a case study analysis was performed in summer in a precinct of the coastal Sydney, Australia. Results indicate that in the open low-rise gridiron precinct, the precinct ventilation performance (PVP), precinct outdoor thermal environment (POTE) and precinct outdoor thermal comfort (POTC) significantly varied with the combination of external meteorological conditions and precinct morphological characteristics, while the street orientation made insignificant influence to PVP, POTE and POTC. The PVP exhibited its significant potentials for UHII reduction and POTC improvement. The PVP forced by the sea breeze could further enhance relative humidity for UHII reduction and POTC improvement. Overall, this study presents the understanding of PVP and the associated influence on POTE and POTC under realistic and complicated precinct context. It can further facilitate wind-sensitive urban planning and design for local warming mitigation.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yizhou Wu, Tiancheng Zhang, Huan Zhang, Tao Pan, Xueling Ni, Adam Grydehøj, Jianming Zhang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Many island cities have vulnerable ecosystems, yet island ecosystems also present special challenges for research. Ecological footprint analysis is an effective method of evaluating the ability of island cities to engage in regional ecological sustainable development. This study uses ecological footprint analysis combined with the ArcGIS platform to evaluate the ecological security of 14 neighborhoods on Zhoushan Island (Zhejiang Province, China) in 2010, 2013, and 2015. The partial least squares regression model is used to explore factors affecting spatial and temporal differences in ecological security in the island’s neighborhoods and to help optimize the island’s ecological sustainable development. Results reveal that Zhoushan Island’s per capita ecological footprint decreased from 7.355 hm2 in 2010 to 4.662 hm2 in 2015, yet throughout the study period, the per capita ecological footprint remained higher than the per capita ecological carrying capacity in all neighborhoods. Although the island’s ecological security has gradually improved, there continue to be large ecological deficits and ecological pressure. To improve the island city’s ecological security, we should optimize the mode of urban development, develop renewable energy sources, protect ecologically valuable land, improve the scale and quality of urban zones and transportation infrastructure, and improve residents’ industrial and consumption structures.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Julian Laufs, Hervé Borrion, Ben Bradford〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The implementation of smart technology in cities is often hailed as the solution to many urban challenges such as transportation, waste management, and environmental protection. Issues of security and crime prevention, however, are in many cases neglected. Moreover, when researchers do introduce new smart security technologies, they rarely discuss their implementation or question how new smart city security might affect traditional policing and urban planning processes. This systematic review explores the recent literature concerned with new ‘smart city’ security technologies and aims to investigate to what extent these new interventions correspond with traditional functions of security interventions. Through an extensive literature search we compiled a list of security interventions for smart cities and suggest several changes to the conceptual status quo in the field. Ultimately, we propose three clear categories to categorise security interventions in smart cities: Those interventions that use new sensors but traditional actuators, those that seek to make old systems smart, and those that introduce entirely new functions. These themes are then discussed in detail and the importance of each group of interventions for the overall field of urban security and governance is assessed.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Veli Yilanci, Seref Bozoklu, Muhammed Sehid Gorus〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The goal of this paper to determine whether the effect of foreign direct investment inflows on the environment is pollutive or pollution-reducing for BRICS countries―Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa―using annual data for the period 1982–2014. For that purpose, this study examines the long-run impact of FDI inflow and energy use on ecological footprint and its components―crop land, grazing land, forest land, fishing ground, built-up land, and carbon footprint―by introducing and utilizing the bootstrap autoregressive distributed lag model with a Fourier function (FARDL) for cointegration. The findings demonstrate that although the effect of FDI inflows on the footprints is mixed in Brazil and Russia, it is positive on environmental degradation regarding ecological footprint and carbon footprint in India. Furthermore, it is found that FDI inflows increase environmental quality in China for cropland and grazing land footprints and in South Africa for crop land, grazing land, fishing ground, and built-up footprints. Furthermore, the long-run effect of energy consumption is mostly pollutive for BRICS countries.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 14 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): John Mulrow, Sybil Derrible〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Given the major role that transportation plays in the urgent issue of climate change, as well as technological and societal changes currently underway, a comprehensive evaluation of speed’s role in achieving sustainable transportation goals is needed. This article presents a review of speed’s role in generating climate impacts. The relationships between speed and sustainable transportation factors are reviewed and quantified. Speed is then incorporated as a variable in the ASIF equation, an emissions-projection model used by the IPCC. By applying this model to a United States context, insights are drawn for how transportation speed factors into the achievement of ambitious climate, public transit, and active transportation goals. These insights are crucial for setting sustainable transportation agendas, especially in the nation’s major metropolitan areas, which have become centers of sustainability planning but also hubs of expanding transportation networks, especially via air travel. A motivating question for this study is whether future transportation activity must be slower overall, in order to meet sustainability goals. Importantly, the results do not rule out a faster transportation future but prove that there is far less solution “space” for increasing average mode-speed.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ou Han, Ying Zhang, Angui Li, Jianwei Li, Yuwei Li, Huagan Liu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Heavy gases, in particular sulfur hexafluoride (SF〈sub〉6〈/sub〉), are used extensively in the gas insulated substations (GISs) of various industrial buildings, such as nuclear power plants. Although the construction and operation of these facilities are closely monitored and regulated, accidents are possible. A hazardous situation may arise if the SF〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 gas in a GIS leaks without effective measures to remove the contaminants in time. In this study, a chamber experiment and CFD numerical simulation were carried out to study SF〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 gas dispersion characteristics and the optimal ventilation design for its accidental leakage in industrial buildings. The influence of leakage angle (〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si1.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉α〈/mi〉〈mo〉=〈/mo〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉 90°, 45° and 0°) on the SF〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 dispersion and concentration distribution was analyzed. Several different ventilation design parameters, i.e., air outlet layout, size and air change rate, were proposed to evaluate the ventilation performance. The findings indicated that different leakage angles could result in different space concentration distributions of SF〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 and that any leakage angle deviating from 90° could result in an uneven SF〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 concentration distribution; a deviation angle of 45° caused the maximum concentration variation in the lower part of the chamber. The removal of SF〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 was more effective when the air outlets and inlets were arranged on the same side of the wall. Vent openings and air outlets had a remarkable influence on the removal rate of SF〈sub〉6〈/sub〉. It was found that high-efficiency ventilation could be achieved with a 10 h〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 air change rate, meeting the needs of SF〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 emergency ventilation. The current study can serve as a reference for ventilation design and establishment of standards for the accidental leakage of heavy gas in industrial buildings.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jinfei Hu, Guangju Zhao, Xingmin Mu, Georg Hörmann, Peng Tian, Peng Gao, Wenyi Sun〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Understanding the changes in runoff-sediment relationships is a great help for implementing soil and water conservation measures, particularly in regions with severe erosion. We selected a typical coarse sandy catchment on the Loess Plateau to investigate the changes of the runoff-sediment relationships with a data set of 62 years. A change point occurred in 1979, dividing the runoff and sediment load series into a baseline period (1954–1979) and a changing period (1980–2015). A total of 342 flood events were classified into three regimes using hierarchical clustering method. Regime A (162 events) was characterized by the shortest duration, lowest flood crest, and the least flow depth. Regime B (165 events) was characterized by a medium runoff depth, medium flow variability, and medium duration. Regime C merely include fifteen events with longest flood duration, the highest runoff depth, and the largest peak discharge. The sediment yield of flood regime A, B, and C accounted 14.2 % (1.09 × 10〈sup〉8〈/sup〉 t), 51.8 % (3.99 × 10〈sup〉8〈/sup〉 t), and 34.0 % (2.62 × 10〈sup〉8〈/sup〉 t) of the total sediment yield, respectively. The Support vector machines method was applied to established models to predict event sediment yield. It is demonstrated that the performance of models are good for different flood regimes.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 21 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Huang Huanchun, Yang Hailin, Deng Xin, Hao Cui, Liu Zhifeng, Liu Wei, Zeng Peng〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The effects of human activities and land cover changes on urban thermal field patterns are closely related to the land surface temperature (LST) and air temperature. At present, the number of studies on the quantitative relationship between these two indexes and the effect of the observational scale on their influence is insufficient. In this study, spatial analysis methods such as geographic modeling were combined with remote sensing images, meteorological data, and points of insert and used to investigate the composition and scale of the factors influencing the temperature field in Beijing. The results showed that there are differences in the positive and negative correlations between LST and air temperature and various influencing factors. At a spatial resolution of 90 m, LST had a strong linear relationship with the average air temperature. Indicators reflecting elements of human activity, such as buildings, roads, and entertainment, were easily measured by meteorological stations at a small scale, and the natural green space ratio could also be easily captured by satellite thermal sensors at small scales. These results have substantial implications for environmental impact assessments in areas experiencing an increasing urban heat island effect due to rapid urbanization.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Erik Hille, Wilhelm Althammer, Henning Diederich〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We examine how different renewable energy support policies affect innovation in solar and wind power technologies. The analysis uses policy and patent data for a large sample of 194 countries and territories. The policy data enables distinguishing between two dimensions of regulation, i.e. design and intensity, and their effects on innovation. The patent data is based on the new Y02E system and covers the period 1990 to 2016, with the more recent years revealing both strong increases and declines in patenting activity. The results show that, firstly, more comprehensive portfolios of renewable energy support policies increase patenting in solar- and wind-power-related technologies. Secondly, this inducement effect is strongest for public RD&D programs, targets, and fiscal incentives. In contrast to previous studies, this paper finds a consistently positive impact of feed-in tariffs and does not detect technology-specific differences in the effectiveness of this policy instrument. Thirdly, the positive effect on patenting activity increases significantly over time, with an increase in duration of the implemented RD&D programs and targets.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 14 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Fakhrii Alam Khan, Muhammad Asif, Awais Ahmad, Mafawez Alharbi, Hanan Aljuaid〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Blockchain technology has gained considerable attention for different types of stakeholders due to its stable implementation in the field of digital currency like Bitcoin. Some users use Bitcoin for payment exchanges against any business while others use the Bitcoin network for earning Bitcoins itself, and there is also another type of user who called hackers those flood different types of attacks to illegally earn some Bitcoins or collapsing overall network. There are also numerous uses of blockchain technology, e.g. health, automation industry, energy sector, security and authentication in smart grids. In this study, we have elaborated on different critical aspects of Blockchain technology like its style of working mechanism, possible improvement suggestions by using Proof-of-Stake, and other custom variations, attempting seven types of challenges by different novel techniques. Moreover, we have also explained the current state-of-the-artwork in blockchain’s non-financial applications like Healthcare in which contribution of four-layered custom blockchain models related to precision medicine and the clinical trial was notable. Moreover, a mobile app model called HDG for the automation of medical records without compromising privacy was also a prominent contribution.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Paul Bertheau〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Access to sustainable energy is crucial for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. A particular challenge for countries like the Philippines, is to provide sustainable energy on its far-flung islands. Renewable energy technologies hold substantial potential for improving sustainability and reliability while decreasing costs. We present a socio-economic impact survey for a case study island: Cobrador represents a typical small Philippine island with a population of approximately 1,000. The implementation of solar power and batteries led to increased service hours, affordability and environmental soundness. We applied a household questionnaire focusing on electricity usage patterns and targeted 170 randomly selected households representing 70% of the population. Our data show a clear positive impact of the intervention on access to education, information, health services, and perceived safety, whereas we found a weaker impact on income generation. Overall, we reveal a beneficial impact on different aspects of the household's daily routine. However, we also identify significant differences in the electricity usage pattern of below-average and above-average income households, specifically with the latter more frequently using electricity for income generation. Future sustainable energy interventions need to be aligned with programs incentivizing poor household's electricity use for enabling all households to equally profit from sustainable energy.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 53〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Daniele La Rosa, Viviana Pappalardo〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉There is a rising demand to use nature and natural processes to address a different range of urban issues, especially when looking at the risk of pluvial flood associated with climate changes and urbanization processes. Among the set of Nature-Based Solutions used in urban planning, Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) represent promising solutions to reduce the negative effects of urban water run-offs and to increase urban Ecosystem Services.〈/p〉 〈p〉However, SUDS can impact differently in the urban fabric and generate positive effects only on particular portions of cities. Planning of SUDS should try to consider not only the number of potential beneficiaries but also where beneficiaries are located in the city, as water sensitive approaches to urban planning must deal with distributive, procedural and contextual dimensions of equity.〈/p〉 〈p〉In this paper, we simulate different spatially explicit planning scenarios of SUDS for densely populated catchments in Sicily. Particularly, we evaluate the relation between the quantitative performance of SUDS in terms of reduction of hazard/risk of pluvial flooding and the number and location of beneficiaries -intended here as residents of different social groups. Results suggest that scenarios of SUDS generate benefits that are not equally distributed within the city.〈/p〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 53〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Baohong Jin, Xiaohong Nan, Xuhao Ning, Zanshe Wang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In the process of tea brick production, the major energy consumption lies in the air-conditioning system of the tea fermentation chamber. Under the condition of satisfying the fermentation process, the energy-saving operation of the air-conditioning system is an effective method to reduce the energy consumption and to improve the economic benefit of the tea brick. However, due to lack of quantitative calculation of the indoor heat and moisture load during the fermentation process, the air conditioning system of the tea brick fermentation chamber is mainly based on the CAS (circulating air system) or the ORCS (One return air conditioning system). Consequently, in this study, the heat and moisture transfer model of the tea brick was built based on the heat and moisture coupling transfer theory for porous media. The COMSOL Multiphysics was implemented to solve the heat and moisture exchange rate between tea bricks and the fermentation environment. Based on the rate and the heat transfer of the envelope structure, the heat and moisture load of the fermentation chamber was calculated under different meteorological parameters. According to the indoor heat and moisture load and outdoor weather parameters, the energy consumption and exergy loss of the two air conditioning systems were analyzed during the fermentation cycle. The results show that the ORCS energy efficiency is 30.8%–55.8% greater than that of the CAS, and the irreversible exergy loss is also reduced by 19.6%–57.0% when the residual heat 〈em〉Q〈/em〉 inside the fermentation chamber is less than zero. On the other hand, when the residual heat 〈em〉Q〈/em〉 is greater than zero, the CAS energy efficiency is 16.1%–22.3% greater than that of the ORCS, and the exergy loss is reduced by 37.8%–43.3%. According to the energy and exergy analyses of the two air-conditioning systems, an energy-saving operation strategies of air conditioning system for brick fermentation were determined in different tea brick production areas.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 53〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Woohyun Kim, Srinivas Katipamula, Robert Lutes〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Electricity utilities are faced with the mounting challenge of providing a stable supply of power to meet the growing demand while also integrating rapid growth in distributed variable renewable generation. Traditional means of balancing short- and long-term supply and demand imbalance will be expensive. Alternative approaches of using flexible loads in buildings are needed to mitigate the imbalance at a lower cost. This paper shows how the intelligent load control (ILC) process can be used to manage loads in buildings by dynamically prioritizing loads for curtailment using both quantitative and qualitative criteria. The ILC process can be deployed on low-cost computing platforms without the need for any additional sensing. ILC was first validated in a simulation environment to provide two grid service use cases: (1) managing monthly peak electricity demand and (2) managing buildings’ electricity consumption during a capacity bidding event. After being successfully tested in a simulation environment, ILC was deployed on real buildings to manage electricity consumption to provide two different use cases under different outdoor operating conditions. Both the simulation tests and the real building experiments were deployed using VOLTTRON™, a distributed sensing and control platform. The results from the tests and experiments showed that ILC was able to manage the controllable loads (heat pumps) in the building to maintain the electricity consumption at the desired level without a significant impact on occupant comfort. Overall, the results demonstrate that the ILC allows coordination of the controllable loads and provides a more intelligent means of load management than the traditional duty-cycling approach.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 152〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tao Xiang, Tariq H. Malik, Klaus Nielsen〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Population growth generates various challenges for humankind. One such challenge is linked to the trade-off between food security and food safety (environmental quality). Increasing population and shrinking agricultural land necessitates productivity gains in agricultural production in order to secure food security. However, intensive use of agrochemicals (fertiliser and pesticides) impacts on food safety through deteriorated environmental quality. This security-safety dilemma is recognised but has rarely been thoroughly examined empirically. In this paper, we address the dilemma by examining increased fertiliser use due to population pressure. Based on a dynamic fixed-effects model and panel data for 77 countries for the period 1970–2011, we provide a solid empirically analysis of the trade-off. First, the findings show that population pressure has significant impacts on fertiliser use in countries with high population pressure. The impacts are both direct and indirect (i.e., mediated by agricultural protection and food trade policies). Our analysis demonstrates that an increase in population pressure by 1% yields a 0.118% increase in fertiliser use intensity for this group of countries. Second, the direct impact is aggravated by agricultural protection, but attenuated by food import in high-pressure countries. Third, countries with high population pressure import food from low-pressure countries to meet their food security needs in favour of environmental protection. This may not be a food safety problem for low-pressure countries as the fertiliser use in these countries is still relatively low at a level of only one third of high-pressure countries' fertiliser use. In other words, the mediating role of food trade appears to be a rational international solution. In the last decades, agricultural support of intensification of agricultural production by means of agrochemicals has decreased. A continuation of this trend together with increased international food trade and, in particular, technological innovation and infrastructural investment are needed to establish a better trade-off between food security and food safety.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 152〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mohammad Falahat, T. Ramayah, Pedro Soto-Acosta, Yan-Yin Lee〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Small and medium enterprise (SME) competitive advantage has been recognized as an important topic for researchers dealing with SME internationalization. Previous studies have long discussed the role of firm competitive advantage as a determinant of international performance, but there are few studies analyzing the determinants of firm competitive advantage and its potential mediating role in the relationship between organizational capabilities and SMEs' international performance. In this paper, we hypothesize four essential export capabilities (market intelligence, product innovation, pricing, and marketing communication) as determinants of competitive advantage for exporting SMEs. Based on a sample of 119 active exporting Malaysian SMEs and using partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling, the results revealed that three of the mentioned capabilities lead to competitive advantage. In addition, results indicated that competitive advantage only acts as a mediator between pricing capability and SMEs' international performance. The main conclusions of this investigation can be valuable to SMEs and startups that intend to explore or exploit opportunities in foreign markets.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 129〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Degnet Abebaw, Assefa Admassie, Habtemariam Kassa, Christine Padoch〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Food insecurity in Ethiopia is a persistent development challenge. In this paper, we investigate the effects of rural outmigration on indicators of household food security in Ethiopia. The empirical data come from a two-year panel data collected from three regions of the country. To control for the potential endogeneity of migration and migration selection bias, our estimation uses a combination of a difference-in-difference (DID) model and an inverse-probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) approach (IPTW-DID). We find that, on average, rural outmigration has significantly improved the amount of daily calories consumed per adult equivalent by around 22%. Our estimation results also show that outmigration has significantly reduced food poverty gap and severity of food poverty by seven and four percentage points, respectively.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ranran Li, Ping Jiang, Hufang Yang, Chen Li〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Electricity demand/load forecasting always plays a vital role in the management and operation of power systems, since it can help develop an optimal action program for power producers, end-consumers and government entities. Inaccurate prediction may cause an additional production or waste of resources due to high operational costs. This paper investigated the benefit of combining data features to produce short-term electricity demand forecast. The nature of the electricity usually presents the complex characteristic and obvious seasonal tendency. In this paper, the advantage of adaptive Fourier decomposition is firstly used to extract the fluctuation characteristics. Then, the condition of the linear and stationary sequence is satisfied and the sub-series are performed to measure and eliminate the seasonal pattern. In the process of seasonal adjustment, the average periodicity length is identified quantitatively. In addition, to realize the generalization performance on real electricity demand data, the sine cosine optimization algorithm is applied to select the penalty and kernel parameters of support vector machine. The empirical study showed that the superior property of the proposed hybrid method profits from the effect of data pretreatment and the findings prove that this hybrid modeling scheme can yield promising prediction results within acceptable computational complexity.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 7 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tingting Yao, Zelin Huang, Wei Zhao〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉As a new mode of urbanization, smart city both influences the environmental load and economic performance of cities through technology effect, resource allocation effect and industrial structure upgrade effect. So comes the natural question: has smart city construction improved the eco-efficiency of cities In China? How does the impact change over time? Is the impact heterogeneous across cities? Based on Green Solow model, this paper adopts the Super-efficiency SBM model to measure the eco-efficiency of 152 prefecture-level cities in China covering the period 2003-2016, and then DID model is applied to investigate the impact of smart city pilot policy on eco-efficiency. On the whole, the smart city construction significantly improves the eco-efficiency, and the multi-stage DID results reveal that the promotion effect is increasing over time due to the annual superposition. Furthermore, the impact is heterogeneous across cities. Although the promotion effect on medium-sized cities is less than that of large cities, the promotion effect has actually weakened when the urban population size exceeds 5 million. Moreover, the lower the level of city’s economic development, the greater the role of smart city construction in promoting eco-efficiency. The research conclusion is of great practical significance for the reform of urban governance model and the realization of high-quality urban development.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 129〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): G.J. Alaerts〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉After two decades of implementation, Indonesia’s program to reform its irrigation sector can be assessed yielding lessons on water policy reform. This reform coincided with state-wide decentralization, and shifted decision-making from a central ministry to a distributed arrangement in which local governments and Water User Associations assume part of irrigation authority and budget. The policy was formulated with different stakeholders in 1999–2004 based on field pilots and was implemented using an adaptive, sequential approach while developing institutional capacity of local governments and farmers. Relatively coherent longitudinal monitoring data sets are available on field-level practices, economic returns on projects (with and without, and before and after reform), and rice production. Institutional development was monitored by performance indicators. The overall reform effectiveness is assessed by analyzing the appropriateness of the new arrangement, and the processes of the policy design and of its implementation. After two decades well over three quarters of the country is applying the policy albeit with varying quality. At field level water supply and allocation turned more reliable, and conflicts better managed. Rice production increased year over year after 2005 correlating with policy roll-out. Irrigation Departments proved less adequate in partnering with farmers, however. Institutional capacity generated one quarter to two thirds of the economic benefit from investments that combined scheme rehabilitation and institutional capacity development. As institutional capacity develops slowly full roll-out may require up to three decades. The analysis shows that in the context of ‘wicked’ policy implementation, not only normative policy design matters, but equally importantly, the sequencing of the process of implementation allowing adaptation to physical, institutional and political realities; still, to be successful a process must build on a credible realistic ‘model’. This is especially true in developing and emerging economies with weaker institutional capacities and more fragmented governance structures.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 129〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Barbora Sedova, Matthias Kalkuhl〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this paper, we move from the large strand of research that looks at evidence of climate migration to the questions: 〈em〉who are the climate migrants?〈/em〉 and 〈em〉where do they go?〈/em〉 These questions are crucial to design policies that mitigate welfare losses of migration choices due to climate change. We study the direct and heterogeneous associations between weather extremes and migration in rural India. We combine ERA5 reanalysis data with the India Human Development Survey household panel and conduct regression analyses by applying linear probability and multinomial logit models. This enables us to establish a causal relationship between temperature and precipitation anomalies and overall migration as well as migration by destination. We show that adverse weather shocks decrease rural-rural and international migration and push people into cities in different, presumably more prosperous states. A series of positive weather shocks, however, facilitates international migration and migration to cities within the same state. Further, our results indicate that in contrast to other migrants, climate migrants are likely to be from the lower end of the skill distribution and from households strongly dependent on agricultural production. We estimate that approximately 8% of all rural-urban moves between 2005 and 2012 can be attributed to weather. This figure might increase as a consequence of climate change. Thus, a key policy recommendation is to take steps to facilitate integration of less educated migrants into the urban labor market.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shujuan Guo, Botao Zan, Yuan Sun, Meili Zhang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Due to the economies has emphasized the speed of economic growth and brings some ever-increasing challenges in the transition economics, China has turned the focus toward the sustainable quality of economic development. Especially, the effect of top managers’ military experience on enterprises’ innovation-led sustainable development is an important, yet unaddressed issue. Military experience of the top managers can prompt or hinder the firms’ innovation-led sustainable development as shown in the literature. Based on propensity score matching method, this study uses Wind database and Shenzhen Guotaian Educational Technology Company Limited (CSMAR) database of Chinese enterprises from 2007 to 2017 to show that top managers’ military experience affects risk behaviors for corporate investment. The negative effect between top managers’ military experience and technological innovation investment appears to be reduced in private firms and weakened for equity incentive. All these findings are against common sense that the military experiences may boost the more risk-loving attitude. This study implies that enterprises should carefully select senior management teams to enhance investments in technological innovation.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 152〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Veronica Scuotto, Orlando Beatrice, Cillo Valentina, Melita Nicotra, Leonardo Di Gioia, Massimiliano Farina Briamonte〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉In the current dynamic and virtuous flow of knowledge economy, firms are concern about whether to manage innovation centrally or through decentralized business units. Two needs emerge 1. Guaranteeing organizational efficiency and 2. Exploiting effectively market opportunity. This usually implies the integration of knowledge in technology transfer which can be accrued via the knowledge sharing between parties. However, by looking into the technological and social change literature, previous studies were mainly focused on macro-foundation of technology transfer and organizational innovative capabilities with less consideration to the role of psychological precursors of collaborations. Due to this gap, we intended to build a consistent conceptual basis for collaborations and technology transfer practices at the micro level. Therefore, drawing on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) we propose a micro-foundation model for collaborative innovation and technology transfer.〈/p〉 〈p〉To test our theoretical arguments, we use data collected from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) dataset. Hypotheses are tested through both Anova and linear regression analyses. Findings show positive and linear relationships either between our perceived control factors and the intention between technology transfer and intentions.〈/p〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Nuan Luo, Yu Wang, Mingli Zhang, Tao Niu, Jianbo Tu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Taking Xianyu (Taobao second-hand platform) for an example, this study proposes a framework to identify the integrative effect of community and e-commerce on building the “trustworthiness” of online second-hand transaction platform. Research data was analysed by structural equation modelling based on 565 valid questionnaires. The results revealed that e-commerce service quality (system quality, security assurance, product variety and service support) and community quality had direct and interaction effects on users’ perceived trust, which consequently affected their transaction intention. The findings shed light on how web communities should be used to lead to optimal results in the context of online second-hand transaction.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 152〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Natalia Shmatko, Yurij Katchanov, Galina Volkova〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The paper considers career patterns of researchers and the ways to assess their career achievements on the academic and non-academic labor markets. Taking into account the approaches developed earlier in the framework of the sociology of science, as well as on the basis of recent empirical studies, the authors propose an original approach to the study of a research career, determine the integral indicator of career achievements and assess the research career rank by means of the transition probabilities. The study is based on the data obtained during a survey among Russian researchers involving 828 respondents employed by organizations in the main prospective science and technology areas (academic and non-academic sectors). We suggest the research career achievement (RCA) indicator as an analytical tool for managing highly qualified research personnel. The use of PageRank method enabled to discern an extremely uneven distribution of the research career achievement value in the surveyed sample of researchers. The analysis revealed the main factors determining academic and non-academic research career patterns. The findings attest that the factors affecting career patterns are closely linked with the recognition that the researcher obtains or expects at three levels: individual – professional community – society as a whole.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 152〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Frank Nyame-Asiamah, Isaac Oduro Amoako, Joseph Amankwah-Amoah, Yaw A. Debrah〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Applying the institution-based views, this article conceptualises how diaspora entrepreneurs take stimuli from the push and pull institutional factors to develop business enterprises in their countries of origin. Using cases of African diaspora entrepreneurs in the UK and the grounded theory methodological approach, our conceptualised model demonstrates that the diasporas use the new knowledge, skills and wealth they have gained in the UK in tandem with support from trusted family, kinship and business ties at home to develop enterprises. It further demonstrates that diaspora entrepreneurs foster resilience to withstand weak formal institutions in their countries of origin and the discriminatory obstacles in the UK. We also found that institutional barriers which served as push factors that encouraged or forced migrants to leave their home countries to seek greener pastures abroad may later become pull factors that enable them to engage in diaspora entrepreneurship which is often characterised by paradoxes. Particularly, the informal institutions that constrain foreign investors can become assets for African diaspora entrepreneurs and help them set up new businesses and exploit market opportunities in Africa. The implications of the study for diaspora entrepreneurship literature are outlined.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Laura Romero Rodríguez, José Sánchez Ramos, Francisco José Sánchez de la Flor, Servando Álvarez Domínguez〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉The Urban Heat Island phenomenon is an increasingly important global issue. Understanding the physical characteristics of cities is critical, which is why many studies based on mobile measurements are currently being developed. However, it is highly challenging to compare them due to the various methods that are employed. Therefore, the present work aims to propose an easily replicable methodology for achieving accurate UHI assessments in potentially any city of the world. This is done by finding a representative mobile transect through experimental data, as opposed to previous studies which select routes with a variety of land covers, with the consequent risk of overlooking the truly representative areas. The main urban indicators are also estimated by using public information, including the anthropogenic heat.〈/p〉 〈p〉The methodology was tested in the historic city center of Seville (Spain). The designed mobile transect was repeatedly conducted in July 2019, recording a maximum UHI intensity of 3.1 °C at 22:00 h. A fixed temperature sensor showed that the maximum UHI intensity may be found around 06:00 h, reaching even more than 7 °C. The proposed methodology could be very useful for researchers and policy makers, allowing to direct mitigation strategies and economic investments to areas of particular vulnerability.〈/p〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sajida Perveen, Tan Yigitcanlar, Md. Kamruzzaman, Duzgun Agdas〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The urban transport sector is responsible for a considerable portion of the global greenhouse gas emissions, and considered as a primary contributor of environmental pollutants. This study aims to explore ways to compare transport impacts of alternative urban growth scenarios at different spatial and temporal scales. To achieve this aim, alternative policy scenarios and various transport impact indicators were synthesized from a Delphi survey. Four alternative urban growth scenarios (i.e., business-as-usual, environment-focused, economy-focused, balanced scenarios) for the South East Queensland Region of Australia were evaluated by comparing selected indicator values from transportation models developed for three spatial (i.e., region, city, local) and four temporal (i.e., 2016, 2021, 2031, 2041) scales. The results of the analysis disclose that policies under the balanced scenario make the highest contribution towards achieving sustainable urban development—as this scenario generates the least travel time, travel distance, and traffic congestion. The findings reveal that the empirical approach put forward in this paper is useful to inform urban policymaking, and assist urban policymakers, urban/transport planners, practitioners, and stakeholders.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): E. Hoxha, C. Liardet, T. Jusselme〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Generally, the environmental impacts of buildings are benchmarked per square meter as a functional unit. However, this practice prevents developing a user-centered approach in which performance is linked to real usage and not building size. Currently, the less a building is used, the lower the energy consumed during its use and, consequently, the impact per square meter, which does not make sense regarding both usability and environmental performance. Following user-centered design principles, the goal of the present research is to assess the environmental impact of buildings based on novel user-based functional units and to understand the environmental impact consequences of office occupation density. An experiment within the area of an academic office offered the opportunity to test the densification of working spaces and evaluate the resulting environmental and comfort impacts. In the end, the new user-based functional units highlight a reduction of all environmental indicators by almost 50 %. Also, the functional unit "eq-nominal people per effective presence" is introduced as most suitable to evaluate environmental performance according to real building usage, as a complement to square meter function units.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Liang Zhou, Xuewei Dang, Qinke Sun, Shaohua Wang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The multi-scenario simulation of urban land can effectively reveal the characteristics and trends of changes in urban space and the contradictions of land use in urban sustainable development. By designing a model based on the random forest algorithm and CA-Markov model, we simulated the evolution of urban space in Shanghai from 2015 to 2030 under two distinct scenarios — unconstrained development and development with planning intervention. Results of model validation indicate that the model accurately simulates urban land in 2015. In Shanghai, important factors affecting urban development are population, GDP and distance to subways. Under the unconstrained scenario, urban areas in Shanghai are predicted to increase by 157.79 km〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 between 2015 and 2030, and the spatial expansion of urban areas follows a concentric pattern. Meanwhile, under the scenario with planning intervention, urban expansion is at a lower speed, and more compact because of constraints of ecological, cultivated and cultural protection, and urban areas are predicted to increase by 95.46 km〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 in 2030 compared with 2015. We observe a similar concentric pattern, although significantly smaller in magnitude, in spatial expansion under this scenario. The results show that urban development will be more sustainable under the constraints of ecological and cultivated protection.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yue Zhang, Xiaofeng Li〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Tunnel thermal environment has a great impact on the energy consumption and safety in the subway system. Due to the complexity of subway network structure and the influence of piston effect, analytical and numerical methods are limited in showing the real situation. In comparison, full-scale experiments are effective in verifying models and presenting the real situation in subway tunnels. In this study, the experimental method was adopted. The tunnel wall and air temperature were monitored in 5 subway lines in Guangzhou, China for more than 1 year. These selected tunnels have different operation conditions; namely operation year, train density, passenger number, and ventilation form. Based on long-term and multipoint monitoring, the temperature profiles were obtained. In aspect of time-varying features, it was found that the daily temperature profiles present different shapes nder different heat sources and ventilation situations. The temperature profiles in a typical year show 60 and 30–60 days delayed effect compared to outdoor temperature in winter and summer, respectively. In regard to the temperature distribution features, it was revealed that the temperature distribution within a tunnel is not sensitive to the length of tunnel but susceptible to ventilation condition; the tunnel temperature differences between two ends are 0.1-0.8℃ and 1.4-1.6℃ in high-ventilation and low-ventilation tunnels, respectively. Moreover, the possible influencing factors, including operation year, train density, passenger flow, and ventilation condition were analyzed. It was discovered that the factors related to the heat source (train density and passenger flow) have the most important impact, and the ventilation condition takes second place, while the operation years almost have no impact on the thermal environment in subway tunnels. The monitoring data are useful for both analytical and numerical studies and this study provides first-hand research data for subway operators.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jiale Chai, Pei Huang, Yongjun Sun〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A proper system design is crucial for a net-zero energy building (NZEB) to achieve the desired performance during its lifecycle. Most conventional design methods utilize TMY (typical meteorological year) data or multi-year historical data for NZEB system sizing. Due to the climate change, future weather data may differ considerably from these utilized data. Consequently, these designs may not guarantee NZEBs to achieve the expected performance during their lifecycle. Therefore, this study proposes a differential evolution – based system design for NZEBs under climate change. Using the predicted weather data of Hong Kong (including temperature and solar radiation), the proposed system design can optimize building system sizes for minimizing its lifecycle cost with user-defined performance constraints satisfied. Three performance constraints were considered and they were thermal comfort, energy balance and grid interaction. Using the actual weather data, the proposed design has been validated by comparing with two conventional designs (i.e., TMY data-based design and multi-year historical data-based design) in an office building. The results indicated that the proposed design can achieve better performance in terms of lifecycle cost and constraints satisfaction. With improved performance, the proposed design can be used in practice for NZEB system sizing especially as climate change considered.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 14 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kailiang Huang, Jingxuan Guan, Shuo Zhao, Guohui Feng, Guijun Liu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Air Type-Phase Change Energy Storage Device (AT-PCESD) has great potential in reducing building energy consumption, by storing the coldness at night and releasing it during day. This study established one-dimensional and two-dimensional mathematical models for AT-PCESD, considering pure heat conduction and heat conduction and convection, and compared the error between them and the experimental results. Each group of comparative simulations contained 4,500 pieces of data. Different integration methods for unsteady items were included in the two-dimensional pure heat conduction mathematical model solution. Thereafter, the two-dimensional model was used to analyze the effect of some controllable variables and discover its application effect in typical cold cities in China. According to the mathematical model comparison results, the error for one and two-dimensional mathematical model with natural convection is smaller than the pure heat conduction model, being 6.87%, 5.16%, 2.1%,1.32% for cool storage condition and 2.66%, 2.47%, 1.7%, 1.62% for cool discharge condition respectively. Time-integration method does not affect calculation result clearly under current conditions. The selection condition of step size in forward difference form is put forward through the error influential method. Further, in the simulated application operations, the AT-PCESD has the best effect in Beijing with an electricity saving rate of 27.34%.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 17 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tianhu Zhang, Xiaopeng Li, Yandi Rao, Yuanjun Liu, Qingxin Zhao〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Indoor formaldehyde (HCHO) has become a big problem for the development of health building in cities. Ventilation and photocatalysis are two efficient tools to remove HCHO. The comparison and integration of the two methods was conducted. Pure titanium dioxide (TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉) and Fe/N-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 were prepared and coated to a glass plate, and experimental and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method was used to analyze photocatalysis of HCHO. The reaction kinetic of HCHO degradation was studied by experiment, and the efficiency of Fe/N co-doped TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 exhibited 2.3 times than that of pure TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉. Then the CFD method was used to study the removal of HCHO by ventilation and photocatalysis in an office. The evaluations were conducted with continuous and transient released HCHO, separately. In the case of continuous release, the average concentration of HCHO was reduced by 27% with the contribution of photocatalyst. In the case of transient release, the removal efficiency was improved by 21% when the photocatalyst was added. This research shows that the CFD method is a convenient tool to explore the effect of novel materials in indoor environment.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Fang Shi, Xiang Peng, Zheng Liu, Eric Li, Yafei Hu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The health condition of infrastructure including water transmission and distribution mains has a great impact on the quality of human life. The performance of these water infrastructure is affected by the surrounding soil environment as well as the weather or climate changes. To investigate the structural response of water mains to varying soil movements, field data were collected with a sensor monitoring system. This included pipe wall strain in-situ soil water content, soil pressure, and temperature. Combined with weather factors, an automatic variable selection method, i.e., recursive feature elimination, was first applied to identify critical predictors contributing to pipe deformation. Then, a super learning algorithm was employed to characterize the relationship between pipe deformation and environmental factors. Both base and super learners were built to predict three types of pipe deformation which verified the adaptability of two modeling methods to different predictive models. Predictive performance was evaluated through 〈em〉R〈/em〉-squared, root-mean-square error, and mean absolute error values. The performance metrics demonstrate the advantage of the super learning algorithm in comparison with the baseline methods, especially its capability to further incorporate extra base learners and predictors in a more complex setting. This study shows that the pipe structure behavior could be successfully inferred from surrounding soil properties and weather conditions.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 16 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Cheng He, Liguo Zhou, Youru Yao, Weichun Ma, Patrick L. Kinney〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Various anthropogenic heat (AH) emissions that are mainly confined to urban areas have already changed the variability of urban climate. As a major human impact on our global environment, there is a lack of understanding regarding quantification, temporal, and geospatial impacts of AH over large areas. In this study, by using various remote sensing and socioeconomic data, we firstly attempt to quantify the spatial patterns of AH in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) agglomeration of East China. After that, we organized the agglomeration area into four types (city ​​centre, developed areas, suburbs, and rural areas). We then analyse the temporal and spatial impacts on the urban thermal environment. The results show that: (1) The total amount of AH emissions in the YRD reached 8.19 × 10〈sup〉18〈/sup〉 J per year, with an uneven spatial distribution. There are profound differences in AH total and heat components for each city due to different socioeconomic backgrounds. (2) The correlation between AH distribution and the thermal environment are examined, and higher correlations are observed in the cities that generated large AH emissions. Seasonally, higher correlation exists in summer, while correlation is lower in winter. (3) The correlation between AH flux types and the thermal environment also varied for different human activity types. In the city centre, the thermal environment is related closely to AH fluxes from vehicular traffic; in developed areas there is a close relation to AH fluxes from life and tertiary industry; and in the suburbs it relates closely to AH emissions by industrial activity. Finally, we discussed the important regulatory effects of precipitation, vegetation and water bodies on AH fluxes. Overall, this study proved that the environmental impact of AH sections included herein clearly varies temporally and spatially, and suggest specific strategies for reducing the heat risk due to further urbanization.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 54〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tong Niu, Yimin Chen, Yuan Yuan〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Conventional measurements of urban poverty mainly rely on census data or aggregated statistics. However, these data are produced with a relatively long cycle, and they hardly reflect the built environment characteristics that affect the livelihoods of the inhabitants. Open-access social media data can be used as an alternative data source for the study of poverty. They typically provide fine-grained information with a short updating cycle. Therefore, in this study, we developed a new approach to measure urban poverty using multi-source big data. We used social media data and remote sensing images to represent the social conditions and the characteristics of built environments, respectively. These data were used to produce the indicators of material, economic, and living conditions, which are closely related to poverty. They were integrated into a composite index, namely the Multi-source Data Poverty Index (MDPI), based on the random forest (RF) algorithm. A dataset of the General Deprivation Index (GDI) derived from the census data was used as a reference to facilitate the training of RF. A case study was carried out in Guangzhou, China, to evaluate the performance of the proposed MDPI for measuring the community-level urban poverty. The results showed a high consistency between the MDPI and GDI. By analyzing the MDPI results, we found a significantly positive spatial autocorrelation in the community-level poverty condition in Guangzhou. Compared with the GDI approach, the proposed MDPI could be updated more conveniently using big data to provide more timely information of urban poverty.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Li Yang, Xiaodong Liu, Feng Qian, Shengnan Niu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The purpose of this paper is to study the wind environment of parallel courtyard in campus which is affected by the yard aspect ratio and wind directions. Research done so far mainly focused on the thermal comfort of courtyards and wind environment at pedestrian level in urban. This article aims to study the wind environment of courtyards under aspect ratios via the high resolution RANS CFD simulation method. Two performance indicators are identified: 1) wind amplified velocity 2) age of air. The evaluation is based on the validation with field measurement. The results show that for single parallel courtyard, the best aspect ratio for air quality and ventilation locates in the range of 1 to 2. Furthermore, for double parallel combined courtyard, 0°and 15°is the most recommended approaching wind angle for ventilation. Contrarily, 75° to 90° are the worst inlet airflow direction for courtyard flow field because of insufficient abounding wind amplified area. Apart from this, only in the range of 0°to 30°, it is possible to enhance the inlet courtyard air quality in double combined yard shape compared to single courtyard.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Man-Wen Tian, Shu-Rong Yan, Xiao-Xiao Tian, Milad Kazemi, Sayyad Nojavan, Kittisak Jermsittiparsert〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A single plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) cannot participate in reserve and day-ahead markets as they cannot meet the energy requirements of independent system operators (ISO). However, they can be gathered by a PEV aggregator and play a role in so called markets. On the other hand the PEV aggregators are to deal with the uncertainties that go along with these markets and can highly affect their profit. In order to cover these uncertainties scenario-based stochastic approach can be taken into to account to optimally schedule the PEV aggregators so that the maximum profit is obtained. The main contribution of this paper is to involve risk related uncertainties through the downside risk constraints (DRC) which results in risk-constrained stochastic optimization model. The main advantage of this method is that it can provide the owner of PEV aggregator with decisions that are made by considering various quantities for risk. CPLEX solver of GAMS software is employed to solve the problem which is formulated as mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model. To investigate the accomplishment of DRC, risk-averse state of model is compared to risk-neutral which in former one the profit is reduced meanwhile that risk-in-profit (RIP) is declined.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): G.R. Bivina, Akshay Gupta, Manoranjan Parida〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The paper investigates the significant factors affecting pedestrians’ satisfaction on walking accessibility to the metro station using Structural equation modelling considering socioeconomic characteristics of pedestrians, microscale, and mesoscale built environment factors measured within the 800-meter buffer area of metro stations. Questionnaire survey conducted within the catchment areas of fifteen metro stations in Delhi, India, consisted of questions regarding socioeconomic characteristics, trip characteristics, and peoples' satisfaction on microscale built environment factors. The mesoscale built environment factors were the spatial indicators measured within the catchment area of each metro station. Models developed in the study determined that microscale factors, rather than macroscale factors, significantly affect pedestrian satisafction in regards to the accessibility of metro stations. Study findings help in better comprehension of factors affecting walking accessibility and suggesting policy interventions for planners in improving walking accessibility to the metro.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Amirhassan Kermanshah, Hiba Baroud, Mark Abkowitz〈/p〉 〈h5〉ABSTRACT〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉With the growing rate of urbanization, freight transportation systems have become critical in supporting economic and social needs in the United States. In order to achieve efficient and effective operations, freight transportation systems are recognizing the value of using Cyber-Physical (CP) technologies. This research provides a scenario-based assessment of CP technology penetration to improve sustainability in freight transportation systems with a focus on the use of smart GPS technologies by the trucking industry in Tennessee. Based on the case study, CP technologies can result in significant benefits to the economy, environment, and society. A cost-benefit analysis shows that benefits can be more than 7 times the costs in terms of present values. Social benefits can amount to more than $77 M in the period of study when only 3% of the truck population uses smart GPS technologies. Environmental benefits of 1% CP technologies penetration in the truck industry are equivalent to GHG emissions savings from 46,930 passenger vehicles driven for one year. Benefits become more significant with higher penetration rates. For example, at 5% usage rate of GPS technologies in the trucking industry in Tennessee, CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 emissions will decrease by more than 1 million metric tons per year.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 14 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hong Yuan, Yuan He, Junzheng Zhou, You Li, Xu Cui, Zhongwei Shen〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In order to assess the impact of underground space development on urban compactness, taking Shenzhen Futian Station and Tokyo Station as empirical cases, this paper uses the comprehensive compactness formula to extract influencing factors and to explore the interaction mechanism between underground space utilization and urban compact development. Previous studies have shown that when urban development reaches a certain threshold, the area compactness will be improved. Otherwise, when the development is below the threshold, the area compactness will be reduced. The compactness we discuss in this study is related to the efficiency of underground space development. The average building distance is a core factor affecting urban compactness and the efficiency of underground space development. Increasing total building area of underground space development of rail stations can significantly increase urban compactness.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 55〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): D.P. Jenkins, S. Patidar, P. McCallum, K.B. Debnath〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The energy assessment of single buildings and of larger areas of built environment, although exhibiting similarities in terms of technique, have in the past often used different approaches to energy modelling. The growing availability of empirical data and the capability of building modelling software has, more recently, allowed these differences to be reduced. This paper demonstrates, across two very different case-studies in UK and India, that techniques for community energy modelling can be used in a way that maintains detail in energy demand characteristics, thus helping to bridge the gap between detailed building assessment and higher-level energy system modelling. However, understanding the portability of such techniques requires an understanding of energy characteristics that can be specific to a geographic area. This study documents these important differences and proposes a more transferrable approach to detailed community energy modelling.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Giustina Secundo, Valentina Ndou, Pasquale Del Vecchio, Gianluigi De Pascale〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper aims to provide a Structured Literature Review (SLR) about the strategic role of Intellectual Capital (IC) for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It offers an outline of past and present literature and frames a future research agenda. It analyses papers published in journals from 2003 – 2018 with the aim of deriving significant insights about IC's determinants for achieving SDGs. Although empirical and theoretical studies have shown a positive relationship between IC and sustainability, the research remains an emerging area of growing importance. Although no explicit specialisation in the topic currently exists, findings highlight the “sustainability imperative” and convergence toward the following research areas: 〈em〉IC components for Sustainable Development in Private Sector, IC for Sustainable Regional Development in the Knowledge Economy, and IC for Sustainable Development in the Public Sector.〈/em〉 Discussions indicate that some SDGs are starting to be explored more than others (e.g., quality education, infrastructure, health, cities and communities) and that only recently some studies are specialising specifically in the importance of technology to address the SDGs. Implications for technology policy have been highlighted to frame a future research agenda for academics and practitioners.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 129〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Heath Henderson, Lendie Follett〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The capabilities approach provides a rich framework for welfare assessment, but its practical relevance is limited by methodological difficulties associated with the measurement of human capabilities. We argue that, unlike existing approaches to capability estimation, Bayesian stochastic frontier analysis (BSFA) is consistent with the key features of the capabilities approach and thus provides a natural framework for estimating capabilities. Using simulated data, we show that BSFA outperforms the leading alternatives (e.g., structural equation models) in comparable settings. We further show that our approach is more flexible than the alternatives: BSFA can provide cardinal representations of entire capability sets and can be used with continuous, discrete, and multivariate outcomes. Finally, we provide an empirical illustration of our estimator by examining the impact of Uganda’s Youth Opportunities Program on the educational capabilities of children in the treated households.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 128〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Balsher Singh Sidhu, Milind Kandlikar, Navin Ramankutty〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Groundwater irrigation using electric pumps plays a key role in India’s agricultural water supply. Power utilities across different states use two common tariff modes to charge groundwater consumers: flat tariffs, where payments are fixed according to a pump’s power rating, and metered tariffs based on units of power actually consumed. In this review, we use empirical evidence from past studies across multiple jurisdictions in India to compare the two tariff structures in terms of three key features: administrative burden on utilities; equity of groundwater access between high-income and low-income farmers; and influence on farmers’ pumping behavior. Our analysis shows that flat tariffs have low administrative costs and more equitable distributional outcomes, but provide no incentive to farmers for water conservation. Conversely, metered tariffs have the potential to encourage judicious consumption, but are expensive to manage and disadvantageous to low-income farmers who often buy water from wealthier groundwater well owners. Flawed tariff policies, in conjunction with large subsidies for agricultural power, have caused rapid groundwater depletion in many regions as well as massive financial losses to power utilities and governments – both state and central. Since there is considerable heterogeneity in agricultural practices and groundwater availability across India, we propose location-specific strategies for rationalizing agricultural power tariffs in different regions. While the groundwater-abundant eastern regions can benefit from a hybrid flat-cum-metered tariff that encourages farmer-to-farmer water sales, western states facing unsustainable groundwater exploitation should develop tariff policies that ration power, prioritize its supply during the most critical seasons, and reward farmers who reduce their groundwater consumption. Not only will such tariff policies help conserve groundwater, but also augment government financial resources for social welfare programs such as education, health, energy access etc. Thus, improved power policies can provide substantial assistance in India’s progress towards multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 53〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Allam Zaheer〈/p〉 〈h5〉ABSTRACT〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A rapid urbanisation rate, coupled with an increasing global population, equates to a surge in energy demand; threatening sustainable transitions from fossil fuel. However, faced with the impacts of climate change and increasing geopolitical accords, cities are turning towards Renewable Energy sources to meet this demand, but this is a complex matter in Megacities where land availability is scarce for the construction of new, or larger, power plants. As the number of Megacities is expected to increase in the near future, the need for decentralised and sustainable solutions that are technically and economically viable for both the state and the private sector need to be sought. This paper dwells into an extensive review of literature studying energy generation in the case of Megacities, and highlight the dimensions required for them to achieve increased sustainability and resilience. A model, inspired from urban complexity theories, aimed at generating decentralised grid networks -based on the dimensions of Energy Diversification, Land Fragmentation and Fiscal Mechanisms, is proposed with a new way at looking at energy grids from a geometrical and morphological perspective while supporting economic dimensions that will encourage its implementation at both policy and project level. This paper is aimed towards Urban and Energy Planners and Policy Makers looking at how to power Megacities as well as cities facing rapid urbanisation.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 152〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhengang Zhang, Taiye Luo〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Taking the patent data in the field of nano energy from 2000 to 2018 as an example, this paper divides organizations’ network capital into four dimensions (i.e., knowledge combinatorial capacity, knowledge stocks, technological distance and network efficiency) and uses Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models to test the relationships between the four dimensions of network capital, exploratory innovation, and exploitative innovation. We found that exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation could be supportive of each other. Organizations’ knowledge combinatorial capacity has a positive effect on exploitative innovation, but a negative effect on exploratory innovation. Both knowledge stocks and technological distance have inverted U-shaped relationships with exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation. Network efficiency has a positive impact on exploratory innovation and an inverted U-shaped relationship with exploitative innovation.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 129〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Brian Engelsma, Gerry Mackie, Brandon Merrell〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The sparsity of historical data on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) poses a challenge for researchers who seek to identify long-term trends in FGM/C participation or evaluate the role of macro-level factors that may predict FGM/C abandonment. This study introduces a means of overcoming this barrier and provides a new cross-national dataset of FGM/C prevalence over time. We compile self-reported FGM/C data from more than 700,000 women born in 23 African countries between 1940 and 2002 who subsequently participated in Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) or Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). These data allow us to estimate the proportion of women born in each country-year who eventually underwent FGM/C. We then use these estimates to assess country-level trends in FGM/C prevalence and to explore macro-level factors that may contribute to the persistence or decline of the practice, including population density, female education rates, political stability, laws banning the practice, economic development, democratization, and international exposure. Our exploratory analysis suggests that population density, female education, and laws banning FGM/C are associated with FGM/C prevalence. Our results and approach should facilitate additional research on the mechanisms through which economic growth, institutional changes, and international engagement can influence the abandonment of FGM/C and other harmful social norms.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 54〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): A. Yazdaninejadi, D. Nazarpour, S. Golshannavaz〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Low inertia time constant of synchronous generator-based distributed energy resources (SGBDERs) makes them more susceptible to faults. Therefore, fast-response protection is of crucial importance to prevent unintentional disconnection of SGBDERs in active distribution networks (DNs) and hence, non-stop electrification in critical infrastructures. To overcome this challenge, the present study aims at devising a new protection coordination strategy (PCS) for directional overcurrent relays (DOCRs) based on numerical relays. In this regard, this paper unveils that time-current characteristics (TCCs) with gentle and steep slopes are suitable for the lines with huge and small differences in fault currents at near-end and far-end fault points, respectively. These characteristics cannot be followed by the conventional approach. Accordingly, some coefficients in the operation function of DOCRs are included in the variables set to present TCCs with steep slopes and some supplementary variables are employed to present TCCs with gentle slopes. Furthermore, to cope with the effect of increment in the number of variables, some controlling parameters are introduced to steer TCCs toward proper slopes. Finally, to provide more flexibility in meeting distributed generation (DG) stability, instantaneous functions are also included in the proposed PCS. Detailed simulation studies are conducted to assess performance of the proposed approach.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 54〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sarkawt M.L. Hama, Prashant Kumar, Roy M. Harrison, William J. Bloss, Mukesh Khare, Sumit Mishra, Anil Namdeo, Ranjeet Sokhi, Paul Goodman, Chhemendra Sharma〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A key challenge in controlling Delhi’s air quality is a lack of clear understanding of the impacts of emissions from the surrounding National Capital Region (NCR). Our objectives are to understand the limitations of publicly available data, its utility to determine pollution sources across Delhi-NCR and establish seasonal profiles of chemically active trace gases. We obtained the spatiotemporal characteristics of daily-averaged particulate matter (PM〈sub〉10〈/sub〉 and PM〈sub〉2.5〈/sub〉) and trace gases (NO〈sub〉X〈/sub〉, O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉, SO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉, and CO) within a network of 12 air quality monitoring stations located over 2000 km〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 across Delhi-NCR from January 2014 to December 2017. The highest concentrations of pollutants, except O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉, were found at Anand Vihar compared with lowest at Panchkula. A high homogeneity in PM〈sub〉2.5〈/sub〉 was observed among Delhi sites as opposed to a high spatial divergence between Delhi and NCR sites. The bivariate polar plots and k-means clustering showed that PM〈sub〉2.5〈/sub〉 and PM〈sub〉10〈/sub〉 concentrations are dominated by local sources for all monitoring sites across Delhi-NCR. A consequence of the dominance of local source contributions to measured concentrations, except to one site remote from Delhi, is that it is not possible to evaluate the influence of regional pollution transport upon PM concentrations measured at sites within Delhi and the NCR from concentration measurements alone.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2210670719335449-ga1.jpg" width="330" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 128〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Harounan Kazianga, Zaki Wahhaj〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Large segments of the population in developing countries, especially in rural areas, have a high level of vulnerability to weather-related shocks but have limited means to insure themselves against them. In recent years, microfinance institutions have experimented with micro-insurance products, including rainfall index insurance, but the uptake of these products has generally been very low. We present findings from a pilot study exploring whether and how existing ties between urban migrants and rural farmers may be used to provide the latter improved access to formal insurance. Urban migrants in Ouagadougou (the capital of Burkina Faso) originating from nearby villages were offered, at the prevailing market price, a rainfall index insurance product that can potentially protect their rural relatives from adverse weather shocks. The product had an uptake of 22% during the two-week subscription window. Half the urban migrants in the study were randomly offered an insurance policy in which payouts would be made, not to the subscriber, but directly to the intended beneficiary. This feature increased uptake rates by 17–22 percentage points. We argue that rainfall index insurance can complement informal risk-sharing networks by mitigating problems of informational asymmetry and self-control issues.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 54〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): S. Gerber, A.J. Rix, M.J. Booysen〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The recent reductions in PV costs and the convenient concurrence of insolation and schools’ energy usage have resulted in increased interest in augmenting supply with solar PV to save on energy costs and unburden the grid in developing countries. However, optimal sizing of PV solutions requires a detailed analysis and hourly simulation to match demand, council tariff structures (incl. import vs. export rates) and geography. This complexity exposes already resource-constrained authorities to abuse by overzealous and unwitting suppliers, and currently impedes large-scale deployment of solar PV in a sunshiny cities depraved of its requisite energy. We present a novel approach to forecast schools’ hourly demand using only monthly utility bills and a trained forecasting model. We also propose an iterative solar sizing technique to assess the economic viability of using PV at schools to support government and city council officials. The results show that the method is able to forecast annual energy usage and monthly demand to within 5% and 6% respectively, while accurately determining the potential return on investment.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 128〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Stephan Klasen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This survey argues that after decades of seemingly continuous progress in reducing gender inequality in developing and developed countries, since about 2000, there has been an unexpected stagnation and regress in many dimensions of gender inequality in many parts of the world. This is most visible in labor markets, but also visible across a range of dimensions of gender inequality. After documenting these developments, the paper suggests causes for this change before suggesting policies that might tackle remaining gender inequalities more effectively.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 128〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Maria Alejandra Vélez, Juan Robalino, Juan Camilo Cardenas, Andrea Paz, Eduardo Pacay〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉During the mid-1990s, one of the most ambitious land reforms in recent decades took place in Colombia. The reform recognized collective land rights of almost 6 million hectares to Afro-Colombian communities, with the dual goals of improving livelihoods and preserving valuable ecosystems. We estimate the impact of this collective land titling program on forest cover using panel data and a difference-in-difference empirical strategy. We find that overall, collective titling significantly reduces deforestation rates, but the effect varies substantially by sub-region. We observe that the larger effects are in Nariño and Valle del Cauca. Our qualitative analysis suggest that this might be the result of local community-based organization defining the rules for community use of natural resources and the expulsion of private companies dedicated to timber exploitation and oil palm plantations. We conclude that under the adequate conditions, collective titling can lead to forest conservation.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 130〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jaime de Melo, Jean-Marc Solleder〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 130〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Stein T. Holden, Mesfin Tilahun〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 154〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): David Wright, Bernd Stahl, Tally Hatzakis〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 24 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Domenico Mazzeo, Karolos J. Kontoleon〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 154〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shiwangi Singh, Sanjay Dhir, V. Mukunda Das, Anuj Sharma〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 130〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Festus A. Asaaga, Mark A. Hirons, Yadvinder Malhi〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 56〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rui Zhao, Liping Zhan, Mingxing Yao, Linchuan Yang〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 154〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Joeri H. Wesseling, Christina Bidmon, René Bohnsack〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 20 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kirsty E Lever, Kashif Kifayat〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 154〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Eva Martínez-Caro, Juan Gabriel Cegarra-Navarro, Francisco Javier Alfonso-Ruiz〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 154〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Bing Xu, Weiran Lin, Syed Ali Taqi〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 154〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Patricia Maraña, Leire Labaka, Jose Mari Sarriegi〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 56〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rui Ma, Bin Ren, Dong Zhao, Jiayu Chen, Yujie Lu〈/p〉