Abstract
In recent years, there have been international movements advocating more sustainable societies, and as a result of such movements, a remarkably important sub-branch has been shaped in systems studies called sustainability. It would be vital to propose methods that could deal with inherent complexities and uncertainties in such systems. Grey systems theory (GST) represents a nascent method that could help to solve complexities in the face of multifaceted problems, uncertainty, and complexity in systems, and the theory could considerably contribute to sustainability studies. The present study sought to fill a gap and provide an updated review of the literature on the roles and impacts of GST-based methods in sustainability studies as one of the most significant areas of exploring economic, social and environmental systems. Primarily, the theoretical foundations of sustainability and GST were briefly reviewed. Next, by categorizing the studies conducted in the literature on sustainability studies, GST-based methods used in such studies were identified. Finally, the advantages, effects and functions of GST-based theories and their applications in sustainability studies were explicated. The papers found in this systematic review were searched on such databases as Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect, as published from 2010 up to the first three months of 2020, based on these keywords: grey relation or grey relational, grey model, grey system or grey systems, grey prediction, grey control, grey incidence, grey cluster, grey decision, grey input-output. The total number of publications found on all of the databases was 446, although (following a more meticulous investigation of the publications) 145 ones were used for the comprehensive analysis. The 10 different areas in which GST was used to explore sustainability in the publications were: sustainability assessment, industrial sustainability, urban sustainability, energy sustainability, sustainability development, businesses sustainability, agricultural sustainability, sustainable products, tourism sustainability, social sustainability. The results revealed that complexity, uncertainty, and inaccessibility of a large set of data and initial statistical distributions led researchers to rely on GST in sustainability studies, and that the applied areas of GST in terms of sustainability issues had some features in common, including linguistic variables, long-term projects, technological demands, conflicting goals, and uncertainty. Moreover, compared to other methods used to deal with uncertainty, GST did not require the formation of an extensive databank of classified rules and was more practical and efficient in sustainability calculations (as complex systems) with fewer numerical calculations. Ignoring systematic approaches, causal relations, cause-effect loops, and dynamic feedback was the missing link in the application of GST in sustainability studies as complex economic, social and environmental systems.
Highlights
Over the past years, many investigations have addressed sustainability, emphasizing this notion in countries’ economies and various businesses
The publications selected are sorted according to publication year, and they addressed a wide range of notions associated with sustainability
Through scrutiny of the publications selected, 10 different areas explored through Grey systems theory (GST)-based methods were observed: sustainability assessment, industrial sustainability, urban sustainability, energy sustainability, sustainability development, businesses sustainability, agricultural sustainability, sustainable products, tourism sustainability, and social sustainability
Summary
Many investigations have addressed sustainability, emphasizing this notion in countries’ economies and various businesses. It has been underscored that pursuing sustainability could accelerate societies’ achievement of (non)economic goals. It was gradually revealed that “human” or “social” dimensions had been ignored in the traditional paradigm in such a way that the economic development system and increasing modernization turned humans into machines or parts of them while neglecting human dignity and basic rights [1]. Economic development did not reveal a dark side only because of ignoring human or social qualities; it involved a more tragic aspect: “environmental destruction.”. Unidimensional development, only regulated by economic growth, has demanded the continual destruction of natural resources—and after only a short period of time, has caused more extensive environment damaged than any other time in human history. Water resource pollution, air pollution, a rampant extinction of various animal and plant species, ocean acidification, the destruction of a large proportion of forest cover and Earth’s green belt, water shortage crises, major climate change, storms, floods, seasonal changes, and drought in many parts worldwide are some of the signs of this wide-ranging assault on nature [2]
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