Perceptions of the sustainable city and implications for fresh water resources management

Following the emergence of sustainable development as a key environmental management concept in the late 1980s, much discussion and debate has occurred on how the general concept can be understood in the context of particular resources, economic sectors and fields of academic study. This paper attempts to integrate two such particular areas of study, urban development and fresh water resources management. Following an overview of the concept of sustainable development, where the fresh water resource base is used to illustrate different interpretations of sustainability, the paper advances a number of perceptions of the sustainable city and the implications for fresh water management. Key concepts that emerge include a need to reduce the urban ecological sphere of influence, best understood in the context of a quasi-autonomous vision of the sustainable city, requiring a radical shift away from 'engineering-fix' water supply augmentation towards demand management and other approaches that sit more easily with the prime need to maintain the functional integrity of ecosystems.     

The process and mechanism of urban environmental change: an evolutionary view

This paper discusses how an evolutionary viewpoint can contribute to the understanding of the processes and mechanisms of urban environmental change. There are four major components in the urban environmental evolution concept: (a) cities can be viewed as complex systems that are subject to constant change, which constitutes a dynamic evolutionary process; (b) urban environmental profiles of cities are diverse, but there are certain commonalities in the longitudinal dynamics among different cities; (c) nevertheless, there is a strong non-linearity in the trajectories of the environmental evolution of cities, rather than there being a fixed common pattern; (d) the trajectory is shaped by a unique combination of endogenous and exogenous forces, reflecting both the outer pressures and the responses within the city. The evolutionary perspective has important policy implications by emphasising the possibility for cities in developing countries to follow a more environmentally sound pathway to sustainable development.     

系统仿真方法在环境规划预测中的应用

讨论了环境规划中区域社会-经济-环境模型建立的原则，提出了适合非定态城市发展过程中规划因子的预测方法，并给出了江苏靖江“十一五”期间环境规划中的具体应用。     

Using a Set of Strategic Indicator Systems as a Decision-making Support Implement for Establishing a Recycling-oriented Society - A Taiwanese Case Study (16 pp)

Background Scope and Aims. To realize the vision of sustainable development (SD) originating from the ‘only one earth’ philosophy, and to integrate the conceptions of ecology and sustainability into the planning and decision-making criteria of urban growth management, the establishment of a recycling-oriented society (ROS) is essential. However, before the above intention can be achieved, it is indispensable to develop a system of strategic indicators for supporting a radical reformation of the urban development plan. Therefore, this study, based on the conception of the new urban development pattern ROS, attempted to carefully choose a sample city in Taiwan for launching a preliminary case study, and furthermore designed and proposed a concise and strategy-oriented assessment indicator system termed ROSAIS. ROSAIS, on the one hand, can act as a compass for understanding resource using efficiency and recycling status during city development and, on the other hand, can serve as an implement supporting decision-making for ROS construction.Methods According to the definition and spirit of ROS, the structure of ROSAIS should clearly represent the relationship between resources and environment in human activities. The eco-efficiency indicator system (EEIS) and environmental symbiosis indicator system (ESIS) can be considered two key sub-indicator systems, and are the necessary components of ROSAIS. EEIS chooses the dominant production sectors in urban economic activities to calculate their eco-efficiency (EE). Separately, for obtaining a consensus regarding the framework of ESIS, the questionnaire approaches and expert consultation, together with the research experience and foundation of current relevant studies and indicator systems, are applied when crucial resource and environmental issues and respective indicators are selected.Results and Discussion The calculation results of EEIS in this case study indicated that among the three dominant production activities (agricultural, fishery, and animal husbandry sector) the fishery sector has the highest EE, which indicates that the fishery activities and resources significantly influence the sustainability of the economic-environmental system of the sample city. Furthermore, according to a consensus achieved in ESIS, local green spaces, resource recovery, energy consumption pattern change, freshwater conservation and greenhouse effect abatement were considered as the five crucial issues influencing how the case study city can develop into an ES-city. The rate of local green spaces, resource recycling, freshwater conservation and the rate of reduction of nonrenewable energy use as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were used to evaluate the above five issues.Conclusion This case study is unparalleled in Taiwan. Even in Japan, where ROS legislation has been implemented, this kind of study remains in the preliminary stages. Furthermore, when communicating the indicator results, it is essential to provide the context and countermeasures of the crucial issues that are faced. The two sub-indicator systems proposed in this case study could comply completely with the above-mentioned requirements. For example, the EEIS provides information for achieving a balance between environmental burden and economic benefits among dominant production sectors; the ESIS provides information for setting strategies for overcoming the crucial issues faced. Recommendation and Outlook This study recommends that urban planers should consider the construction of the corresponding strategic indicator system to be indispensable, and makes further use of the indicator results related to the environmental education of residents for identifying and promoting participation with ROS, and turning them into implements for supporting urban SD decision-making. Furthermore, a successful indicator system depends on data availability and quality. This study recommends that urban planers should pay considerable attention to constructing relevant data collection channels, databases and the data quality.     

宿迁经济开发区环保工作面临的挑战与对策

文中总结宿迁经济开发区环保工作现状,分析未来宿迁经济开发区面临:水环境质量未能根本好转、生活污染物排放量上升并成为主要污染问题、环境基础设施建设滞后于社会经济发展、工业企业污染存在反弹趋势、农村环境问题亟需关注、客水污染问题仍然存在等挑战,并提出了应对这些挑战的对策。     

Urban nature at the fingertips: Investigating wild food foraging to enable nature interactions of urban dwellers

Meaningful human–nature interactions can counteract the extinction of experience and positively influence people’s nature relatedness, health and wellbeing. In this study, we explored urban wild food foraging to understand how best to enable human-nature interactions in cities by means of foraging. Using a structured questionnaire, a total of 458 residents of Vienna, Austria were surveyed. Sixty-four percent of visitors of public urban green spaces previously foraged for wild food species, whereas foraging frequencies were related to the targeted plant species and their life forms. People who foraged more frequently had greater nature relatedness, more childhood foraging experiences and lived on the outskirts of the city, but their socio-demographic backgrounds were heterogeneous. Social acceptance and lack of access to wild foods were perceived to be barriers. To promote nature relatedness through urban foraging, the legal framework, access to low-contamination foraging areas, availability of wild foods and social acceptance need to be improved.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01648-1.     

基于三层结构的绿色招商选择体系研究

阐述了中国招商引资的基本情况及存在的问题,提出了进行绿色招商的必要性.在绿色招商选择系统结构分析的基础上,提出了基于三层结构的绿色招商选择体系,并根据该体系构建了s工业园的绿色招商选择体系.     

Temporal and spatial variations in the relationship between urbanization and water quality

With the development of economy, most of Chinese cities are at the stage of rapid urbanization in recent years, which has caused many environmental problems, especially the serious deterioration of water quality. Therefore, the research of the relationship between urbanization and water quality has important theoretical and practical significance, and it is also the main restriction factor in the urbanization advancement. In this work, we investigated the impact of urbanization on the water quality of the nearby river. We established a comprehensive environmental assessment framework by combining urbanization and water quality, and one model was designed to examine the impact of urbanization on the water quality in Jinan from 2001 to 2010 with factor component analysis. The assessment of urbanization level was accomplished using a comprehensive index system, which was based on four aspects: demographic urbanization, economic urbanization, land urbanization, and social urbanization. In addition, synthetic pollution index method was utilized to assess the water pollution of Xiaoqing River in the study area. Through the analysis of regression curves, we conclude that (1) when the urbanization level is below 25 %, the relationship is low and irregular; (2) if the urbanization level varies between 25 and 40 %, there will be an irreversible degradation of stream water quality; (3) there is a positive correlation between urbanization and pollution levels of urban river after the adjustment period; and (4) land and demographic aspects have the highest independent contribution. This study is a useful reference for policymakers in terms of economic and environmental management.     

Environmental problems of Canakkale City and solutions

Environmental problems are getting more serious in almost every region of Turkey. They occur for many reasons and take many forms. Canakkale City has potential for both domestic and international tourism, because of its rich historical past and natural and cultural resources. However, in common with other parts of the country, Canakkale faces environmental problems such as air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, solid wastes, noise pollution, and negative effects on flora and fauna. The maintenance of historical and architectural texture, and the establishment of new settlement areas in suitable parts of the city, are not taken into consideration sufficiently when investments are made in both transportation and industrial areas. This research was conducted under three main headings: analysis, evaluation and synthesis. The aim was to make some recommendations dealing with the domestic problems, such as the improvement of the city as a contemporary settlement, the development of urban settlements and industrialisation, and the improvement of the lifestyle of the city residents.     

Temporal variations of surface water quality in urban, suburban and rural areas during rapid urbanization in Shanghai, China

As the economic and financial center of China, Shanghai has experienced an extensive urban expansion since the early 1980s, with an attendant cost in environmental degradation. We use an integrated pollution index to study the temporal variations of surface water quality in urban, suburban and rural areas between 1982 and 2005. Data on monitored cross-sections were collected from the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center. The results indicated that the spatial pattern of surface water quality was determined by the level of urbanization. Surface water qualities in urban and suburban areas were improved by strengthening the environmental policies and management, but were worsening in rural areas. The relationship between economic growth and surface water quality in Shanghai showed an inversed-U-shaped curve, which reflected a similar pattern in most developed countries. This research suggests that decision makers and city officials should be more aware of the recent pollution increases in Shanghai.     

Application of GIS and modelling in health risk assessment for urban road mobility

Transport is an essential sector in modern societies. It connects economic sectors and industries. Next to its contribution to economic development and social interconnection, it also causes adverse impacts on the environment and results in health hazards. Transport is a major source of ground air pollution, especially in urban areas, and therefore contributes to the health problems, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer and physical injuries. This paper presents the results of a health risk assessment that quantifies the mortality and the diseases associated with particulate matter pollution resulting from urban road transport in Haiphong City, Vietnam. The focus is on the integration of modelling and geographic information system approaches in the exposure analysis to increase the accuracy of the assessment and to produce timely and consistent assessment results. The modelling was done to estimate traffic conditions and concentrations of particulate matters based on geo-referenced data. The study shows that health burdens due to particulate matter in Haiphong include 1,200 extra deaths for the situation in 2007. This figure can double by 2020 as the result of the fast economic development the city pursues. In addition, 51,000 extra hospital admissions and more than 850,000 restricted activity days are expected by 2020.     

湿地环境保护的思考

简述了中国湿地的现状，介绍了湿地的生态功能、经济功能和社会功能，进而指出了当前中国对湿地环境保护方面存在的众多问题。当前，中国的湿地生态环境受到了越来越严重的威胁，保护好湿地生态环境，实现人与自然的和谐相处。是关系到人类自身可持续发展的大事。     

Urbanisation and human health in China: spatial features and a systemic perspective

Background, aims and scope

Current studies have paid little attention to the dynamism in urban spatial expansion and its possible environmental and health effects or to the health effects of rapid urban environmental change at different points along the urbanisation gradient. This study adopts a public health ecology approach to systematically understand the relationship between urbanisation, urban environmental change and human health in China.

Method

Remote sensing image analysis, based on night light data at five different time periods in recent decades, was used to determine changes to the overall urban area. Through a review of the evidence on the relationships between environmental health, urbanisation and health, we advance a pathway framework for explaining urban human health ecology. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to measure the correlation between disease prevalence and urbanisation level, adding a further dimension to a systemic understanding of urban health.

Results and conclusions

Urban areas have been increasing spatially, but unevenly, in recent decades, with medium and small cities also expanding rapidly in the past decade. Urbanisation and urban expansion result in changes to land use/coverage change, the urban environment and the residents?? lifestyle, which result in human health problems. Regions with the highest urbanisation level were more inclined to have a high prevalence of chronic disease in recent decades. An ecological public health approach provides insights into the multiple types of data which need to be routinely collected if human disease is not to become a barrier to social and economic development.     

我国新经济开发区水环境规划研究

本义分析了我国新经济开发区水环境规划的特点，提出了规划研究的内容、步骤和方法，给出了水环境承载力的概念和定量方法，并且确定规划方案中的水环境承载力，以此作为协调水环境保护与社会经济发展的理论依据。文中以本溪市经济开发区为例，在综合分析的基础上，制定出开发区水环境综合防治规划，并做了供选方案的费用－效益分析和可行性论证，最后，计算分析了各规划方案的水环境承载力的综合值。     

Reclaiming the Definition of Sustainability (7 pp)

BACKGROUND AND SCOPE: Since its inception two decades ago, the concept of sustainable development has suffered from a proliferation of definitions, such that it has increasingly come to mean many things to many different people. This has limited its credibility, called into question its practical application and the significance of associated achievements and, overall, limited the progress in environmental and social developments which it was designed to underpin. GOAL: This viewpoint article is intended to re-open the concept of sustainable development for discussion 20 years on from the Brundtland Report, in the context of the current state of the world, our growing understanding of ecosystems and their response to stressors and the parallel increase in recognition of inherent limitations to that understanding. APPROACH: Following a brief review of the diverse manner in which the concept has developed over time, we present the case for application of a series of simple conditions for sustainability, originally developed by The Natural Step in the early 90s, which nevertheless still provide a sound basis on which progress towards sustainable development could be monitored. The paper also highlights the unavoidable links between sustainability and ethics, including those in the sensitive fields of population and quality of life. DISCUSSION: Overall we argue the need for the concept of sustainable development to be reclaimed from the plethora of economically-focused or somewhat vague and un-measurable definitions which have found increasing favour in recent years and which all too often accompany relatively minor progress against 'business as usual'. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: The vision encapsulated in the Brundtland Report was ground-breaking. If, however, true sustainability in human interactions with the biosphere is to be realised, a far stronger and more empirical interpretation of the original intent is urgently required. To be effective, such an interpretation must encompass and guide developments in political instruments and public policy as well as corporate decision-making, and must focus increasingly on addressing the root causes of major threats to sustainability rather than just their consequences.     

Towards integrated environmental assessment support for the European Community's environmental action programme process

This paper firstly discusses the strategy for integrated environmental assessment (IEA) at the European Environment Agency (EEA), addressing the principles, definition and scope, and summarising the state of the art. The IEA process is described within the framework of the DPSIR concept a chain of causal links going from Driving Forces, Pressures, States to Impacts, which finally leads to political Responses. A key objective of IEA is to facilitate the framing and implementation of policies and strategies. Secondly, the paper summarises the results of the first broader exercise of IEA at the EEA an environmental assessment of the European Community's Fifth Action Programme. Although limited in scope, the exercise provides lessons to be learned. Therefore, the paper concludes, assessments should be validated and be based on the most up-to-date findings, and links need to be created and maintained with the appropriate scientific/research communities. The IEA concept and its approaches should be further elaborated on a European scale according to prominent environmental problems that have a transboundary or a multi-national character. Cost-benefit studies should be enhanced. Finally, improved information is required on the DPSIR framework, including the interrelationship between the economic and environmental systems.     

Prioritizing the provision of urban ecosystem services in deprived areas,a question of environmental justice

The distribution of urban ecosystem services (UES) is often uneven across socioeconomic groups, leading to environmental justice issues. Understanding the distribution of UES across a landscape can help managers ensure an equitable distribution of services. While many past studies have focused on the distribution of green spaces in relation to socioeconomic variables, this research analyzes the distribution of UES provided by these green spaces. This research quantified air pollution removal, atmospheric carbon reduction, and surface runoff mitigation provided by urban trees in Strasbourg city (France). The provision of these three UES was studied at the census block scale by creating an index of UES delivery, which was contrasted with a constructed social deprivation index. Our results show that there is no significant association between the delivery of UES and social deprivation. Some deprived populations benefit from high UES delivery. Results also suggest that mapping associations between UES delivery and social deprivation should be integrated with future development plans to enhance the equitable distribution of UES. This study provides insights into the French context where studies about the distribution of UES at a small-area level remain lacking.     

环境正义与中国的环境政策

环境正义问题的提出是和现代民法的社会化发展倾向不可分割的。环境问题社会利益的日益突出,环境资源的分配不公也在很大程度上推动了传统民法向现代民法的转变。中国的环境政策也应当从环境正义的立场出发,才能更好地适应国际经济发展的新趋势,从而更好地促进中国环境和经济的协调发展。     

Linking Salmon Aquaculture Synergies and Trade-Offs on Ecosystem Services to Human Wellbeing Constituents

Salmon aquaculture has emerged as a successful economic industry generating high economic revenues to invest in the development of Chiloe region, Southern Chile. However, salmon aquaculture also consumes a substantial amount of ecosystem services, and the direct and indirect impacts on human wellbeing are still unknown and unexplored. This paper identifies the synergies and trade-offs caused by the salmon industry on a range of ecosystem services. The results show that large economic benefits due to the increase of provisioning ecosystem services are also causing a reduction on regulating and cultural services. Despite the improvement on average income and poverty levels experienced in communities closely associated with the sector, this progress is not large enough and social welfare did not improve substantially over the last decade. The rest of human wellbeing constituents in Chiloe region have not changed significantly compared to the development in the rest of the country.     

The Regional Advisory Councils: What is Their Potential to Incorporate Stakeholder Knowledge into Fisheries Governance?

The protection of the Baltic Sea ecosystem is exacerbated by the social, environmental and economic complexities of governing European fisheries. Increased stakeholder participation and knowledge integration are suggested to improve the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), suffering from legitimacy, credibility and compliance problems. As a result, the CFP was revised in 2002 to involve fisheries representatives, NGOs and other stakeholders through so called Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) in the policy process. We address the RAC’s task to incorporate stakeholder knowledge into the EU’s fisheries governance system in empirical and theoretical perspectives. Drawing on a four-stage governance concept we subsequently suggest that a basic problem is a mismatch between participation purpose (knowledge inclusion) and the governance stage at which RACs are formally positioned (evaluation of management proposals). We conclude that, if the aim is to broaden the knowledge base of fisheries management, stakeholders need to be included earlier in the governance process.