City Policy Research Articles

Growing community-based composting programs in China: Implementation and policy lessons from eight cases

Localised processing of waste into resources is a prime target towards circular economy, yet community-led composting programs have reported significant implementation challenges. There are no implementation process models or guidelines for programs spanning community, waste, governance, legislation domains: each community learns anew. Here we report a multi-case study of community-led composting program implementations in eight urban sites in China. In-depth key-informant interview information was analysed as cycles of activity towards increasingly-complex needs/targets (like simple recycling; complex composting). Cross-community comparisons suggest transferable implementation lessons: delegation of certain roles is more effective than simply involving stakeholders; enthusiasts can significantly mobilize stakeholders but cannot replace them; paperwork burden could negate funding availability benefits; access to specific expertise (technical, legal, operational) at crucial moments was key; stakeholder learning was most effective via personal meetings and introductions. City policies incorporating these implementation lessons could facilitate scaling-up in China. Future studies can investigate generalizability.

Place and mobility in Wales: Challenges and opportunities for reducing car use in a car-dependent, low-density country

The related concepts of 15‐minute city and 20‐minute neighbourhood have gained increased attention, contributing to planning and transport strategies and policies in many cities with the objectives of reducing car use, boosting local economies, improving liveability of places and the health of those who live there. However, there has been relatively little consideration of whether and how the 15/20‐minute place concept can be applied beyond world cities to the towns and suburbs where many people live. Taking the example of Wales, the paper develops empirical analysis to explore the nature of and variation in car-dependence in a range of different places, from densely populated city centres to residential suburbs and small towns. This analysis shows that the potential for developing more liveable, less car-dependent places exists not only in central cities but in some smaller places where there is a resident live-work population and relatively short commuting distances. For places like Wales, which has already incorporated the 15/20‐minute place ideal into its planning framework and transport strategy, the aspiration to reduce car dependency will require policies that reflect the very different starting points in Welsh places.

Does building smart cities necessarily enhance urban ICT development? Insights from a quasi-natural experiment based on Chinese pilot policy

PurposeWith the help of a quasi-natural experiment on Chinese policies, this study aims to understand the actual contribution of Smart City (SC) policies to the development of information and communications technology (ICT) in different cities. It also discusses the social and digital differences that such policies may generate, with a particular focus on the potential for exacerbating urban inequalities.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve this, the study employs a principal component analysis (PCA) to develop an ICT development indicator system. It then employs a difference-in-differences (DID) model to analyze panel data from 209 Chinese cities over the period from 2007 to 2019, examining the impact of SC policies on ICT development across various urban settings.FindingsOur findings show that SC policies have significantly contributed to the enhancement of ICT development, especially in ICT usage. However, SC policies may inadvertently reinforce developmental disparities among cities. Compared to less developed areas, the benefits of SC policies are more pronounced in economically booming cities. This is likely due to the agglomeration of the ICT industry and the strong allure of developed urban centers for high-caliber talent.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the related literature by explaining the role of SC policies in driving ICT development and by focusing on the often-overlooked impact of SC policies on urban inequality. These findings can provide guidance to policymakers on the need to recognize and address existing urban inequalities.

Estimating Direct and Indirect Damage to Industrial Facilities from Coastal Flooding: Case of Ulsan, Korea

As climate change accelerates, the damage caused by natural disasters to logistics and industrial facilities near coastal areas is expected to increase. This study estimates the economic damage caused by coastal inundation in Ulsan Metropolitan City in detail, based on the frequency of inundation and building types. An object-based analysis is conducted to calculate the damage by building type, and the results show that the ripple effect of the disaster accounted for the majority of the total damage. Ulsan's major industrial clusters are concentrated along the coastline, with factories accounting for 92% of the total direct damage. The results of an input-output analysis based on industry linkage tables showed that the indirect damages were 22.1, 8.6, and 3.8 times greater than the direct damages for petrochemicals, automobiles, and shipbuilding, respectively, which represent the main industries in Ulsan. The automobile industry has a large impact on employment, with ripple effects on both directly related industries and other industries. Unlike residential assets, industrial assets exhibit different damage characteristics, depending on whether coastal inundation affects a specific industry or the entire sector. Coastal areas are densely populated with multiple industries. Hence, the ripple effects on assets and employment are significant. Therefore, it is important to accurately identify industries that are highly interdependent with others in the development of effective disaster preparedness and recovery policies. The results of this study can be used as a basis for cost–benefit analyses of climate change disaster measures and policies in coastal cities.

미디어 빅데이터 의미연결망을 통해 본 문화도시와 관광 담론 연계: 공주 문화도시 사례

Purpose: This study is aim to make policy suggestions to secure sustainability in promoting Cultural City policies. Cities discover and reinterpret existing original to secure competitiveness, but cities can survive by creating new cultures. Tourism also contributes to the creation of economic effects by emphasizing industrial aspects, but essentially, tourism plays a role in enjoying the culture of the city and further creating a new culture. Nevertheless, culture and tourism tend to become instrumental and means of urban development, which will be set as a hurdle to sustainable urban development. Methods: The discourse that appeared in the media was analyzed targeting Gong-Ju City, Chung-Nam Province, which was recently designated as a Cultural City. For about 6 years from January 2018 to December 2023, big data on cultural cities and tourism mentioned on media reports and SNS were collected, and discourse was presented through frequent word frequency analysis, centrality analysis, and CONCOR analysis. For data collection, processing, and analysis, a big data solution, TEXTOM was used. Results: A total of 4,030 documents and 17,530 words with the keywords of Gong-Ju, Cultural City, and tourism were collected. In addition to the search keywords, tourism-related travel, tourist cities, and tourists accounted for the high frequency along with words such as culture, travel, Chung-Nam, hosting, and promotion. Centrality analysis revealed culture, city, tourism, region, and history are orient direction of discourse. As a result of the discourse analysis, the orientation of the future cultural city through history, the life-style resources of local residents as cultural resources, policies and programs activation before and after the designation of a cultural city, and the possibility of the tourism industry for a cultural city were extracted. Conclusion: Since Gongju, a Cultural City, was initial stage, there was a limit to discovering how it was connected to regional differentiation and tourism. However, it was suggested how to create a new discourse by linking tourism, focusing on the research results and developmental suggestions through previous studies.

Assessing the economic impact of innovative cities

ABSTRACT This study examines the effects of South Korea’s Innovative City (IC) policy, which aims to redistribute public institutions to local cities to alleviate urban congestion and mitigate regional disparities. Utilizing the synthetic control method, this study evaluates the policy’s influence on local productivity and investigates its spillover effects. The findings reveal a marked increase in productivity within rural cities, highlighting the policy’s efficacy in less urbanized areas. However, the outcomes vary across different locales, with some urban ICs experiencing productivity enhancements, while rural ICs near expanding urban areas do not. Additionally, the study observes limited spillover effects in cities near ICs, indicating that indirect benefits are not uniformly distributed.

Creative city: Interrogating the influence of property developers on Brisbane’s arts and culture

ABSTRACT This article scrutinizes the often forced collaboration between the arts sector and urban development. Despite prevailing narratives that cast artists’ involvement positively in urban revitalization, this global trend, integral to creative city policies for urban development, conceals complexities. Highlighting how these seemingly cooperative practices are rehearsed in global cities and replicated in peripheral cities such as Brisbane, Australia, this examination has been largely prompted by the 2020 sale of the Metro Arts building in Brisbane. The location of this multi-arts institution was an incredibly valuable asset in a city that aims to promote its creative city credentials. Moreover, despite the substantial public investment in Metro Arts’ building, its sale was misrepresented as a private matter. A close examination of this event reveals the ways property developers can be tremendously influential upon the arts and cultural sector—what, where and how art is commissioned and displayed, and ultimately, what is publicly funded.

Assessing Ecosystem Services through a multimethodological approach based on multicriteria analysis and cost-benefits analysis: A case study in Turin (Italy)

Ecosystem Services (ESs) are benefits that humans derive from nature, including climate regulation, air and water purification, soil formation, and recreation. Currently, ESs are at the center of green city policies tackling sustainability challenges. Traditionally, ESs have been assessed using monetary estimations, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). These methods are useful for integrating environmental aspects in land use planning but have practical limitations since they focus on analyzing biophysical values and economic benefits. Due to the value pluralism of the ESs concept, intangible/extra-economic elements and the plurality of perspectives of the different stakeholders involved need to be included. Within this context, Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) allows the consideration of multiple problem dimensions and accommodates value pluralism. Based on these premises and limitations, the present paper proposes the integration of CBA and MCDA to evaluate alternative project solutions for green roof installation. The multidimensional outputs from CBA and MCDA are combined in a common aggregation procedure called COSIMA. Starting from a real case in Turin (Northern Italy), this article illustrates the application of COSIMA from the point of view of the best trade-off on the preferences of users and investors. The study results show the suitability of COSIMA for integrating all ESs values (i.e., biophysical, sociocultural, and economic) in urban governance processes.

The Impact of Innovative and Low-Carbon Pilot Cities on Green Innovation

Green innovation has emerged as a crucial strategy for reconciling economic development with environmental protection. While numerous policies target various aspects of innovation or green development individually, fewer policies address green innovation specifically. This raises the question of whether individual policies alone are sufficient to advance green innovation or whether a combination of policies is required. To address this, we analyze data from Chinese cities at the prefectural level or higher, focusing on the intersecting policies of innovative cities and low-carbon pilot cities as key explanatory variables. Using a longitudinal difference-in-differences model, our study examines the effects of these concurrent policies on green innovation and investigates the mechanisms underlying their effectiveness. Our findings reveal that the dual-pilot policy significantly promotes green innovation through four key pathways: regional economy, financial level, employment conditions, and education level. After confirming the efficacy of each policy individually, we rule out the impact of single or non-overlapping policies. This confirms that the observed enhancement in green innovation results from the combined effect of the two policies rather than from either policy in isolation. The study concludes with recommendations for further enhancing green innovation, based on the empirical evidence obtained.

Public trust and support for government technology: Survey insights about Singapore's smart city policies

The smart city concept is an increasingly popular urban policy framework, and recent advances in technologies like artificial intelligence are poised to shape this trend in unprecedented ways. As public sector investment in technology accelerates, it is prudent to consider how smart cities shape and are shaped by public trust in government – an issue about which there is a growing body of research but lingering questions. This study investigates determinants of public trust in government technology, including public awareness, government communication, personal ideals and aspirations, and personal perceptions and expectations. Data come from a 2021 survey (N = 1500) about smart cities in Singapore, a country with high developmental ambitions and sufficient resources to pursue advanced smart city programs. This study seeks to deepen scholarly and practical understandings about the mutually necessary but often diverging forces of public trust in technology and public trust in government.

How does information and communication technology promote tourism development? Evidence from the e-commerce pilot city policy in China

Information and communication technology (ICT) drives tourism development. Utilising the e-commerce pilot city policy (CNEP) as a quasi-natural experiment, this study explores the effect of ICT on tourism development and the transmission mechanism. A multi-period difference-in-differences model is used to analyse panel data from 280 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2003 to 2019. The results show that the CNEP promotes tourism development. The transmission mechanism indicates that the CNEP promotes tourism development by reducing tourism environmental costs and increasing tourism network attention. Additionally, the heterogeneity analysis reveals that the CNEP has a more significant effect on promoting tourism development in large and big-internet-scale cities. These findings provide crucial empirical evidence for the tourism-driven impact of ICT and meaningful policy implications for the tourism industry’s digital transformation.

Can smart city policies foster digital innovation in the construction industry? Evidence from BIM-related patents in China

PurposeThe construction of smart cities holds the potential to drive digital innovation in the construction industry through various means, such as enhancing supply and demand. This study echoes the urgent need for the construction industry to overcome development challenges. Hence, it is necessary to study the extent and ways in which smart city policies promote digital innovation in the construction industry.Design/methodology/approachThis study treats China’s smart city policies as quasi-natural experiments. Using a dataset of Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2007 to 2021 and a difference-in-differences model, the study scrutinizes the impact of smart city policies on digital innovation within the construction industry.FindingsThe study reveals a substantial positive influence of smart city policies on digital innovation in the construction industry. In addition, the study explains these results by analysing supply-side and demand-side mechanisms. Moreover, the effect of smart city pilot policies on promoting digital innovation within the construction industry displays noteworthy heterogeneity across cities at different regional and political levels.Originality/valueBy exploring the impact and mechanisms of smart city policies on digital innovation in the construction industry, this research contributes to a more comprehensive and profound comprehension of the role of policies in facilitating the digital transformation of the construction sector. It is a valuable reference for policymakers and industry practitioners aiming to advance digital development.

Building Urban Mobility through Smart Cities and Sustainable Policies

This study examines how smart cities and sustainable policies build urban mobility. Research data from a highly reputable journal indexed by Scopus yielded 321 documents. The search criteria included the title-abs-key "urban mobility," document type "Article," subject area "Social Science," language "English," source type "Journal," and the exact keyword "urban mobility" for publications between 2019 and 2023. This research employed a qualitative approach with bibliometric analysis. Data analysis was conducted using VOSViewer and NVivo12 Plus software to visualise data in images and graphs. The research findings indicate that urban mobility is a pivotal consideration in urban development projects. The United States emerged with the highest focus on urban mobility, accounting for 47 publications, or 16% of the total. Recent research has particularly emphasised topics related to COVID-19, parking management, bicycle infrastructure, mobility services, mobility patterns, and sustainable urban planning, with a significant concentration in 2021. Notably, urban mobility initiatives have fostered collaboration, with a prominent partnership observed with Universidade de São Paulo (13 publications or 17%). These initiatives underscore the importance of establishing networks, groups, and services to advance the development of smart cities and sustainable urban policies

The employment impacts of fossil fuel trade across cities in China: A telecoupling perspective

The trade of resources geographically bridges production and consumption, driving telecoupling between resource extraction and distant consumption. However, the telecoupling between employment and fossil fuels has not been quantitatively analyzed yet, presenting a barrier to employment management under the energy transition away from fossil fuels. Here we investigate the telecoupled employment driven by intercity fossil fuel trade in China. A spatially explicit inventory of 989 coal mines, 642 oil fields, and 461 gas fields has been compiled for analysis. The results show that 1560 k of workers extract fossil fuels to satisfy external energy demands (referred to as telecoupled employment), accounting for 70 % of total employment for fossil fuel extraction in China. The coal trade drives 58 % of the total telecoupled employment while oil and gas drive 42 %. 26 % of intercity telecoupled employment is transferred intra-provincially whereas 74 % is transferred interprovincially. 222 cities drive more employment from the consumption-based perspective than from the production-based perspective, while 91 cities see the reverse. It is of significance for fossil fuel exporters to incorporate this telecoupling (e.g. the direction and scale of telecoupled employment) into city policies to assess the transboundary employment impacts of the changes in energy demands of importers.

The Impact of Low-Carbon Pilot City Policy on Corporate Asset Efficiency: Evidence from China's A-Share Listed Companies

This study employs machine learning and the difference-in-differences (DID) approach to analyze the impact of China's "Low-Carbon City" pilot policy on the asset efficiency of A-share listed companies. The findings indicate that the policy has generally suppressed corporate asset efficiency, particularly in state-owned enterprises and large-scale companies. The study also reveals that the policy's impact is not significant in enterprises located in the eastern regions. Further robustness checks are conducted through predictive analysis using the random forest model, confirming the stability of the results. This research provides a basis for optimizing low-carbon policies and is of significant importance for promoting corporate low-carbon transformation and sustainable economic development.

Can the energy conservation and emission reduction demonstration city policy enhance urban domestic waste control? Evidence from 283 cities in China

The impact of energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER) policies on domestic waste control has not been determined. Previous papers have focused predominantly on industrial pollution rather than domestic waste control. To fill this gap, this paper evaluates the impact of the ECER demonstration city policy on domestic waste control based on Chinese city-level data from 2010 to 2020 using a staggered difference-in-differences model. This paper finds that the implementation of the policy has significantly increased the amount of urban domestic waste removed and the capacity for harmless disposal. A comprehensive examination of possible mechanisms reveals that ECER demonstration cities have achieved improved domestic waste control through channels such as increased government inputs in waste control, the promotion of green lifestyles among residents, and the promotion of technological advances in waste control. Detailed heterogeneity analyses reveal that the positive impact of the policy on domestic waste control is greater in cities at a high level in the administrative hierarchy, in eastern cities, and in large cities. This study has strong practical significance, as it provides insights supporting differentiated efforts to promote the construction of ECER demonstration cities and guidance for improving domestic waste control capacity by exploiting ECER policies.

China's Low-carbon city policy and manufacturing firms' servitization: Do environmental regulations matterʔ

Manufacturing servitization is an effective way to improve both environmental performance and economic benefits in developing countries. In this paper, we first propose the firm-level manufacturing servitization (FMS) measurement method. Then, based on Chinese firm-level data for 2000–2015, we take low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy implementation as a quasi-natural experiment to investigate the effect of low-carbon city governance on FMS. The propensity score matching-difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) model results indicate that the construction of LCCP policy could significantly improve FMS. In addition, we explain the promoting effect of low-carbon city governance on FMS by enhancing innovation intensity and promoting pollution factor substitution. Specifically, low-carbon city governance increases the innovation intensity of enterprises and promotes service factors as substitutes for other pollution production factors, changing the service factor input structure. Furthermore, by dynamically decomposing aggregate FMS growth, we found that LCCP policy generates a positive within-firm effect for surviving enterprises. However, the role of the resource reallocation effect has not been fully explored. Based on the findings, this study offers more theoretical backing and empirical substantiation for developing countries' pursuit of simultaneously achieving sustainability and economic growth under environmental regulations.

Evaluation of elderly-friendly open space and public service buildings in madiun city using importance performance analysis (IPA)

<p>The Age-Friendly City Policy in Madiun City aims to improve the quality of life for the elderly by providing friendly and easy access to open spaces and public buildings. However, challenges in implementation may include appropriate infrastructure management and effective international policies to ensure the availability and availability of services that meet the needs of the city's aging population. This research aims to bridge the perception gap and provide concrete recommendations for improving Madiun's elderly-friendly infrastructure. This research is a development evaluation with a mixed approach (mixed method). The research sample includes various parties, starting from the Madiun City government, which is involved in planning and implementing development for the elderly in Pangongangan Village, the city center, who are users and beneficiaries of these facilities. The data analysis method in this research consists of quantitative and qualitative analysis. Based on the analysis, the majority of the construction of open space facilities and public service buildings in Madiun City is in accordance with development needs, according to the perception of the government and older people. Both parties were satisfied with the development results, especially on items of high essential and performance. However, there needs to be more perception between older people and the government regarding items considered necessary. This shows the need for synchronization between government perceptions and the needs felt by elderly people in developing elderly-friendly infrastructure. </p>

Digital Technology and Tourism Development: Evidence from the E-Commerce Pilot City Policy in China

Digital Technology and Tourism Development: Evidence from the E-Commerce Pilot City Policy in China

Supply chain and logistics in smart cities: A systematic literature review

Rapid urban expansion gives rise to smart cities which pose immense logistical and supply chain challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the holistic system identified by Zhao et al. in 2021. The system encompasses logistics and supply chain integral to the concept of smart cities, with a focus on sustainability. This transformation requires an in-depth study on challenges of a common framework of policies for smart cities in countries comprising the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The study employs an extensive literature analysis for the period 2020–2022. an approach which contextualizes the model. The model identifies the causes, impact, and spillovers of new trends in logistics and supply, including the sustainability of adopted technologies. The study includes the variables involved, and barriers to creating a shared model. The results reveal that the two elements affecting the supply chain and transport in smart cities are Industry 4.0 and 5.0 technologies supporting specific sectors. The resilience of small and medium-sized enterprises positively impacts the sustainability of large urban centres. The study presents both factors that help and hinder the adoption of environmental, social, and economic sustainability technologies.