Social and economic sustainability of urban systems: comparative analysis of metropolitan statistical areas in Ohio,USA

The development of a comprehensive sustainability analysis tool for evaluating regional urban systems would present researchers, planners, and policy makers with a powerful tool to study and manage systems, with the goal of encouraging optimum social and economic trends, while maintaining long-term environmental protection that leads to sustainability. This article intends to aid in this effort by presenting a versatile methodology for assessing sustainability as a function of dynamic changes in significant characteristics of urban systems. Using statistical methods, this work presents a strategy for comparatively assessing the impact of social and economic characteristics on system stability at geographic scales which are critical to policy and management. Specifically, it employs the Fisher Information index as a measure of sustainability, in order to distinguish periods of stability. As an application of the approach, six Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in Ohio (Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, and Toledo) were evaluated for a regional sustainability assessment. Results from the multiyear analysis suggest two distinct periods in these MSAs: one characterized by 30 years of socio-economic growth (1970–1999) and another (2000–2009) denoting a change in the trajectory of each system found to be related to economic recession. Columbus was identified as the most stable and sustainable of the MSAs during the study period. In contrast, Toledo exhibited the largest changes in economic trends, as distinguished by excessive increases in the growth rate of vacant housing units, unemployed civilian labor force, and inhabitants below the poverty level (2000–2009). Since such conditions are not desirable for urban systems, they are indicative of movement towards an unsustainable future.     

A discourse-analytical perspective on sustainability assessment: interpreting sustainable development in practice

Sustainable development is a ubiquitously used concept in public decision-making: it refers to an ideal vision of global society where human development and environmental quality go hand in hand. Logically, any decision-supporting process aiming at facilitating and steering society toward a sustainable future then seems desirable. Assessing the sustainability of policy decisions is, however, influenced by what sustainable development is believed to entail, as different discourses coexist under the umbrella of the sustainable development meta-discourse. This paper proposes a typology of sustainable development discourses, and, subsequently, applies a discourse-analytical lens on two practical cases of sustainability assessment in different institutional and geographical contexts (in Belgium and in Benin). The results indicate that sustainability assessments tend to be influenced mainly by the consensual ‘sustainable development as integration’ discourse, while also providing a forum for dialogue between different discourses. The results shed light on context-specific discursive and institutional dynamics for the development and application of sustainability assessment. Acknowledging these dynamics as well as sustainable development’s inherent interpretational limits can lead to an improved use of sustainable development as a decision-guiding strategy.     

大庆市城市经济系统可持续性评价

三角模型作为一种直观的平台能够很好地图解区域可持续综合发展状况及长期趋势.由于具有直观性和简明性,三角模型易于被不同层次的学者和政策制定者理解和应用.根据经济发展、资源-能源消耗及环境污染的相互关系,结合生态学表现,利用三角模型工具分析评估区域经济可持续发展状况和长期趋势.本文选择我国最大的石油资源型城市--大庆市作为典型案例.大庆市位于黑龙江省西部,下辖5个区和4个县,2006年全市土地总面积为2.1219万hm2,总人口269.3万.结果表明,大庆市经济系统可持续性状况不容乐观,"八五"、"九五"时期处于不可持续和弱可持续性状态,"十五"中后期才缓慢进入一般可持续性状态;"八五"时期大庆市经济系统具有一般可持续性发展趋势,"九五"时期呈现强可持续性发展趋势,进入新世纪后却呈现出由强可持续性向一般可持续性的发展趋势.     

喀纳斯自然保护区生态系统服务价值变化研究

生态系统可持续发展是随着全球范围内可持续发展研究的深入和人们对环境破坏和资源利用认识的不断加深而逐渐形成的.人类社会的可持续发展从根本上取决于生态系统及其服务的可持续性,本文应用喀纳斯自然保护区1980、2005年两期Landsat TM影像解译数据,参照谢高地等制定的中国生态系统单位面积生态服务当量因子和新疆布尔津县单位面积农田生态系统提供的食物生产服务的经济价值,确定喀纳斯自然保护区生态系统单位面积生态服务价值系数,对保护区生态系统服务价值及其变化进行了估算和比较.结果表明,林地和草地是喀纳斯自然保护区主要的土地利用类型,25年间土地利用总体上发生了明显变化,林地面积在减少,革地、水域、建设用地面积略有增加；保护区生态系统服务价值由1980年的37.289亿元减少至2005年的36.351亿元,有林地和离覆盖度草地的减少是服务价值降低的主要原因；主要由林地、草地和水域提供的维持生物多样性、水文调节、气候调节、保持土壤等单项功能服务价值均呈现不同程度地减少,说明保护区生态系统结构和功能已受到影响,保护区生态环境质量不断趋向退化.     

Comparative analysis of socio-economic and environmental performances for Chinese EIPs: case studies in Baotou, Suzhou, and Shanghai

To decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, the Chinese government proposed the circular economy (CE) strategy as part of its 11th 5-Year Plan. This strategy expands the application of CE from individual enterprises to eco-industrial parks (EIPs) and to the cities, provinces, and regions. We carried out field studies in three EIPs in Baotou, Suzhou, and Shanghai. In this paper, we discuss the current state of CE and the sustainable development of EIPs in China. We first provide detailed information on the three EIPs' infrastructures, preferential policies, CE frameworks, and eco-chains. We then examine the status of sustainable development in the three EIPs from the perspectives of socio-economic, resource and material efficiency, and environmental performance. The results indicate that the overall performance of the three EIPs is reasonably good with respect to socio-economics, resources and materials, and efficiency and environmental protection, whereas green management is rather weak and thus requires further improvement. We found that the CE frameworks along with eco-chains within the EIPs are effectively improving resource and material efficiency. Moreover, we demonstrate that there are positive associations among socio-economic, resource and material, and environmental indicators. Given the large presence of EIPs in the local economies, these results suggest that EIPs play a key role in promoting sustainable development in China.     

重庆市北碚区经济、社会和资源环境协调度分析

一个地区经济、社会和资源环境的协调发展状况直接反映区域的可持续发展能力。重庆市北碚区作为"城乡结合"型的国家可持续发展实验区，其可持续发展能力对重庆市乃至整个西部地区的可持续发展都将产生较强的示范作用。为将北碚建设成为国家可持续发展示范区，探讨有北碚特色的可持续发展模式，首先建立反映北碚区经济、社会和资源环境发展状况的指标体系；在此基础上,利用SPSS软件对数据进行因子分析，得到三大体系的综合评价指数；将综合评价指数代入eview软件选择适合的回归方程，再利用模糊数学的方法，计算出成立试验区以来北碚的经济、社会和资源环境的协调发展度；最后在综合评价指数和协调度的基础上，发现北碚区协调发展的主要问题并给出建议。     

Climate Change in Southern and Eastern Africa During the Past Millennium and its Implications for Societal Development

Climatic records from equatorial eastern Africa and subtropical southern Africa have shown that both temperature and the amount of rainfall have varied over the past millennium. Moreover, the rainfall pattern in these regions varied inversely over long periods of time. Droughts started abruptly, were of multi-decadal to multi-centennial length and the changes in the hydrological budget were of large amplitude. Changing water resources in semi-arid regions clearly must have regional influences on both ecological and socio-economic processes. Through a detailed analysis of the historical and paleoclimatic evidence from southern and eastern Africa covering the past millennium it is shown that, depending on the vulnerability of a society, climatic variability can have an immense impact on societies, sometimes positive and sometimes disastrous. Therefore, the interconnected issue of world ecosystem and social resilience is the challenge for decision-makers if sustainable development is to be reached on global and local levels.     

环境约束下的中国工业效率地区差异评价

为了对中国各地区工业进行环境约束下的效率评价，采用超效率DEA方法，利用2005~2009年各地区工业的面板数据，对31个省市的工业进行了环境约束下的效率测算，揭示了中国工业效率的总体发展情况及各地区间的差异。在进行超效率DEA评价的过程中，利用工业环境影响的社会支付意愿代表环境投入，弥补了过去研究中在处理非期望产出问题上的不足，并通过比较不同模型的评价结果，反映了环境问题对各地区工业的效率影响程度上的差异。根据效率评价结果，利用投影寻踪方法加权评分，反映了各地区工业效率的综合状况，从区域情况来看呈现东部优于中部与西部，而中部优于西部的态势。最后，根据效率评价结果，对各区域中的特殊省份进行了简要的分析，并提出了各地区工业的效率改进建议     

The social dimension as a driver of sustainable development: the case of family farms in southeast Spain

The social pillar has often been treated as an ‘add on’ in sustainable development studies, and analyses of its ‘proactivity’ in economic, environmental, and social transformations to sustainability outcomes are scant. The present paper looks at the social dimension as a key driver of sustainable development. Social factors in the farming system in southeast Spain are analyzed to show how family farms and their networks can integrate socio-economic and eco-social goals, promoting the generation of synergies and trade-offs between the dimensions of sustainability. This study contributes to existing debate on the role of family farms in the framework of European rural development.     

中国高新技术产业发展水平格局演变及影响因素分析

运用AHP 熵权法、马尔科夫链和ESDA方法，在GIS技术支持下，基于中国高新技术产业31个空间单元2000、2005和2010年3个时间断面的数据，分析了高新技术产业发展水平的时空格局演变及其影响因素。研究结果表明：(1)高新技术产业发展水平的时序演变中各省区高新技术产业的发展差距在2000~2005与2005~2010年两时期中均不断扩大，尤以前一时期更甚，数据说明高水平的省份发展速度快于低水平省份，高水平省份才是我国高技术产业发展的主动力。省区间高新技术产业发展水平虽然整体上均在不断发展，但是区域间的差异不断扩大，出现强者愈强，弱者恒弱的“马太效应”；(2)发展水平指数处于高水平、较高水平省区集中在东部沿海地区，低水平省区向中西部除陕西以外的省区集聚的趋势增强，地域范围不断扩大，空间相关性较强，存在“俱乐部趋同”现象；(3)基础、经济、政策等传统因子在初期对高新技术产业发展的促进作用明显，随着产业逐步向更高层次发展，及政策环境的完善，传统因素的影响逐渐扁平化，而集聚、人力资本等新兴因素对高新技术产业的影响不断加强，区位因素的作用一直很明显，与高新技术产业的发展特征相吻合     

The livelihood potential of non-wood forest products: The case of Mbooni Division in Makueni District, Kenya

Forestry is a productive sector with significant effects on meeting national socio-economic and environmental functions as well as the improvement of rural livelihoods. Non-wood forest products (NWFPs) in particular have been widely advocated by conservation and development organisations as potential alternative livelihood strategies, particularly among vulnerable forest dependant households. Like in most tropical countries, NWFPs are relevant in the sustainable development of Kenya that is particularly endowed with important forest resources. Kenya hosts about 17 million ha of forested land (about 3.51% of the total Sub-Saharan Africa forest cover by 2000), of which about 16,865,000 ha is under natural forest (EarthTrends: Forests, grasslands and drylands, 2003). Outside the gazetted forests, there are other large tracks of forests in trust lands, including national parks and reserves, hill forest reserves and privately owned lands covering about 0.5 million ha (Kenya’s forest resource assessment in the EC-FAO Partnership Programme Report, 2000; The Kenya Forests Act, 2005). Woodlands, bushlands and wooded grasslands, mainly found in the arid and semi-arid lands cover 37.6 million ha, while forest plantations (started in 1946) cover about 170,000 ha of land (The Kenya forestry master plan, 1994–2020, 1994). In most NWFPs endowed regions of the country however, this socio-economic and environmental potential is still unrealized. We illustrate the latter by a case study of NWFPs use and management in four villages in Mbooni Division of Makueni District, Kenya. The division was chosen because of its relatively high NWFPs availability, particularly from South Mbooni forest that is located at a distance less than 5 km for an estimated 80% of the interviewed households. Data used for the analysis was collected through a fieldwork survey carried out on women (35+ years) in August, 2005. One hundred and sixty (160) NWFPs are harvested (from plant and animal species) and used mainly for food, income generation (supplemental) and medicinal purposes. A number of challenges limit women’s enjoyment of the full benefits from NWFPs exploitation, the overriding problem being their inadequacy (in quantity and/or quality). In this paper we discuss these commonly utilized and managed NWFPs plant species in Mbooni and their potential contribution to improved livelihoods and sustainable development in Mbooni, Kenya and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in general.     

相对地位变化对中国省际能源消耗的影响机制

由于在现有政治晋升体制中,各省在经济增长和节能降耗过程中对竞争地位的追求,导致各省的相对地位在能源消耗决策过程中起到十分重要的作用。本文基于中国省际政府官员考核和晋升机制现实背景,从相对身份效应理论的角度构建了省际能源消耗的理论模型,探讨了相对地位、地位变化对省际能源消耗的影响机制,具体表现为各省能源消耗的当期和上一期相对地位对能源强度具有行为理论上决策作用机制,当期人均GDP增速与上一期人均GDP绝对水平对能源强度具有行为意义上的理论解释机制,省际能源消耗具有的动态自适应机制。在理论分析基础上,进一步实证检验了省际能源消耗的相对身份效应理论,实证结果表明:(1)各省在当期能耗排名上竞争对节能具有积极作用,上一期能耗排名越靠后的省份在当期节能降耗的动机比排名靠前的省份更强烈,从而使得当期能耗下降。此外,在不同的考核时期和不同节能任务要求下,能耗排序对节能的影响存在差异,该影响也因各省所处相对位置高、低而不同。(2)当期经济增长与当期能源消耗呈现出同向变化的互补机制,上期经济增长与当期能源消耗呈现出反向变化的替代机制。(3)上一期能源强度下降会降低当期能源强度,省际能源强度存在着逐渐下降的动态自适应机制。基于此,我国对地方政府节能降耗的政策设计应当实施多节能目标、多奖惩措施的差异化模式,从而实现不同类别省份的有效节能和粗放型经济增长方式的快速转型。     

Proposal of Indicators to Assess Urban Sustainability in Brazil

The research related here focuses on municipal situations where problems of sustainability may be defined and tackled on the basis of bottom-up management procedures with the participation of organized society. The aim is to build management models that may be implemented with reasonable administrative effort and cost. Implementation pursues the target of approaching a sustainable situation in the municipality. Environmental parameters for an ideal municipality with undefined geographical location are presented. For each parameter, a set of indicators is developed that can measure the prospect of sustainability. The indicators are defined in terms of numbers or literal concepts according to the possibility of measurement. Examples of management models are presented, which are able to approach the situation defined as sustainable by the indicators. The basic management tool is the learning curve of targeted communities, which is experimentally developed and applied. The indicators are grouped according to their range of applicability.     

A Graph Theory approach to measure the performance of sustainability enablers in a manufacturing organization

In a manufacturing organization, the term sustainability deals with the impact of production process and products on the environment and society, laying emphasis on preservation of scarce resources. In this article, the study concentrates on developing a Graph Theory model to measure the performance and inter-relationship between the sustainability enablers in an organization, thereby to quantitatively measure the extent to which ‘sustainable manufacturing’ practices are being followed in the organization. The objective of this study was to identify a set of sustainability enablers and attributes that impact a manufacturing organization. Digraphs were developed for the whole system and sub-systems depicting the inter-relationships and dependencies between various enablers and attributes to interpret the performance of the sustainability enablers in the case organization. Using the best case and worst case values, the level of sustainable manufacturing practices of the organization was found by Comprehensive Assessment Index. Based on the best case values, the relative significance of individual sustainability enablers are found and compared with worst case situations. The impacts of individual enablers on the overall sustainability level of the organization were also studied.     

长三角地区可持续发展测度与演化分析

长三角地区作为我国人口最为密集、经济最为发达、综合竞争力最强的城市化区域，同时也面临着产业结构趋同、人口老龄化、资源环境脆弱性凸显等问题。以长三角地区为研究对象，建立可持续发展评价的指标体系，引入可持续发展指数和系统协调指数对长三角地区城市可持续发展进行测度，通过细分城市发展模式并利用演化树模型分析不同发展模式的可持续发展演化进程。研究认为：长三角地区城市可持续发展总体水平接近，城市之间系统内部协调性差距较大，子系统中经济与社会发展格局较为一致，而与环境状况趋异；以人均收入、城市化率和三产结构可以将长三角地区城市聚类为4种具有不同现状特点和发展轨迹的城市发展模式，归属不同发展模式的城市可持续发展的演化轨迹不同，以苏锡常地区为代表的发展模式可持续发展变化最为剧烈，发展与协调并重是关键；苏中、浙中地区等经济发展的边缘地带，寻求适合的经济发展路径是其首要任务     

东北农牧交错生态脆弱区可持续发展研究

生态脆弱区是经济落后、人民生活较为贫困的地区．是可持续发展领域重点研究地区之一。实现生态脆弱区可持续发展管理的重要基础之一是对其发展现状进行综合测度。以我国典型生态脆弱区-东北农牧交错区为例．运用所建立的指标体系对阜新、通辽、赤峰等典型样点地区的可持续发展现状进行评估．对引致区域可持续发展现状的主要原因进行剖析；对1990年和2002年两个不同时段的可持续发展状态进行对比分析。结果表明资源与环境状况是影响区域可持续发展的关键因子．经济发展是提高可持续发展能力的根本保证．社会、人口、科技子系统对区域可持续发展具有重要作用。基于对上述问题的分析．提出东北农牧交错区可持续发展能力建设的几点对策。     

State-of-the-art sustainability analysis methodologies for efficient decision support in green production operations

Over the last three decades, new concepts, strategies, frameworks and systems have been developed to tackle the sustainable development issue. This paper reviews the challenges, perspectives and recent advances in support of sustainable production operations decision-making. The aim of this review is to provide a holistic understanding of advanced scientific analysis methodologies for the evaluation of sustainability, to provide efficient decision support. Over 100 publications have been analysed, and a characterisation of state-of-the-art sustainability analysis methodologies has been produced, which includes life cycle assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), along with their applications to three key areas of production operations: sustainable design, sustainable manufacture and sustainable supply chain management. Distribution of existing work is discussed and future research directions are elicited from the literature. The paper finds three trends in supporting sustainable production operations decisions: (a) sustainability analysis has moved to whole life cycle assessment from single-stage assessment, (b) sustainability analysis has shifted away from single criterion to MCDA and (c) sustainability analysis has evolved from stand-alone approaches to integrated systematic methodologies. The paper concludes that integrated sustainability analysis can provide more efficient and effective support to complex decision-making in sustainable production operations.     

Evaluation of sustainability using an integrated approach at process and product level: a case study

The present world is facing problems like rapid depletion of natural resources and undesired environmental changes on a global scale. Manufacturing organisations are realising the importance of mitigating the present crisis and are adopting sustainable manufacturing principles. Since it is important to achieve sustainable manufacturing, sustainability assessment models were developed. Sustainability assessment models have their own drawbacks and may not provide clear scope for complete sustainable development. A system approach has been developed to overcome this shortcoming by integrating various sustainability assessment models that are already in practice. This article reports the advantages of collecting the advantages of individual sustainability assessment models and how the implementation of the integrated approach has helped to identify the current sustainability level and the scope for future developments in an automotive industry.     

长株潭城市群土地生态安全动态评价研究

土地资源是人类赖以生存的资本，由于土地资源的生态安全问题日益被重视，土地资源生态安全评价研究已成为当前土地资源可持续利用研究的前沿课题。以长株潭城市群为例，探讨土地生态安全评价方法，针对长株潭城市群土地资源特点从经济、社会、生态环境3个方面构建区域土地生态安全评价指标体系，鉴于土地生态安全评价的模糊性、不确定性和土地生态安全动态性,将熵值理论与模糊数学理论相结合的土地生态安全动态评价模型进行了实证研究。研究结果表明1999～2007年长株潭城市群的土地生态安全呈现逐渐恶化趋势，目前已经处于不安全等级；同时存在水土协调度、受灾面积成灾率、人口增长率、第三产业占GDP比重、万元GDP能耗等不安全因素，威胁着土地生态安全。     

中国省域森林公园旅游发展效率测度及其时空格局演化

采用数据包络分析法(DEA)对2000~2014年中国大陆31个省域森林公园旅游发展效率进行测度,综合运用空间分析方法,探析其时空格局演化规律。结果表明:(1)2000~2014年中国省域森林公园旅游发展各项效率在波动中均得到一定提升;(2)省际和地带间综合效率和纯技术效率值差异明显;经济发达区域综合效率受纯技术效率驱动,而经济欠发达区域综合效率主要受规模效率驱动;(3)在空间演化上各项效率表现出高值和低值集聚趋势,部分相邻省域间联系紧密,"马太效应"显著,其重心总体上都是向东南方向移动,综合效率和纯技术效率各年移动轨迹大致呈U型演化态势,规模效率大致呈现M型演化态势。综合上述研究提出省域森林公园旅游发展效率的提升路径,这对省域森林公园旅游资源优化配置及可持续发展具有重要意义。