Urban Sustainability Indicators: how do Australian city decision makers perceive and use global reporting standards?

The introduction in 2014 of the first globally standardised sustainability metric for cities, ISO 37120, transformed the concept of scalability for sustainable city indicators. Our study uses original research involving producers and consumers of urban sustainability indicators (USIs), including ISO 37120, to review the current use of sustainability indicators (SIs) in Sydney and ascertain the use-value of internationally standardised USIs as perceived by professionals in the field. Our findings show that managers of cities use SIs in a variety of ways, yet links between SIs and organisational decision making are often weak. The cost of adaptation to a new indicator set may be prohibitive, especially for smaller city governments. Larger cities are seen to benefit more from international exposure and comparison. Highlighting ISO 37120 should be valued for the opportunity it presents for comparative learning regarding the nature of a sustainable city rather than its benchmarking potential. This article recommends that the process of achieving a sustainable city should be informed by ‘strong’ rather than ‘weak’ sustainability; in this regard ISO 37120 has potential for refinement. Further research is needed into determining aspects of city comparability and methods for linking USI data to government decision making in order to achieve sustainability outcomes.     

Green and Sustainable Commercial Property Supply in Malaysia and Nigeria

The aim of this study is to identify the predictive factors and variables that motivate decisions to supply sustainable or green commercial properties, and to apply discriminant analysis technique to assess if there are significant differences in perception between real estate developers in Malaysia and Nigeria based on the identified variables. The result revealed a significant discriminant function differentiating the two countries based on their perception of the variables. The motivational components and attributes were found to be in favor of Malaysia. The Wilks' lambda F‐test and the standardized discriminant function coefficients, showed that there were significant differences between developers in both countries as assessed by the life‐cycle cost motivations, green policies and certification, market strategy, developers expected rate of return, green tax incentive, and available green skills. However, the variables with the most predictive power in accounting for the differences were found to be within the measures of life‐cycle, cost‐saving motivations.     

Coal resources, new air quality standards,and sustainability

According to the National Research Council’s Committee on Earth Resources the stated goal of the “sustainability” paradigm is that the economic activity that maintains current well-being not make future generations worse off, either through environmental degradation or resource depletion. Coal is not “running out” in the United States but the effects of economic deregulation of electricity generation, new air quality standards (Phase II of the 1990 Clear Air Act Amendments), and continued restructuring of the coal mining industry will likely stretch lowsulfur coal supplies in the next decade. The paper discusses these forces and then presents summary coal quality data in the form of grade-cumulative tonnage relationships for major U.S. producing areas to show where future low-sulfur coal supplies are likely to come from. The final section considers the potential magnitude of additional demand for low-sulfur coal, alternative compliance strategies, and implications in terms of maintaining economic efficiency and in terms of the “sustainability paradigm.”     

Spatio-temporal variations in the diversity and abundance of commercially important Decapoda and Stomatopoda in subtropical Hong Kong waters

In subtropical Hong Kong, western waters (WW) are strongly influenced by the freshwater input from the Pearl River estuary, especially during summer monsoon, whereas eastern waters (EW) are predominantly influenced by oceanic currents throughout the year. Such hydrographical differences may lead to spatio-temporal differences in biodiversity of benthic communities. This study investigated the diversity and abundance of commercially important decapods and stomatopods in EW (i.e. Tolo Harbour and Channel) and WW (i.e. Tuen Mun and Lantau Island) of Hong Kong using monthly trawl surveys (August 2003–May 2005). In total, 22 decapod and nine stomatopod species were recorded. The penaeid Metapenaeopsis sp. and stomatopod Oratosquillina interrupta were the most abundant and dominant crustaceans in EW and WW, respectively. Both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that WW supported significantly higher abundance, biomass and diversity of crustaceans than EW, although there were significant between-site and within-site variations in community structure. Higher abundance and biomass of crustaceans were recorded in summer than winter. Such spatio-temporal variations could be explained by differences in the hydrography, environmental conditions and anthropogenic impacts between the two areas. Temporal patterns in the abundance–biomass comparison curves and negative W-statistics suggest that the communities have been highly disturbed in both areas, probably due to anthropogenic activities such as bottom trawling and marine pollution.     

Seasonal Migrant Labor in the Forest Industry of the Southeastern United States: The Impact of H-2B Employment on Guatemalan Livelihoods

Migrant labor is a global phenomenon and remittances of migrant workers from non-industrial nations can play an important role in improving quality of life at family, community, and national levels. We focus on workers from Guatemala who obtain visas from the United States (US) Department of Immigration’s H-2B program that allow them to spend six or seven months a year planting and maintaining pine plantations in the southeastern US. Forestry is economically important in this region and the industry has come to depend on migrant labor. Our specific interest is how the H-2B program affects livelihood strategies of these workers, their families, and their communities. Based on primary data from 49 interviews conducted in eight Guatemalan communities, we explain motivations to engage in seasonal migration and positive changes brought about by the H-2B program in nutrition, housing, healthcare and long-term investments in agricultural lands, microenterprise development, education, and family stability.     

东北地区可持续生计安全时空分异格局及障碍因子诊断

随着“新东北现象”的出现,东北地区转型与可持续发展问题突显,可持续生计安全亟待提升。以2003~2015年东北地区37个地级市为例,基于可持续生计安全框架构建可持续生计安全评价体系,采用灰色关联TOPSIS模型对东北地区可持续生计安全进行综合测度,并运用空间自相关、地理探测器和障碍度模型等方法探讨其时空格局演变规律、空间分异成因和障碍因素。结果表明：① 东北地区可持续生计安全指数总体偏低,整体上空间分异特征明显,但随时间推移,区域间差异逐渐缩小。② 空间集聚性特征显著,热点区和次热点区分布主要呈现哈长地区和沈大沿线地区两大组团,次冷点区和冷点区呈边缘式分布于内蒙古东部、黑龙江北部、吉林南部等经济落后地区。③ 工业化水平、经济总量、工资收入、二氧化硫排放强度和投资强度等是影响东北地区可持续生计安全的主要因素。④ 资源环境支撑力和经济生产力是制约东北地区可持续生计安全提升的两大短板;空间阻力模式以“经济效率>生态安全>社会公平”类型占主导。最后,提出应将政策与制度因素纳入可持续生计安全框架。     

生计脆弱性研究热点与前沿的可视化

以Web of science核心数据库中1991~2015年间收录主题为“livelihood vulnerability”的文献为基础,应用可视化分析软件CiteSpace Ⅲ,采取关键词共现分析、文献共被引分析、突现词分析等方法对生计脆弱性研究现状进行可视化分析。研究发现：① 生计脆弱性研究文献呈现逐年上升趋势,主要分布在生态、环境和管理等学科领域;美、英、澳、加、德5国及东英格兰大学、哥本哈根大学、麦吉尔大学、利兹大学、萨塞克斯大学等研究机构具有较强的研究实力。② Ellis F、Smit B、Adger W N、Kelly P M、Davies S和Turner B L等学者及其代表作是生计脆弱性研究的知识基础。③ 饥荒、社会生态系统、生计策略、贫困、减贫等是生计脆弱性的研究热点与前沿领域。     

The impact of Hurricane Katrina on urban growth in Louisiana: an analysis using data mining and simulation approaches

ABSTRACT

Understanding human dynamics after a major disaster is important to the region’s sustainable development. This study utilized land cover data to examine how Hurricane Katrina has affected the urban growth pattern in the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana. The study analyzed land cover changes from non-urban to urban in three metropolitan areas, Baton Rouge, New Orleans-Metairie, and Hammond, for two time periods, pre-Katrina (2001–2006) and post-Katrina (2006–2010). The study first applied a focal filter to extract continuous urban areas from the scattered urban pixels in the original remote sensing images. Statistical analyses were applied to develop initial functions between urban growth probability and several driving factors. A genetic algorithm was then used to calibrate the transition function, and cellular automata simulation based on the transition function was conducted to evaluate future urban growth patterns with and without the impact of Hurricane Katrina. The results show that elevation has become a much more important factor after Hurricane Katrina, and urban growth has shifted to higher elevation regions. The elevation most probable for new urban growth increased from 10.84 to 11.90 meters. Moreover, simulated future urban growth in this region indicates a decentralized trend, with more growth occurring in more distant regions with higher elevation. In the New Orleans metropolitan area, urban growth will continue to spill across Lake Pontchartrain to the satellite towns that are more than 50 minutes away by driving from the city center.     

Debt-for-climate swaps: Killing two birds with one stone?

The COVID-19 pandemic has further fuelled problems of debt sustainability in developing countries and has sapped the fiscal resources needed to finance climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. We examine whether “debt-for-climate” swaps, instruments whereby debtor countries are relieved from their contractual debt obligations in return for local climate-related spending commitments, may be helpful in tackling worrying debt levels and climate concerns simultaneously. We point out that debt swaps do not have a great historical track record but that common flaws such as their piecemeal nature, lack of additionality and creation of parallel implementation structures, could be overcome by scaling up and careful design. To realize swaps’ full potential, a distinction needs to be made between situations where debt is clearly unsustainable and where it is high but sustainable. In the former case, deep and comprehensive debt restructuring should be the primary focus, rather than closely matching debt service savings with increased climate spending; in the latter case, stand-alone debt swaps may be used to transfer resources from creditors to debtor countries that are committed to climate investments but lack fiscal space. Another helpful differentiation is that between middle-income debtor countries, where debt swaps could finance climate mitigation interventions, and low-income debtors, where investments in adaption deserve prioritization. Finally, debt swap proposals need to be mindful of creditor incentives, including positive reputational payoffs, achieving greater scale using a multi-creditor set-up, at the same time as carefully considering governance credentials in each country context.     

吉林省农安县生态示范区评价指标体系和可持续发展度研究

经实地考察、典型调查和分析研究,构建了以可持续发展度为目标的农安县生态示范区评价指标体系,由4个层次19项指标组成。采用加权求和计量模型计算了农安县规划基准年、近期、中期和远景目标年的可持续发展度值。用这个指标体现该县的可持续发展能力,从而为生态示范区评价提供了一种可供借鉴的方法。