Sustainability Evaluation Model Research Articles

An Assessment Mechanism for Integrated Software Sustainability Evaluation Model via Evaluation Theory

Evaluation of software sustainability aids in decision-maker’s identification of the specific actions needed to guarantee sustainability for current and future generations. The prior approach to assessment focused on how the business environment was changing and using the high-quality software sustainability evaluation model (SSEM) affected those changes. Numerous well-established quality models, concepts, and understandings impacted on SSEM trends. These act as frameworks for developing software evaluations, the outcomes of which are applied to the assessment of generic software procedures. Therefore, this research aimed to use Evaluation Theory (ET) to create an assessment mechanism for an integrated Software Sustainability Evaluation Model (i-SSEM). This model encompasses evaluation criteria, targets, assessment processes, data-gathering techniques, synthesis techniques, and yardsticks. Nine criteria are presented in this study to evaluate software sustainability encompassing functional adequacy, dependability, performance efficiency, usability, security, compatibility, maintainability, portability, and impactibility. The use of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) methodology, effectively classifies the recommended criteria into sustainable dimensions. A Goal Question Metric (GQM) is used to establish the software criteria by precisely specifying the aim, perspectives, and viewpoints of an evaluation of the sustainability aspects. By highlighting the unique evaluation mechanism for software products and processes and utilizing both quantitative and qualitative measurement techniques, this model improves the current SSEM.

Sustainability assessment of urban water public‐private partnership projects with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria

AbstractWith the acceleration of urbanization, the sustainability of urban water infrastructure projects has become pivotal to social development. This research aims to construct a comprehensive sustainability assessment model for urban water public‐private partnership (PPP) projects based on the environmental, social, and governance criteria. First, a multi‐level assessment indicator system is established considering the economic, social, ecological, and governance sustainability dimensions. Then, the extended analytic hierarchy process is utilized to determine the weights of indicators based on expert scoring. To address the ambiguity of qualitative linguistic variables, the interval‐valued intuitionistic fuzzy set method is applied to aggregate expert assessments. An empirical case study of an urban water project verifies the feasibility of the proposed approach. Results demonstrate that experts emphasize economic sustainability, while social sustainability is an overlooked dimension that requires improvement. The research contributes to the field by developing an applied, industry‐specific sustainability evaluation model for urban water PPP projects using advanced decision‐making techniques. This model provides practical tools for stakeholders to enhance the sustainable performance of urban water infrastructure projects.

The DPSIR Model-Based Sustainability Assessment of Urban Water Resources: A Comparative Study of Zhuhai and Macao

Based on the driving force-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) model, 19 indicators were selected to construct a comparison between Zhuhai and Macao, two adjacent cities at the estuary of the Pearl River in China, which have different development models and water resource sustainable development strategies. Factors that may affect the sustainability of water resources were screened and placed according to the relationships of the five subsystems in the DPSIR model, establishing a sustainable evaluation model for water resources in the two cities. The results analyzed by Principal Component Analysis and Entropy methods showed that (1) Zhuhai City was greatly affected by the driving force, while Macao was greatly affected by the state system from 2012 to 2021. (2) From the trend changes, it can be seen that, in recent years, the water resources of the two cities have been moving towards sustainable development, and the management and protection of water resources have achieved remarkable results. From the evaluation results, it can be seen that implementing urban water-saving activities, strengthening the proportion of environmental water conservancy, public measures in public investment, upgrading sewage treatment machinery to improve sewage treatment rates, and other measures can effectively improve the current situation of water resources in both regions. In the future, the Zhuhai and Macao cities may continue to face a series of water resource pressures brought on by socio-economic developments. Therefore, an active adjustment of the development of the measurement of controlling wastewater discharge and saving water resources was proposed, adhering to the direction of sustainable development, and ensuring the benign development of socio-economic conditions and the ecological environment. This study can provide data to support regional water resource security and policy formulation with different political systems.

Data-driven sustainability evaluation and manufacturing system enhancement from economic, environmental, social, and sustainability perspectives.

Sustainable manufacturing is crucial to achieving carbon neutrality targets. However, research on the sustainability of manufacturing systems is limited, and high consumption, low efficiency, and high emissions have resulted in high resource consumption and rapid environmental degradation. Therefore, it is of great importance to establish an evaluation and improvement indicator system conducive to sustainable development. To this end, this study developed a data-driven methodology for evaluating and enhancing the sustainability of manufacturing systems. Manufacturing system production process data, with data dimensions unified via the emergy method, were used to construct a sustainable development evaluation model that includes four perspectives: economy, environment, society, and sustainability. The model was applied to a flange production workshop in China to analyze the interrelation mechanisms among energy consumption, resource consumption, and environmental pollution, and identify optimization schemes to improve sustainability. After implementing these optimization schemes, the emergy yield rate (EYR) of the flange increased by 23.40%, the environmental load rate (ELR) decreased by 19.03%, the per capita emergy (EPP) increased by 6.88%, and the emergy-based sustainability index (ESI) increased by 52.76%. The method presented herein offers a novel and effective tool to analyze and visualize sustainable development in manufacturing systems and identify the relationship between technology and management in the manufacturing industry; however, this method is based on historical data and rules, and lacks of flexible response to unknown situations. The results provide a reference for enterprises to achieve sustainable and lean manufacturing.

A model to assess the sustainability of rural tourism based on a people-oriented concept: a case study of the villages in the Fuchun River Basin (China)

ABSTRACTRural tourism development emphasizes economic benefits while considering the needs of various stakeholders to achieve sustainability. This research aims to investigate the sustainable development of rural tourism by establishing a sustainability evaluation model to coordinate the demands of villagers and tourists based on a people-oriented concept. Using villages in the Fuchun River Basin in China as a case study, the study develops a rural tourism satisfaction evaluation system. A Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE) method is then used to evaluate the satisfaction of tourists and villagers. Finally, a two-dimensional evaluation coordinate system is employed to identify various shortcomings. The results are as follows: 1) An imbalance is observed in satisfaction between villagers and tourists. Tourism development in this area mainly focuses on the interests of tourists; thus, the services and facilities provided to villagers are relatively limited. 2) The sustainable development of rural tourism lacks momentum; therefore, efforts should be made to strengthen construction in areas such as sanitation, accommodation, commercialization, folk activities, and communication. 3) The sustainability evaluation method of rural tourism needs to address the different interests of villagers and tourists and establish a system based on indicators of rural characteristics.

Sustainability Assessment of Bus Low-Fare Policy Considering Three Stakeholders of the Public, Bus Enterprises and Government: A Case Study of Shenzhen, China

In order to quantitatively evaluate the sustainability of bus low-fare policy, this study establishes a sustainability evaluation index system for bus low-fare policy by using the PSR (Pressure–State–Response) model. Based on the matter–element extension model and entropy weight method, the sustainability evaluation model of bus low-fare policy is constructed. Finally, taking Shenzhen as an example, this study compares and analyzes the sustainability changes of bus fare policy in 2006, 2012 and 2016. The results show that the sustainability of the bus fare policy does not depend on the attribute of the fare (profit-making fares or public welfare fares): the sustainability of bus low-fare policy is closely related to the supporting fiscal subsidy system. Compared with the cost regulation subsidy system, the quota subsidy system is more conducive to the sustainability of bus low-fare policy. This study provides a decision-making reference for the sustainable development of urban bus low-fare policy.

A Study of Sustainable Product Design Evaluation Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process and Deep Residual Networks

Traditional product design evaluation processes are resource-intensive and time-consuming, resulting in unsustainably higher costs and longer lead times. Therefore, sustainable product design evaluation has become an increasingly crucial aspect of product design, focusing on creating a high-efficiency, high-reliability, and low-carbon-emission approach. In this study, we proposed an integrated approach that combines manual design evaluation based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with an automatic design evaluation based on a ResNet-50 network in order to develop a sustainable design evaluation method. First, the evaluation level and indicators for the shape design of a tail-light were defined using the AHP. We followed this by establishing a determination matrix and weight coefficients for the design indicators to create a manual design evaluation model. Second, tail-light shape image datasets were manually annotated based on the evaluation indicators, and design datasets were constructed. The ResNet-50 algorithm was introduced to train the datasets, and the automatic evaluation model for product design was constructed through training and tuning. Finally, we validated the feasibility and effectiveness of the product design evaluation method, which was based on AHP and ResNet-50, by comparing the results obtained using both manual design and automatic design evaluations. The results showed that the proposed sustainable product design evaluation model provides an efficient and reliable method for evaluating product design, improves the decision-making process, and empowers the design and development process. The model enhances resource efficiency and economic sustainability.

Drive on a Greener Way: A Case Study on Navigating Cross-Regional Traffic Networks in South China

Green navigation presents a challenge to sustainable mobility. Carbon emissions are a key indicator for evaluating the sustainability of a route. Some methods of green navigation consider the fastest and shortest route to be the least carbon-emitting option, solely from the driver’s perspective. To address this issue, various studies have incorporated road factors into the sustainability evaluation model and designed static route planning algorithms to minimize carbon emissions. However, there has been no comprehensive analysis of carbon emissions from both the road and the driver perspectives, and the influence of a sustainability evaluation using dynamic traffic states has not been considered. In this paper, we propose a carbon emission evaluation model based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) and a dynamic route planning algorithm that focuses on near-real-time traffic states. First, we develop an evaluation model for carbon emissions from both the road and the driver perspectives using a carbon footprint measurement method. Next, we propose a route planning method with both a static calculation and near-real-time adjustment to minimize carbon emissions. Finally, we select three cases from South China with different characteristics to verify the effectiveness of our model and algorithm. This evaluation model calculates the carbon emissions caused by all parties involved, providing a comprehensive assessment of the total carbon emissions generated by traffic. This approach addresses the problem of traditional route planning, which often fails to account for the influences of variable traffic conditions on the greenest route. We verify the effectiveness of the greenest navigation algorithm and near-real-time green navigation and apply these two aspects to cases where the greenest route is compared with other common navigation results from different dimensions. We compare carbon emissions from vehicles and roads from electric vehicles and gasoline-powered vehicles. If an electric vehicle is equipped with a wind power generator, the proportion of the vehicle’s carbon emissions will be very small. For other vehicle types, the carbon emissions will be more than 1000 times the road emissions.

Sustainability Evaluation: Measurement of Dimensions in Accredited Universities in a Developing Country

Due to the new paradigm of university education, universities must implement sustainability in their missionary functions and administrative areas to increase their reputation, obtain external financing and create a competitive advantage. For this reason, this research aims to propose a university sustainability evaluation model for accredited institutions, in the context of developing countries where the implementation of sustainability presents notorious lags. A measurement tool for student perception of university sustainability was built through a review, grouping of dimensions, expert testing, pilot testing, exploratory and confirmatory analysis. The survey was applied in nine accredited universities to 1.276 students of various semesters and professions. The review of the literature yielded various evaluative models on university sustainability. Thus, the theoretical results and the quantitative validation of the findings validated the constructs and as a result, the dimensions of the institutional framework, campus operations and missionary functions stood out with high statistical significance, evidencing the relevance of the measurement instrument. Therefore, these categories are considered central to the evaluation processes, just as greater emphasis should be placed on the dimensions referring to missionary functions. This research is innovative because it is one of the first evaluation models of university sustainability formulated from the perspective of the student in a developing country for institutions that must account for their progress in the implementation of sustainability, such as universities with high quality accreditation.

Emergy-based sustainability evaluation model of hydropower megaproject incorporating the social-economic-ecological losses

The sustainable development of the hydropower megaproject (HM) is one of the critical components of sustainable water resources management. Hence, an accurate assessment of the impacts of social-economic-ecological losses (SEEL) on the sustainability of the HM system is of utmost importance. This study proposes an emergy-based sustainability evaluation model incorporating the social-economic-ecological losses (ESM-SEEL), which integrated the inputs and outputs during HM's construction and operation into an emergy calculation account. The Three Gorges Project (TGP) on the Yangtze River is selected as a case study to comprehensively evaluate the HM's sustainability from 1993 to 2020. Subsequently, the emergy-based indicators of TGP are compared with several hydropower projects in China and worldwide to analyze the multi-impacts of hydropower development. The results showed that the river chemical potential (2.35 E+24sej) and the emergy losses (L) (1.39 E+24sej) are the primary emergy inflow sections (U) of the TGP system, accounting for 51.1% and 30.4% of the U, respectively. The flood control function of the TGP produced tremendous socio-economic benefits (1.24 E+24sej), accounting for 37.8% of the total emergy yield. The resettlement and compensation, water pollution during operation, fish biodiversity loss, and sediment deposition are the main L of the TGP, accounting for 77.8%, 8.4%, 5.6%, and 2.6%, respectively. Based on the enhanced emergy-based indicators, the assessment reveals that the sustainability level of the TGP falls in the middle range compared to other hydropower projects. Thus, along with maximizing the benefits of the HM system, it is necessary to minimize the SEEL of the HM system, which is a critical approach to promote the coordinated development of the hydropower and ecological environment in the Yangtze River basin. This study helps to understand the complex relationship between human and water systems and provides a novel framework that can be used as an evaluation index and insights for hydropower sustainability assessment.

A novel approach based on similarity measure for the multiple attribute group decision-making problem in selecting a sustainable cryptocurrency

Environmental impact and sustainability challenges in the cryptocurrencies has become increasingly examined in the literature. However, studies of the multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) method for major selection of cryptocurrencies in advancing sustainability are still at an early stage. In particular, research on the fuzzy-MAGDM method in the evaluation of sustainability in cryptocurrencies is scarce. This paper adds contributions by developing a novel MAGDM approach to evaluate the sustainability development of major cryptocurrencies. It proposes a similarity measure for interval-valued Pythagorean fuzzy numbers (IVPFNs) based on whitenisation weight function and membership function in grey systems theory for IVPFNs. It further developed a novel generalised interval-valued Pythagorean fuzzy weighted grey similarity (GIPFWGS) measure approach to provide a more rigorous evaluation in complex decision marking problem with embedding ideal solution and membership degree. It also conducts a sustainability evaluation model of major cryptocurrencies as a numerical application and performs a robustness assessment with different variations of the expert’s weight to test how different values of parameter θ can affect the ranking results of alternatives. The results suggest that Stellar is the most sustainable cryptocurrency, while Bitcoin with its intensive energy consumption, high mining cost and high computing power provides the least effective support for its sustainable development. A comparative analysis with the average value method and Euclidean distance method was performed to validate the reliability of the proposed decision-making model and provides evidence that the GIPFWGS has better fault tolerance.

Sustainability Analysis of the Water Environment Carrying Capacity of Harbin City Based on an Optimized Set Pair Analysis Posture-Deviation Coefficient Method Evaluation Model

To scientifically measure the water environment carrying capacity of Harbin City and its change trend, based on analysis of the implications of the sustainability of the urban water environment’s carrying capacity, an evaluation index system for the sustainability of the water environment carrying capacity of Harbin City was constructed. Most existing evaluation methods rely on static data to construct correlation functions between research objects and rank criteria, while the dynamic nature of the information is not considered enough. In this paper, we use hierarchical analysis (analytic hierarchy process, AHP) to determine the weights of each index of the system and then apply the projection tracing method (projection pursuit, PP) to optimize the determined weights. Combining the set pair analysis posture evaluation method and bias coefficients method to explore the dynamic balance mechanism between different index factor levels, a sustainability evaluation model for water environment carrying capacity integrating informational evolution is constructed. Finally, the applicability of the optimization model is tested by comparing the confidence criterion judging method. The model realizes quantitative evaluation of the carrying capacity of the urban water environment. It provides a new and effective means for accurate and reasonable determination of the coefficient of variance and the number of links and dynamic analysis of the water environment carrying capacity system and judgment of its sustainable development trend. The results show that the weight for water resource quality is 0.55, which is the subsystem with the greatest overall impact on the carrying capacity of the water environment in Harbin. The evaluation level of the set-to-potential eigenvalue for 2010–2017 is biased positive 2, and the rest of the years are quasi 2. The reduced value of the coefficient of oppositeness corresponding to the years 2010–2017 is more significant. The maximum value of the dynamic evolution of the load-carrying capacity level is nearly −0.35. From the vertical comparison of different levels, it is found that the water environment carrying capacity of Harbin City gradually recovered to the normal loadable level over time. This overall shows an improving trend.

Research on Sustainable Evaluation Model of Sponge City Based on Emergy Analysis

Sponge city is a method of managing rain floods, proposed by China to deal with urban waterlogging and the overflow pollution of drainage pipe networks, which indicates a more effective strategy to promote urban sustainable development. Due to the diversity of sponge city construction objectives and the complexity of the developmental system, a unified and effective sustainability evaluation method has not yet been formed. Based on the emergy analysis method, the indicators of ecosystem service, the construction cost, the runoff regulation, and the pollutant reduction of sponge city construction are thus included in the evaluation system, and the sustainable evaluation model of a sponge city is fully constructed. Taking the core area in the south of Haicang in Xiamen City as the studying object, the runoff regulation, and the pollutant reduction indicators, are carefully obtained by using Info Works simulation software. The results showed that: ① the quality of COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) of pollutants discharged from the research object is 409.8t/a, the total runoff is 3.579 million m3/a, the current annual total runoff control rate is 37.15%, and the current emergy index ESI of sponge city system is 0.05 < 1, which is in an unsustainable state, It is necessary to upgrade and transform the urban underlying surface; ② The transformation intensity of three LID (Low Impact Development) facilities, i.e., concave green space, permeable pavement and green roof, is carefully selected as different construction schemes. When the construction intensity of LID is 25%, the emergy index ESI (Emergy Sustainable Index) = 1.08, which meets the basic requirements of sustainable development; As long as the reconstruction construction intensity is 30%, the growth value of ESI, ΔESI, is the largest, the sustainable growth effect of sponge city construction is the most obvious, and the marginal benefit is the largest; ③ As long as the total annual runoff control rate of the research object is 69–82%, its sustainable energy index ESI should be within the range of 1.39–1.83. If ESI is less than 1.39, this indicates that the total annual runoff control rate of the research area cannot adapt to the planning requirements of 69%.

Full lifecycle-based sustainability evaluation for remanufacturing ecosystem services: A novel perspective of technology-ecology synergy

Ecosystems play a very important role in the sustainable development of remanufacturing. Research has often focused on the sustainability of remanufacturing systems from the aspect of general technological activities, for which there is a lack of an in-depth consideration of ecological services. This may lead to an imbalanced development of ecosystems. This paper proposes a full lifecycle-based sustainability evaluation model for remanufacturing ecosystem services (ESs) from the novel perspective of technology-ecology synergy. Firstly, by analyzing the coupling effect of technical activities and ecological services, a technology-ecology synergy in a lifecycle assessment (TES-LCA) computing model is established to quantify the sustainability of remanufacturing ESs. Secondly, the supply and allocation of ESs considering multiple users are proposed and addressed. Thirdly, regional differences in ESs are investigated. The sustainability of ESs is then analyzed and calculated on a multi-spatial scale. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed model is verified by performing a case analysis of the remanufacturing of a spindle of a machine tool that is to be adopted in two regions. The case study results showed that the air quality control service in both two regions is unsustainable; however, the water supply service is sustainable. The proposed model can provide data support for governmental policy makers and businesses to formulate relevant policies to maintain a balanced development of ecosystems.

Adoption of big data analytics practices for sustainability development in the e-commercesupply chain: a mixed-method study

PurposeThe study aims to identify the potential drivers of big data analytics (BDA) practices in the supply chain and develop a sustainability evaluation model to evaluate drivers of big data for sustainability development.Design/methodology/approachThe mixed-method approach was applied to assess sustainability dimensions and calculate the score using two phases. In Phase I, the BDA drivers in the e-commerce industry were finalised using the partial least square based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) method. In Phase II, a case study in the Indian fashion e-commerce industry was carried out to evaluate sustainability dimensions with respect to drivers of BDA and the sustainability score was calculated using the fuzzy analytical hierarchical process (AHP) method.FindingsThe index for economic sustainability (0.220), social sustainability (0.142) and environmental sustainability (0.182) were derived. The higher index value of economic sustainability compared to social sustainability and environmental sustainability signified those drivers of big data bring social and environmental uncertainty along with economic sustainability.Research limitations/implicationsThe study will help practitioners promote BDA use for developing environmental/social/economic sustainability in supply chains. Policymakers must ensure whether the integration of BDA practices brings down cost and brings strategic value for ensuring big data success. The study will help managers decide a constant trade-off between the requirement for social, environmental and economic performance.Originality/valueThe study corroborates and adds to the BDA literature by emphasising the positive role of BDA in sustainability development in the supply chain area and highlighting the significant role of different drivers of BDA in sustainability development.

Sustainable performance evaluation of forestry enterprises in the context of carbon neutrality

Highly polluting and energy-consuming enterprises are generally considered to be a key concern for achieving sustainability, but the sustainability of forestry enterprises is not to be underestimated. Enterprise development can only be considered stable if the economic, environmental and social development of the enterprise is addressed simultaneously. To properly and comprehensively evaluate the sustainable development of forestry enterprises, there should be a corresponding performance evaluation. Constructing a sustainable performance evaluation model for forestry enterprises can not only help enterprises to develop in a balanced way in the three dimensions of finance, environment and society, but also provide directions and suggestions for their future operations. In this paper, we construct a six-dimensional SBSC, combining the three methods of DEMATEL, ANP and VIKOR. The paper also evaluates the case of a specific forestry company, J, to identify the problems of the case company and to propose corresponding improvement measures for its sustainable development strategy in order to achieve the necessary level of expectations.

Evaluation of the Sustainable Development of the Social-Economic-Natural Compound Ecosystem in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Urban Agglomeration (China): Based on Complex Network Analysis

In the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), a series of natural environmental, economic, and social issues have emerged sequentially in the process of rapid economic and social development. Therefore, for the sustainable development of the GBA, how to closely integrate nature protection with economic and social development to improve the sustainable development level of the social-economic-natural compound ecosystem, and realize the coordinated development of the system is particularly important. Based on the perspective of complex network and the theory of compound ecosystem, this study proposes a set of sustainable development evaluation model based on complex network modeling to evaluate the sustainable development level of compound ecosystem in GBA from 2014 to 2018, and further analyze the coupling coordination degree. The major findings include: 1) For the sustainable development in the GBA, the development of the natural subsystem is an important foundation, and the synchronous development of the social and economic subsystems are the main driving force. 2) The sustainable development level in the GBA shows an overall steady upward trend; the average level of the compound ecosystem’s coupling coordination development is in a “good” state, and it shows an evident upward trend. 3) Whether it is within the GBA or the GBA and its surrounding regions, there are problems of unbalanced and insufficient regional development. Policy recommendations include increasing the emphasis on the sustainable development of the natural subsystem, promoting the coordinated development of the economic, social, and natural subsystems, and promoting the balanced development of cities within the GBA, as well as the GBA and surrounding regions.

Micro- and Small-Sized Enterprises’ Sustainability-Oriented Innovation for COVID-19

The economic impact of a public emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, is often reduced by micro and small businesses (MSEs) undertaking sustainability-oriented innovation for public emergencies (SOIPE), which includes production and service innovation, information innovation, marketing innovation, and labor innovation. The originality of this study lies in its prediction and evaluation of COVID-19′s challenges and SOIPE’s requirements to have a keen observation and discovery ability. In this paper, we combined nominal group technique, fuzzy analytical hierarchy process, least squares, and a case study to investigate governance, economic, financial, sociocultural, and environmental sustainability and demonstrate the MSEs’ sustainability evaluation model. In a qualitative study and literature review, MSEs were found to use SOIPE in a variety of ways. Some studies focused on marketing innovation, while others were hampered by their limited understanding. From both a theoretical and empirical perspective, this study suggests that MSEs should identify their optimal SOIPE based on the impact and volatility of a public emergency. In addition, this study presents an assessment of the impact and environmental volatility of a public emergency, as well as MSEs’ SOIPE, which is more helpful for enterprises. Finally, this study creatively introduces the SOIPE of MSEs, which has important policy ramifications.

Healthy and Sustainable Higher Education System Assessment Model

A healthy and sustainable higher education system not only helps a person to develop rapidly, but also promotes a country to flourish. The purpose of this paper is to develop an evaluation model of a healthy and sustainable higher education system and apply it to countries such as China to evaluate the health of the higher education systems in these countries. In addition, this paper proposes policies for countries with room for improvement in their higher education systems, as represented by China, and discusses the impact of policy implementation on universities, students, and society. In this paper, eight indicators are identified to measure the health of higher education systems, and a weighted arithmetic averaging algorithm is used to develop a healthy and sustainable higher education system evaluation model in combination with the indicator weights determined using AHP. Then, by applying the established higher education system evaluation model to several countries, Japan, China and the United States, this paper identifies the country, China, where the higher education system needs to be improved. Using a single-variable control approach, a weighted arithmetic averaging algorithm, and a gray prediction model, this paper establishes the policies and implementation timeline that China should implement to improve its higher education system, as well as the impact of policy implementation on universities, students, and society.

Correlation between land use spatial and functional transition: a case study of Shaanxi Province, China

Transitioning to a more optimal land use morphology contributes to the sustainable use of land resources. Land use transition refers to the land use morphology changes from one to another, which should be portrayed from both correlated spatial morphology and functional morphology. However, the current studies have the problem of separating the land use spatial and functional transition, which causes the degree and the mechanism of the correlation between them to be still unclear. Taking Shaanxi Province as a case study, based on the land use data and socio-economic data, this study used the sustainability evaluation model of land use spatial transition, the multifunctional coupling coordination model of land use, and the grey correlation model to quantify the correlation between the land use spatial and functional transition. The results showed that the correlation between land use spatial and functional transition was high in Shaanxi Province during 1980–2018, and the change in correlation had an interdecadal cycle, which was embodied in the correlation reached extremely high when a positive land use functional transition occurred. The correlation between land use spatial transition and the change of land use ecological function was extremely high, and the correlation with both production and living function was high. The high correlation between the land use spatial and functional transition was essentially a strong driving force, bound by the vulnerability of land ecology and strengthened by the rapidly changing demands of production and living. It can drive the land use spatial morphology transition to another that can give full play to the multifunctionality of land use. The study established a quantitative analysis framework for the correlation between land use spatial and functional transition, which provided quantitative evidence for the regional land use transition theory and contributed to formulating rational land use policies to achieve regional sustainable development.