Sustainable City Management Research Articles

A bivariate simultaneous pollutant forecasting approach by Unified Spectro-Spatial Graph Neural Network (USSGNN) and its application in prediction of O3 and NO2 for New Delhi, India

Declining urban air quality affects socioeconomic stability, public health, and ecosystems and is demanding attention of the administration to address environmental sustainability goals. Given the effects of ozone, a greenhouse gas, on local climate and health, this study introduces a Unified Spectro-Spatial Graph Neural Network (USS-GNN) designed for simultaneous 24-hour forecasting of ozone and its precursor, nitrogen-dioxide, while addressing their chemical interactions and spatiotemporal dynamics. This model exploits the graph structure of atmospheric dynamics and mines high-level spatial, spectral, and physical features from atmospheric data through a Dot Product Edge Attention mechanism and a location-aware graph feature rewiring technique. The proposed model is developed for Indian capital city New Delhi, utilizes hourly observations for the years 2021 and 2022 and achieved R2 values of 0.650 and 0.618, RMSE of 13.950 and 16.120 μg/m3, MAE of 10.730 and 12.930 μg/m3 for ozone and nitrogen-dioxide respectively, outperforming state-of-the-art models. The model’s forecast analysis identified error-prone areas, effects of local meteorology, and pollutant interdependencies. An ablation study further detailed the impacts of graph operations on forecasts. Moreover, this study promotes the utility of bivariate modeling frameworks in improving urban pollution monitoring and supporting sustainable city management through data-driven policy implementations.

Identification of the Role of Stakeholders in Sustainable City Forests, Case Study of Beringin Medan City Forest, North Sumatra, Indonesia

Management of forest cities becomes an essential strategy in strengthening environmental and social urban areas, particularly in facing the challenge of urbanization. This study aims to analyze stakeholders' roles, contributions, and strategies to increase synergy in the management of Medan Beringin City Forest. The MACTOR analysis method is used to understand the interaction between stakeholders and the factors influencing them. The results show that the involvement of various parties, including government regions, institutions, self-subsistent society, local community, and private sector, is essential in sustainable city management. City Government and Environment and Forestry Service's key roles in collaboration with other institutions are also seeded. Recommendation strategies can strengthen the effectiveness of management of forest cities, not only in Medan but also in other cities facing similar challenges.

Based on 5G Internet of Things Technology (Iot), the Integrity of Agricultural Products and the Sustainability of the origin's Ecological Environment

The rise in population worldwide necessitates a change towards smart agricultural methods. This, along with decreasing natural resources, restricted agricultural land availability, and a rise in inclement weather, has led to making the food and essential safety as the critical element for most of the countries around the world. Therefore, it can be regarded that, the internet of things (IoT) is mainly focused in enhancing the overall performance of food production and enable in creating sustainable living. The application of wireless sensors has enabled as the critical aspect in implement the smart agriculture which will provide the ways in using the IoT in an effective manner. The different technologies like cloud computing, RFID (radio frequency) related tools has enabled in enhancing the overall IoT. Several advantages of IoT have been mentioned in this study. It has been stated that the implementation of new generation of cellular networks and IoT told are likely to become widely available in the coming decades. On a practical basis, this is potentially good from the standpoint of IoT, as many “mainstream” IoT applications will assist in creating sustainable city management, better building efficiencies and campuses. The primary impetus support in creating better mobile connectivity, support in using the critical technologies to enhance the overall productivity and output. To allow 5G cellular technology to accommodate large data rates, the millimeter wave spectrum must be used. Millimeter wave systems, on the other hand, necessitate the use of tiny cells. In overall, a facilitator enables in applying the technologies based on the needs and requirements of the organization to attain the stated purpose.

Comprehensive Review of Smart Cities using IOT in Coud

The rapid growth of urbanization necessitates smarter and more sustainable city management. The convergence of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and cloud computing offers a transformative solution for building Smart Cities. This review explores the integration of IoT and cloud technologies in creating intelligent urban infrastructure. It examines how data collected from a network of sensors and devices across the city can be leveraged to improve various aspects of urban life, including traffic management, energy efficiency, public safety, waste management, and parking. The paper discusses the key benefits of cloud computing for Smart City IoT applications, such as scalability, centralized data management, cost-effectiveness, security, and advanced analytics capabilities. Additionally, it explores the challenges associated with implementing Smart City IoT solutions, such as data privacy concerns, cybersecurity risks, and the need for interoperability between different devices and platforms. Finally, the review concludes by highlighting the potential of Smart City IoT powered by cloud computing to create a more efficient, sustainable, and livable future for our cities.

Implementation Strategy “3R CIRCULAR ECONOMY” To Achieve SDG Target 11.6 “Municipal Waste Management” In Cipaganti Village, Bandung City (Study at the Cihampelas Mandiri Unit Garbage Bank)

Good municipal waste management is very important for a sustainable urban order. Good municipal waste management can reduce negative impacts on the environment, public health and natural resources. The application of a Garbage Bank is one of the solutions for good municipal waste management. This is due to the concept of a Garbage Bank which is aligned with sustainable city management. One of the principles that is effective in helping the performance of waste management at the Garbage Bank is a circular economy based on 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle). The application of this concept needs to be supported by campaigns involving various activities such as outreach, education, training and promotion which aim to increase public awareness about the importance of sustainable waste management. This study aims to examine the Garbage Bank campaign strategy as an effort to support the achievement of Target 11.6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), namely “Urban Waste Management”, by implementing a 3R-based circular economy approach in Cipaganti Village, Bandung City. This study uses a qualitative approach with a case study method of a Garbage Bank in Cipaganti Village, Bandung City. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, participatory observation, and analysis of related documents. The key informants in this study were community members, related stakeholders, and the management of the Waste Bank in Cipaganti Village. The results of this study are expected to provide a better understanding of the effectiveness of the Garbage Bank campaign strategy in realizing SDG Target 11.6 in Cipaganti Village, Bandung City, as well as provide guidance for the government and related organizations in planning and implementing sustainable waste management activitiesgovernment and related organizations in planning and implementing sustainable waste management activities.

The Effect of Green Intellectual Capital on Green Competitive Advantage in Sustainable City Management

Resource-based view (RBV) is a valuable theoretical foundation in analyzing organizational strategic resources to achieve Green Competitive Advantage in green city management. The purpose of this study is to analyze the strategic resources of the Semarang municipal government and this public sector capability in achieving a green competitive advantage in the management of green city. The application of the green city concept aims to create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly environment, by optimizing the use of renewable energy and reducing emissions. The use of this renewable energy can also provide a more stable and secure energy source because it does not depend on the irregular supply of fossil fuels and is vulnerable to price fluctuations. The method used is by quantitative techniques through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with a number of 116 respondents in Semarang City municipal government was taken as the sample through purposive sampling technique. The findings through quantitative analysis shows that green intellectual capital, eco-innovation and transformational leadership factors have a significant effect on Green Competitive Advantage in the context of green city management. As a suggestion, it is advisable to enhance the capacity for sharing a common vision, facilitating communication among parties involved, implementing sustainable management practices, nurturing human resources, and employing a collaborative governance framework for the purpose of building a green city in Semarang, Indonesia.

The contributions of space geodesy to the construction of sustainable cities in Africa and around the world

The accelerate urbanisation African cities caused by the massive rural exodus contributed to the demographic boom of these cities. Our cities barely breathe. The swamps of yesterday have become the habitats of today, the marine areas become a refuge by excellence for families newly arrived in the city. This is the birth of precarious neighborhoods with growing land insecurity. The disappearance of marine and coastal biodiversity, the increase in pollution in all its forms; this is where space geodesy comes in. Recognized as one of the great revolutions of Navigation. Space geodesy has made available to territories and continents including the oceans a set of techniques that in their applications participate in the construction and management of sustainable cities in Africa and in the world; it participates through its fields of application in atmospheric monitoring, marine environment monitoring, territorial, climatological to ensure a better life on land, underground, in water and under water. These techniques and application are an urban decision support for the construction and management of sustainable cities; precise geodetic measurements make it possible to assess topography, identify flood zones, with facilitates the installation of resilient infrastructure.

VALUING THE ECOLOGICAL QUALITY OF THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT USING HEDONIC PRICING METHOD

Development of sustainable cities needs the natural and human living in a harmony way. River is an important natural attribute, which has a closed relationship with the development of the city. The purpose of the study is to use hedonic pricing method to assess the economic value of the river in Nanyang city. The novelty of the study lies in the development of econometric models, which use two explanatory variables as metrics of environmental quality – the distance from the residential property to the river and the beauty of the river landscape. Three hedonic pricing models using dummy variables to reflect distance and landscape were developed and analyzed. Simulation results showed that the distance to the river has a positive effect on property price when the distance between them is less than 200 meters. The price of property with river vision will be 9.8 % higher than the price of property without river vision. The results of the study demonstrate a fairly high economic value of the river and the need to implant economic assessments of the ecological quality of the urban environment into the strategic management of sustainable cities’ development

A factor analysis of the key sustainability content underpinning green cities development in Ghana

Despite the growing importance of green cities and the contributions in literature, cities still face challenges such as poor planning, flooding, and slums especially in Africa including Ghana. Yet, no study has investigated the sustainability content required to develop green cities in Ghana. In view of this, the primary aim of this study is to explore the key sustainability content underpinning green cities development in Ghana. In using the quantitative design, 20 variables were identified from a comprehensive literature review, and a quantitative survey was performed with 154 professionals with green cities development experience. Based on descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis, four major categories were developed namely, sustainable city planning, sustainable city management, integrative sustainable city design, and sustainable city and heritage preservation. This study provides insights into key green content for green cities development which will be useful to academia, industry practitioners, and policymakers. Although this study was limited in geographical scope to Ghana, the findings may apply to other cities in developing countries that share similar characteristics with Ghanaian cities.

Using the T‐EFA method in a cellular automata‐based urban growth simulation's calibration step

AbstractChanges in land cover driven by urban sprawl increase the threat of urbanization of forests and agricultural lands. Therefore, monitoring urban sprawl by creating simulation models is frequently carried out to understand sustainable city management. Cellular automata‐based models are mostly preferred to reduce the damage led by urban sprawl, and the SLEUTH model is the most well known. Several methods have been developed for the SLEUTH model calibration step, such as optimum SLEUTH metrics and total exploratory factor analysis (T‐EFA), to improve the model accuracy. This study aims to create a high‐accuracy urban growth simulation model using low‐resolution data, investigate the T‐EFA method's success in the calibration step, and find the urban sprawl effects on land cover change. Istanbul was selected as our study area due to witnessing its tremendous urban sprawl since the 1950s. According to our results, the urban growth that occurred between 2000 and 2018 could be defined more closely to reality using the T‐EFA method, and Istanbul will continue to grow until 2040, with approximately 428.7 km2 of agricultural lands, 553.4 km2 of forests, and 0.1 km2 of wetlands being transformed to urban. In addition, the geologically risky areas under threat of urbanization will increase by 60% between 2018 and 2040.

Sustainable urban development: Can the balanced scorecard contribute to the strategic management of sustainable cities?

AbstractThis article aims to present, adapt, and propose the use of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a tool to support strategic management for sustainable cities. To achieve this goal, publications and 27 sustainable cities projects were also consulted, through project reports and programs from the cities themselves on the topic were consulted. A text mining analysis was applied to the results obtained in this literature review to find the main factors related to sustainable cities. To evaluate the findings of this first stage, consultations with specialists were carried out, specifically to assess the main factors. Based on the previous steps, and based on the original BSC, an adaptation of the tool was proposed, where its structure was changed to meet the needs of the strategic management of sustainable cities. It was concluded that creating a sustainable city requires understanding the difficulties faced by urban center managers with the implementation and management of institutional sustainable development practices. The BSC for sustainable cities can assist as a viable management strategic tool to more efficient use of resources in order to develop sustainable cities.

A Study on the Integration of Resilience and Smart City Concepts in Urban Systems

The continuous growth of cities brings out various concerns for improved development and management of the multifaceted urban systems, including those of resilience and smartness. Despite the many significant efforts in the research field, both notions remain changeable, thus retaining the lack of commonly accepted conceptual and terminological frameworks. The paper’s research goals are to designate the current direct and indirect links in the conceptualizations and research trends of the resilience and smart city frameworks and to prove the potential of the conceptual convergence between them in the context of urban systems. The application of a semi-systematic literature review, including bibliometric evidence and followed by content analysis, has led to the observation that as the resilience discourse opens up to embrace other dimensions, including technology, the smart city research turns its interest to the perspective of urban protection. Therefore, both concepts share the goal for urban sustainability realized through specific capacities and processes and operationalized with the deployment of technology. The paper’s findings suggest that the conceptual and operational foundations of these two concepts could support the emergence of an integrated framework. Such a prospect acknowledges the instrumental role of the smart city approach in the pursuit of urban resilience and unfolds a new model for sustainable city management and development.

Transforming Unused Spaces in a Shrinking City through Individuals’ Spontaneous Occupation Activities: The Case of Janghang, South Korea

This study examines individual occupancy of unused space from an urban management perspective. It also identifies measures for sustainable city management by exploring the changes in unused space and relationships between various stakeholders based on personal occupancy processes. The target area of this study is Janghang, which has been characterized by population decline and economic recession over the past decade. Participants were recruited through snowball sampling and informal interviews, and data were analyzed using the open coding method. The results of the study show that unused space was occupied for various purposes such as to harvest food, pursue leisure activities, and alleviate the adverse effects of spaces remaining unused for extensive periods. The results identified owners, occupants, public organizations, and neighborhoods as stakeholders in unused spaces. Moreover, the neglected unused space was maintained as a managed space through tacit consent as well as flexible negotiation and stakeholders’ collective consciousness. Agreement and coordination among stakeholders and the physical environment of the unused space are crucial factors in managing unused space and landscapes because of the differences between landowners and occupants in a shrinking city.

Identification of Urban Functional Areas by Coupling Satellite Images and Taxi GPS Trajectories

Urban functional area (UFA) recognition is one of the most important strategies for achieving sustainable city development. As remote-sensing and social-sensing data sources have increasingly become available, UFA recognition has received a significant amount of attention. Research on UFA recognition that uses a single dataset suffers from a low update frequency or low spatial resolution, while data fusion-based methods are limited in efficiency and accuracy. This paper proposes an integrated model to identify UFA using satellite images and taxi global positioning system (GPS) trajectories in four steps. First, blocks were generated as spatial units in the study area, and the spatiotemporal information entropy of the taxi GPS trajectory (STET) for each block was calculated. Second, a 24-hour time-frequency series was formed based on the pick-up and drop-off points extracted from taxi trajectories and used as the interpretation indicator of the blocks. The K-Means++ and k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) algorithm were used to identify their social functions. Third, a multilabel classification method based on the residual neural network (MLC-ResNets) and “You Only Look Once” (YOLO) target detection algorithms were used to identify the features of the typical and atypical spatial textures, respectively, of the satellite images in the blocks. The confidence scores of the features of the blocks were categorized by the decision tree algorithm. Fourth, to find the best way to integrate the two sub-models for UFA identification, the 10-fold cross-validation method based on stratified random sampling was applied to determine the most optimal STET thresholds. The results showed that the average accuracy reached 82.0%, with an average kappa of 73.5%—significant improvements over most existing studies. This paper provides new insights into how the advantages of satellite images and taxi trajectories in UFA identification can be fully exploited to support sustainable city management.

Neural-Network-Based Dynamic Distribution Model of Parking Space Under Sharing and Non-Sharing Modes

In recent years, with the rapid development of China’s automobile industry, the number of vehicles in China has been increasing steadily. Vehicles represent a convenient mode of travel, but the growth rate of the number of urban motor vehicles far exceeds the construction rate of parking facilities. The continuous improvement of parking allocation methods has always been key for ensuring sustainable city management. Thus, developing an efficient and dynamic parking distribution algorithm will be an important breakthrough to alleviate the urban parking shortage problem. However, the existing parking distribution models do not adequately consider the influence of real-time changes in parking demand and supply on parking space assignment. Therefore, this study proposed a method for dynamic parking allocation using parking demand predictions and a predictive control method. A neural-network-based dynamic parking distribution model was developed considering seven influencing factors: driving duration, walking distance, parking fee, traffic congestion, possibility of finding a parking space in the target parking lot and adjacent parking lot, and parking satisfaction degree. Considering whether the parking spaces in the targeted parking lots are shared or not, two allocation modes—sharing mode and non-sharing mode—were proposed and embedded into the model. At the experimental stage, a simulation case and a real-time case were performed to evaluate the developed models. The experimental results show that the dynamic parking distribution model based on neural networks can not only allocate parking spaces in real time but also improve the utilisation rate of different types of parking spaces. The performance score of the dynamic parking distribution model for a time interval of 2–20 min was maintained above 80%. In addition, the distribution performance of the sharing mode was better than that of the non-sharing mode and contributed to a better overall effectiveness. This model can effectively improve the utilisation rate of resources and the uniformity of distribution and can reduce the failure rate of parking; thus, it significantly contributes to more smart and sustainable urban parking management.

Are Community Gardening and Horticultural Interventions Beneficial for Psychosocial Well-Being? A Meta-Analysis.

Recent literature has revealed the positive effect of gardening on human health; however, empirical evidence on the effects of gardening-based programs on psychosocial well-being is scant. This meta-analysis aims to examine the scientific literature on the effect of community gardening or horticultural interventions on a variety of outcomes related to psychosocial well-being, such as social cohesion, networking, social support, and trust. From 383 bibliographic records retrieved (from 1975 to 2019), seven studies with a total of 22 effect sizes were selected on the basis of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Meta-analytic findings on 11 comparisons indicate a positive and moderate effect of horticultural or gardening interventions on psychosocial well-being. Moderation analysis shows a greater effect size in individualistic than collectivistic cultures. A greater effect size was also observed in studies involving community gardening compared to horticultural intervention. Nevertheless, an effect of publication bias and study heterogeneity has been detected. Despite the presence of a large number of qualitative studies on the effect of horticulture/gardening on psychosocial well-being, quantitative studies are lacking. There is a strong need to advance into further high-quality studies on this research topic given that gardening has promising applied implications for human health, the community, and sustainable city management.

Prioritizing Sustainable City Indicators for Cambodia

This research is based on our previous research that developed consensus sustainable city indicators for Cambodia through three-round Delphi panel surveys. That research developed indicators in the first round based on UN sustainable development goal 11, ASEAN environmentally sustainable city, Korean case study, and domestic green and clean city indicators, and validated the developed indicators in the last two rounds. After consensus analysis, that research obtained 32 assessment indicators categorized by nine criteria. However, these indicators are not prioritized yet due to the limitation of the Delphi technique. Hence, this research aims to prioritize these indicators by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique and to confirm whether the levels of importance verified by Delphi can be used for prioritizing or ranking the indicators. This research surveyed potential respondents experienced and working in relevant fields both offline and online. Online surveys were processed through E-mail, Facebook, and LinkedIn. A total of 118 questionnaires were gathered from the surveys, and 16 were inconsistent (consistency ratio > 0.1). The results showed that the highest and lowest weights are 0.0557 and 0.086. The top ten indicators are slum population (0.0557), unemployment (0.0516), crime prevention (0.0470), water supply (0.0469), city’s migration (0.0462), low-income housing (0.0445), solid waste collection (0.0437), labor-force (0.0421), construction safety (0.0400), and traffic congestion (0.0398). The rank of all indicators based on their levels of importance is completely different from the rank of their weights. Therefore, this research confirms that the levels of importance verified by Delphi cannot be used for ranking or prioritizing the consensus indicators. The priority weights in this research would be useful to policymaking, strategic direction, and budget allocation for the development and management of sustainable cities in Cambodia.

Spatial distribution and relocation potential of isolated dwellings in Japan using developed micro geodata

This research analyzes the spatio-temporal distribution of isolated dwellings; i.e., those with no surrounding neighborhood, throughout Japan for 2009 and 2014 using developed residential micro geodata. We then calculate the lifeline utility maintenance costs and benefits in relation to relocating residents to the city center. The main results are as follows. First, the number of isolated dwellings decreased nationwide although the rate of isolated dwellings increased, predominantly in mountainous areas and remote islands. Second, there was no significant relationship between isolated dwellings and aging rate according to municipality-level aggregated data; however, the aging rate of isolated dwellings was higher than that of non-isolated dwellings according to pinpoint non-aggregated data. Finally, calculations of lifeline utility costs and migration promotion expenses indicate that almost all municipalities in Japan could recover relocation promotion expenses in 13 years, provided that migration promotion expenses are 10 million Japanese yen (JPY) per isolated dwelling. However, convincing residents to agree to relocation can be challenging. Moreover, the benefits of isolated dwellings should also be considered; i.e. ecotourism, cultural values, traditional societies, and freedom of residence. The spatial analysis and modeling results of this study can be used to promote vital public involvement in city management through discussion and information sharing among stakeholders. Therefore, future work will improve the calculation process to promote discussion on sustainable city management.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of urban expansion in 13 cities across the Jing-Jin-Ji Urban Agglomeration from 1978 to 2015

The newly implemented national policy “To build a world-class agglomeration of cities with the capital as the core” made the Jing-Jin-Ji Urban Agglomeration attract attention from both the scientific community and society. Here we quantified and compared the magnitude, rates, forms, and dynamics of urban expansion for 13 cities across the Jing-Jin-Ji Urban Agglomeration, and examined the relationship of urban patch structure and hierarchical structure of urban growth over the past four decades. We found that the rates and composition of urban expansion forms (i.e., infilling, edge-expansion and leapfrogging) varied considerably across cities and over time, due to national and regional policies, physical features and the urban administrative hierarchy. The overall annual urban expansion rate for the 13 cities was 5.5 ± 2.0% (mean ± standard deviation) between 1978 and 2015. Leapfrogging was the dominant urban expansion form in early period, edge-expansion took the leading role since 1990, and the contribution of infilling was generally less than 40%. Our results revealed that although three major cities (i.e., Tianjin, Beijing and Shijiazhuang) of the Jing-Jin-Ji Urban Agglomeration contributed 36.6% of the urban land area increase of this region, larger cities might not be better positioned for urban expansion. The urban expansion rates of cities were inversely related to city size in general from 1978 to 2015 with exception only from 2005 to 2010. Patch analysis showed that relationship between patch number and patch size derived previously at the national level can be applied to the Jing-Jin-Ji Urban Agglomeration despite the discrepancies in temporal scale and urban administrative hierarchy. This invariant self-organization of urban land patches during the urbanization process might provide insightful information guiding the design, planning, and management of sustainable cities in the capital urban agglomeration of China.

AN INITIATIVES-BASED FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING SMART CITY

Smart Cities have grown in prominence due to advancement in ICT and the new paradigm of sustainable city management and development. Whilst many authors have proposed guidelines and framework for Smart City implementation, less attention has been given to the assessment of Smart City performance. The mainstream Smart City assessment framework generally entails the quantitative assessment of factors, elements and initiatives categorised under the Smart City dimensions. However, this approach is problematic and impractical because it requires a large amount of different baseline data that is often at times unavailable due to various reasons. This paper describes an alternative framework for smart city assessment, one that is based on the modification of Giffmger’s to make it amenable to leaner data. The proposed assessment framework was adopted to assess the smart city performances of Seoul, Singapore, and Iskandar Malaysia which were then compared. With the use of the framework for the performance assessment, the city that has performed better than the others is able to be identified.