Search Results (178)

This paper aims to present a process that led to the development of a community-based adaptive governance model for tourist beaches as a significant step toward consolidating an integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) program at the local level. This research spans 16 years of work conducted in Playa Blanca, Santa Marta, Colombia, from 2008 to 2024. A qualitative social research methodology was employed using content analysis as the primary technique. The Force-Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) model, the ASAS method, two expert panels, and eight community workshops were carried out as part of the study. As a result, the concept of community-based adaptive governance for tourist beaches was developed, leading to the design of a Model of Adaptive Governance based on Communities for Tourist Beaches (known in Spanish as GABCO-PLAYTUR). This model emphasizes the empowerment and active involvement of local actors. National and international experts, along with regional and local stakeholders, have validated the GABCO-PLAYTUR Model to ensure its effectiveness in beach management. When applying this model, the results indicated that the primary pressures on the Playa Blanca ecosystem were related to tourism activities. Additionally, the study revealed that inefficient coordination among the various actors involved in decision-making processes affects the socio-ecosystem. In conclusion, the relevance of the governance model in Playa Blanca was confirmed, illustrating a complex process with both progress and setbacks that evolve over time. While the community actors demonstrated high levels of organization and leadership in beach management, the role of institutions in this process was less prominent during the period analyzed. Full article

The development of new information technology makes more people and things connected to the network, expanding the scale of data elements in smart cities; it also makes data a new production factor to drive the development of smart cities, greatly increasing the potential value of smart city data elements. However, this does not mean that smart city data elements can directly provide better products and services. The key to making smart city data elements truly contribute to the efficient operation of smart cities is to release their value. Given this, this paper defined the concept of smart city data element value release, analyzed the mechanism of data element value release in smart cities combined with DPSIR theory, identified five dimensions and 47 influencing factors that affect the data element value release in smart cities, and used the fuzzy-DEMATEL method to further identify 11 key influencing factors from 47 influencing factors. This research helps clarify the mechanism for releasing the value of data elements in smart cities and identify the factors that play a key role in releasing the value of data elements in smart cities in order to maximize the value of data elements in smart cities. Full article

A systematic literature review was conducted on papers studying coastal socio-ecological systems (SESs) in adapting to climate change to support sustainable coastal management and contribute to achieving the UN SDGs. We selected, analyzed, and synthesized 173 peer-reviewed, English-language scientific publications using the PRISMA method. Firstly, we summarized and compared the selected literature; then, we explored its geographical distribution and respective coastal landscapes, and we identified and classified the adaptation strategies focused on different coastal landscapes. Furthermore, we processed the results obtained to develop a unique conceptual model based upon the DPSIR framework for coastal SESs adapting to climate change. This review shows a gradual increase in the number of published papers, particularly after the Paris Agreement, with an uneven distribution across the world. The number of papers and case studies was lower in highly vulnerable coastal areas, with the exception of Bangladesh. Most of the literature presented a local perspective rather than a national or transnational one, focusing more on vulnerability assessment than adaptation strategies. Recent studies have shown an increasing focus on ecosystem-based adaptation. Institutional and financial support are reported as the main constraints on ensuring long-term monitoring and beneficial impacts. Full article

With the intensification of global climate change, inland river basins in arid desert regions are facing serious challenges in water supply and ecological and environmental protection. A water ecological security assessment is important as a key management tool in the context of inland river basins situated in arid desert areas. This study evaluated the water ecological security of the Hotan River Basin based on a combination of the Ecology–Produce–Life Space perspective and the Drive–Pressure–Status–Influence–Respond (DPSIR) model. The entropy value method and the composite index method were employed for this purpose, and a regression analysis was used to establish a prediction model to forecast the future water ecological security status. The results show that from 2013 to 2020, the water ecological security status of the Hotan River Basin exhibited a fluctuating upward trend, shifting from an average to a good status. The pressure layer has the greatest impact on water ecological security, while the ecological space within the Ecology–Produce–Life Space is increasing in the overall share year by year. In the future, the water ecological safety condition of the Hotan River Basin is expected to improve and remain in good condition. Taking the Hotan River Basin as an example, the results of this study, combining the Ecology–Produce–Life Space perspectives and the DPSIR model, provide in-depth theoretical and practical value for the evaluation and prediction of water ecological security in inland river basins in arid desert areas, provide a scientific basis and feasible suggestions for relevant decision-making, and emphasize the importance of ecological spatial protection and restoration for the sustainable development of human society and ecosystems. Full article

The Hunjiang River, a vital water system in northeastern China, has suffered severe ecological damage due to overexploitation. This study analyzes the basin’s environmental conditions from 2016 to 2020, identifies key restoration factors, and examines practical restoration projects. Investigating five major pollutants (permanganate index, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand, ammonia nitrogen, total phosphorus) in eight sections, the study finds the Xicun section most polluted, mainly from Baishan City’s industrial and domestic discharges. The ammonia nitrogen concentration at the Zian section also shows deterioration. Using a DPSIR (Driving forces, Pressures, State, Impacts, Responses) framework, the study elucidates the relationship between environmental and socio-economic issues. Results indicate that population changes, industrial development, and water resource management have complex ecological impacts. Evaluating the urban water resource carrying capacity with the entropy weight method and correlation coefficient weighting method, the study finds that increasing forest coverage, improving wastewater treatment efficiency, and reducing COD emissions are crucial. Quantitative assessment of integrated protection and restoration projects involving mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, and grasslands demonstrates their positive impact. This research reveals the interplay between the ecological environment and social factors, proposes practical restoration measures, and clarifies project effects, providing reliable decision-making schemes for policymakers. Full article

Smart logistics (SL) reflects the digital transformation of the logistics industry, which is key for economic development. Most evaluations are based on the application of technology in SL, and few studies have evaluated SL from a comprehensive perspective. The paper builds the SL development index (SLDI) model from five dimensions based on the driving force, pressure, state, impact, and response (DPSIR) model and identifies the indicator weight by the entropy weight technique. The paper employs the ETDK method, a combined quantitative approach that incorporates entropy weight (E), the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) (T), the Dagum Gini coefficient (D), and Kernel density estimation (K), to calculate the closeness degree, analyze spatial-temporal differentiation, and explain the distribution characteristics using data from China spanning 2013 to 2021. The findings show that (1) The SL evaluation is multidimensional and cannot be evaluated only based on technical indicators. A comprehensive evaluation indicator system is necessary. (2) A combined quantitative approach can measure SL development from multiple perspectives and get a clearer picture of the characteristics and regional differences of SL. (3) Influenced by economic development, infrastructure, regional clusters, location, talent, etc., the overall SL development is improving yearly, but SL development in different regions is unbalanced and has different distribution characteristics. The SLDI model developed in this paper will provide a more scientific and reasonable tool for comprehensively evaluating SL. The findings are helpful in proposing suggestions and optimization approaches for subsequent research on SL evaluation and development. Full article

The rapid pace of urbanization and global climate change necessitates a thorough assessment of urban ecological resilience to cultivate sustainable regional ecosystem development. Cities along the Yangtze River face an intensifying conflict between ecological preservation and socio-economic growth. Analyzing the ecological resilience of these urban centers is essential for achieving equilibrium in regional urban ecosystems. This study proposes a “system process space” attribute analysis framework, taking into account urban development processes, ecosystem structure, and resilience evolution stages. Utilizing data from 45 Yangtze River cities, we establish a “Driver, Pressure, State, Impact, and Response” (DPSIR) evaluation index system to evaluate changes in ecological resilience levels and evolution trends from 2011 to 2022. Our findings indicate that: (1) The ecological resilience index of Yangtze River cities increased from 0.177 to 0.307 between 2011 and 2022, progressing through three phases: ecological resilience construction, rapid development, and stable development. (2) At the city level, ecological resilience along the Yangtze River exhibits uneven development characteristics. Upstream cities display a significant “stepped” pattern, midstream cities exhibit a significant “Matthew effect”, and downstream cities present a pyramid-shaped pattern. While regional differences in ecological resilience persist, overall polarization is gradually decreasing, intercity connections are strengthening, and there is a growing focus on coordinated regional development. (3) The spatial distribution of ecological resilience in Yangtze River cities demonstrates both continuity and evolution, generally forming a “core-edge” clustered pattern. Based on these findings, we recommend enhancing inter-city cooperation and connectivity, addressing imbalances in urban ecological resilience, and promoting high-quality ecological resilience development along the Yangtze River through tailored development strategies for each city. Full article

The development of healthy building technology has become a major trend in the global construction industry, especially in China, owing to accelerating urbanization and increasing health awareness among residents. However, an effective evaluation framework to quantify and evaluate the maturity of healthy building technology is lacking. This paper proposes a novel maturity evaluation model for healthy building technology. After analyzing the Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response (DPSIR) framework for asserting the maturity of healthy building in China, it constructs an evaluation indicator system, comprising five and twenty-seven first- and second-class indicators, respectively. Subsequently, this paper constructs an improved projection pursuit model based on border collie optimization. The model obtains evaluation results by mining evaluation data, thus overcoming the limitations of traditional evaluation models in dealing with complex data. The empirical research results demonstrate that China is in the optimization stage in terms of the level of maturity of healthy building technology. The weight of impact is as high as 0.2743, which is the most important first-level indicator. Strict green energy utilization policy requirements are the most important secondary indicator, with a weight of 0.0513. Notably, the model is more advanced than other algorithms. In addition, this paper offers some countermeasures and suggestions to promote healthy building in China. Developing and applying this model can promote and popularize healthy building technology in China and even the globe and contribute to a healthier and more sustainable living environment. Full article

Sustainability in cities, and its accurate and exhaustive assessment, represent a major keystone of environmental sciences and policy making in urban planning. This study aims to provide methods for a reproducible, descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analysis of urban residential choices and mobility, which are key components of an urban system’s sustainability. Using the DPSIR framework for building agent evolution rules, we design an agent-based model of the canton of Geneva, Switzerland. The model leverages real geographical data for the canton of Geneva and its public transportation network. The resulting simulations show the dynamics of the relocation choices of commuters, in terms of the function of their travel time by public transportation to their workplace. Results show that areas around the city centre are generally preferred, but high rent prices and housing availability may prevent most residents from relocating to these areas. Other preferred housing locations are distributed around major tram and train lines and where rent prices are generally lower. The model and its associated tools are capable of spatialising aggregated statistical datasets, inferring spatial correlations, and providing qualitative and quantitative analysis of relocation dynamics. Such achievements are made possible thanks to the efficient visualisation of our results. The agent-based modelling methodology represents an adequate solution for understanding complex phenomena related to sustainability in urban systems, which can be used as guidance for policy making. Full article

The ecological security of the water environment is a key element in evaluating the dynamic balance and ecological service functions in the construction of urban ecological civilizations. Through the regional study of water resources in Huizhou, we selected 24 indicators in five dimensions of the DPSIR theory, such as “driving force-pressure-state-impact-response”, and constructed an ecological evaluation index system of the water environment. Combined with the entropy weight TOPSIS model, the analysis was carried out for spatial differentiation features and spatio-temporal deduction features, and the results showed that the weight coefficients of the spatial differentiation features for the guideline layer exhibited significant stratification characteristics. The overall spatial and temporal interpretation characteristics of the water’s environmental ecology in the Huizhou region from 2016 to 2021 showed a pull-up enhancement effect. The relative proximity value showed a 63.43% increase from 0.361 in 2016 to 0.590 in 2021 over the six-year period. The region is characterized by regional differences in the ecological carrying capacity of the water environment, which is high in the south-east and low in the north-west. The top three areas in the quantitative calculation of the ecological carrying capacity of the water environment are Shexian County, Jixi County, and Qimen County, in that order. Full article

Amidst the mounting global challenges associated with climate change and resource depletion, achieving sustainable development is paramount. Focusing on cities as vital scenarios for pursuing sustainability, this research measured urban sustainability and identified its obstacles. Employing the DPSIR (Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response) framework, we establish a metric system with 25 indicators to assess the urban sustainability of six innovation zones in China and identify their developmental impediments to sustainability with an obstacle model. The core findings of the study are as follows: First, over the five-year period, all six cities demonstrated a consistent increase in their urban sustainability levels except for Shenzhen, which experienced a decline from its top position among these cities due to a decrease in its score from 0.44296 to 0.36942 in 2017. Second, there was consistent urban sustainability progress in five cities, with the exception of Shenzhen, from 2016 to 2020. Third, inadequate government response emerges as a primary obstacle across all six cities, marked by shortcomings in public expenditure, R&D investment, and healthcare. Every year, all six cities experienced more than 60% obstacle degrees in terms of response, with the exception of Shenzhen in 2016. The urban sustainability pursuit model we developed bridges urban sustainability theory with practical interventions, promoting adaptive governance. In addition, this study provides scholars and policymakers with a comprehensive approach to gauging urban sustainability, recognizing obstacles, and designing strategies for a sustainable urban future. Full article

Unveiling the spatial and temporal distribution of urban ecological resilience and analyzing the configuration paths for enhancing its levels are crucial for promoting sustainable development in China. Our study integrates the DPSIR and EES models, considering the causal relationships between systems affecting urban ecological resilience while also examining their internal structures. Based on this, we construct an evaluation system for urban ecological resilience indicators. Utilizing the entropy-TOPSIS method, we assess the ecological resilience index (ERI) across 280 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2021, and the kernel density estimation and Markov chain are used to study the evolution process while the magnitude and source of spatial–regional differences are examined by the Dagum Gini coefficient decomposition method. Additionally, we empirically investigate the driving mechanisms toward high ERI with the focused stepwise quantitative case analysis (fsQCA) method based on the technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework. The results find that the ERI in China shows a tendency of moderate growth in variability, with an obvious gradient distribution: higher levels in the eastern and southern and lower levels in the western and northern regions. Also, ERI exhibits evolutionary features of increasing polarization and inter-regional differentiation. Spatial disparities gradually increase with fluctuations, driven primarily by transvariation density and intra-regional differences, contributing to a dual non-equilibrium state of east–west and north–south directions. Achieving a high ERI is influenced by various antecedent variables interacting with each other, and there are three predominant driving paths among these variables, with the level of informatization playing a central role in each pathway. Full article

As a typical arid region in China, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is severely constrained by the resource and environmental conditions it faces. In order to promote the balance between regional resource supply and demand and environmental sustainability, this study uses the drive-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) model to establish its water-energy-food-land (WEFL) evaluation indicator system. The coupling coordination relationship of WEFL is analyzed quantitatively using the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model. Comparative analysis is carried out on the impact of land on the coupled coordination of water-energy-food (WEF) systems from the perspective of coupled and coordinated time-series development as well as land-use changes. Finally, the future coupling coordination of the composite system is predicted using a PSO-BP (Particle Swarm Optimization–Back propagation) model. The results show the following: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the composite evaluation index (CEI) of the WEFL system has been increasing, the coupling levels are all high-quality coupling, and the coupling coordination grades goes through three stages: low coordination, moderate coordination and well coordination. (2) The inclusion of the land subsystem is good for improving the coupling coordination of the whole WEF system. (3) An increase in the areas of cropland, forest land and built-up land improves the dysfunctional decline of the WEF system. An increase in the area of grassland has a negative effect on the development of the WEF system coupling coordination. (4) Forecasts indicate that the Xinjiang WEFL system coupling coordination will maintain a well level of coordinated development in 2021–2025. Full article

Rural ecological revitalization (RER) is one of the five goals of China’s rural revitalization strategy. However, there is a lack of an effective index system to evaluate RER levels, which hinders the implementation of this national policy and reduces the effectiveness and efficiency of public resource input. Using the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) framework, this study developed an evaluation framework consisting of 5 subsystems, 12 secondary indicators, and 33 tertiary indicators. Using the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method, we analyzed a set of 30 provinces’ data and empirically determined the weights of each indicator. We found that the response subsystem had the largest weight (0.338), followed by the state (0.271), impact (0.148), pressure (0.130), and driver (0.113). We then evaluated the RER level in each province and found that five provinces had high RER levels, 16 provinces had moderate RER levels, and nine provinces had low RER levels. Using Moran’s I, we examined spatial autocorrelation of provincial RER levels at global and local dimensions. We found significant positive global autocorrelations across all subsystems, indicating that geological aggregation exists in all RER subsystems. The local autocorrelation results showed that low–low and high–high patterns were the dominant local autocorrelation patterns. According to the findings, we discussed the possible implications of this RER evaluation index system and provided policy recommendations for strengthening RER in different regions across the country. Full article

In the new era, coordinating the relationship between population flow and forestry ecological security has become an important challenge. In this study, we take Heilongjiang Province in China as an example, and through the combination of macro data and micro in-depth interviews, we explore whether population mobility really affects the intrinsic mechanism of forestry ecological security from the perspective of population exodus from forest areas. Based on the DPSIR model, we constructed a forestry ecological security evaluation index system, used the TOPSIS multi-objective decision analysis method to quantify the forestry ecological security status from 2000 to 2022, and utilized the impulse response function of the VAR model to explore the dynamic response relationship between population outflow and forestry ecological security. The results of this study show that, firstly, the comprehensive index of forestry ecological security level in Heilongjiang Province exhibits a fluctuating upward trend from 2000 to 2022. Second, forestry ecological security has a lagged effect on population outflow, and population outflow has almost no effect on forestry ecological security at present. Third, while the population outflow of Luobei County reduces the interference of human activities on the natural environment, it also brings about the pressures of insufficient forestry ecological resource management and forestry personnel. The Dongfanghong Forestry Bureau has effectively improved the efficiency of ecological construction and ecological security through the introduction of digitalized and intelligent equipment, which has effectively compensated for the negative impact of population outflow on the reduction in ecological management personnel. These findings will help realize the coordinated development of population, economy and society, and ecology. Full article