Abstract
Population growth and city expansion in developing countries require traditional urban planning practices to be transformed in order to tackle climate change and follow Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agendas. Almost every expert in the urban sector believes that future cities should be sustainable, smart, and environmentally friendly, where energy is one of the most critical factors to achieve these goals. They also agree that smart and sustainable energy provision for cities requires a comprehensive and responsive legal and policy framework to be in place at the national level. However, this research’s findings reveal a lack of such frameworks for this group of countries. Considering the challenges and unique nature of Low-Income-Developing (LID) countries, there should be a framework based on the realities in these countries. In this research, key challenges of urban and energy sectors of LID countries, specifically Afghanistan, are identified, and a framework for the integration of sustainable and smart energy in the urban planning processes for LID countries is proposed. To make it easily replicable and adaptable for LID countries, the proposed framework is studied and analyzed around Afghanistan’s urban and energy sectors. This is one of the few frameworks of its kind for LID economies to the best of the authors’ knowledge. This framework lays a solid foundation for sustainable and smart energy integration in the urban planning process of developing countries. This study highlights that sustainable and smart energy systems could ensure climate change mitigation and economic growth enhancement but require close cross-sectoral coordination and policy maker’s commitments and involvement. This research will help many existing and emerging cities in the LID countries’ worldwide use and benefit from the proposed framework in their urban planning processes. It also enables policymakers, urban planners and designers, municipalities leadership, and other stakeholders of the urban, energy, and environment sectors to work together and make smart and rational decisions for the future of their cities and lead them towards smart and sustainable cities.
Highlights
Introduction distributed under the terms and Cities are the consumers of 75% of the all-natural resources, 60–80% emitters of greenhouse gas (GHG), and hosting 55% of the world population in 2018 expected to increase to 68% by 2050 [1,2]
This manuscript justifies that integrating energy in urban development processes is critical for having smart and sustainable cities. It should result in climate change mitigation broadly and paves the way to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is not critical for developed countries, the main findings of this study reveal that energy, especially smart and sustainable energy topics, are overlooked in urban, transportation, environmental, and economic planning processes in most of the LID countries
The energy systems of developing countries, especially least developed (LD) countries, are characterized by their poor performance of the power sectors (Insufficient operational and maintenance performance, high level of technical and non-technical losses, the rapid growth of electricity demand, low reliable electricity supply, organizational issues, limitation of capital for investment, dependence on imported power, and low consumer prices), low rate of access to electricity, low tariffs usually below long-term marginal cost, poor revenue collection, electricity theft, transitional economies, structural deficiencies, weak planning practices resulting in inadequate investment decisions, improper use of subsidy, market regulations, increased energy intensity, poor energy efficiency, and increasing reliance on energy imports [45,47,48]
Summary
Cities are the consumers of 75% of the all-natural resources, 60–80% emitters of greenhouse gas (GHG), and hosting 55% of the world population in 2018 expected to increase to 68% by 2050 [1,2]. There are three scenarios anticipated by the Energy Technology. Technology Scenario (RTS), called the baseline scenario, is based on existing energy and climate-related commitments. Under this scenario, the global final energy demand will continue to grow by 50% in the period to 2060, with cumulative energy sector CO2 emissions increased by over 1750 GT.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
