Sustainable Cities and Society最新文献

{"title":"Patterns of nighttime surface urban heat island patch in mega urban agglomerations: a case study in the Pearl River Delta, China","authors":"Han Wang ,&nbsp;Tengyun Yi ,&nbsp;Yanchi Lu ,&nbsp;Yuan Wang ,&nbsp;Jiansheng Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106465","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106465","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban heat island (UHI) effects across metropolitan areas poses substantial risks and threats to both ecosystems and residents with intensifying nighttime temperatures, however, the megalopolistic patterns and evolution of nighttime surface UHI (SUHI) remain poorly understood. Using the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in China as a representative mega urban agglomeration, this study employed a combination of geostatistical models and exponential decay model to identify urban heat island patches (UHIP) from 2003 to 2019. The analysis subsequently assessed the SUHI effects and spatial patterns of UHIP, and finally, explored the factors influencing nighttime SUHI intensity (SUHII). The results demonstrated that: (1) a significant clustering pattern of nighttime SUHII was identified, along with an increasing trend in annual summer nighttime SUHII over the study period. (2) Patch expansion categories revealed diverse SUHI evolution modes, with spatial-temporal dynamics characterized using landscape metrics. The SUHII decreased successively across enclave-type, infill-type, and edge-type patches. (3) Socioeconomic factors exhibited a significant positive correlation with SUHII, while environmental and landscape factors displayed spatially dependent impacts both within and beyond the UHIP. These findings highlight the critical importance of incorporating the heterogeneity and temporal dynamics of nighttime SUHI into urban planning strategies to enhance climate adaptation and strengthen urban resilience in mega-agglomerations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"128 ","pages":"Article 106465"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144123313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring the decoupling evolution of carbon emissions from economic efficiency in the construction sector: a comparative perspective","authors":"Jiayu Li ,&nbsp;Michael C.P. Sing ,&nbsp;Zhenhua Huang ,&nbsp;Liyin Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106464","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106464","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Research on the decoupling evolution of carbon emissions from economic efficiency (EE) is essential for advancing decarbonization in the construction sector. While previous studies have extensively investigated the decoupling of total carbon emissions (TC), per capita carbon emissions (PC), and carbon intensity (CI) in isolation, they often neglect comprehensive analysis. This gap hinders a nuanced understanding of the decoupling status within the construction sector, as each parameter—TC, PC, and CI—provides unique insights. Therefore, this work contributes to this gap by developing a comparative perspective on the decoupling trajectories for TC, PC, and CI. This holistic comparison will illuminate the dynamics and distinct roles of these parameters in the decoupling process from EE, providing rounded insights into the sector’s decoupling status by considering cumulative emissions, workforce practices and emission efficiency. Using the Tapio decoupling model and Generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation, the empirical analysis examined the decoupling status of the construction sector across 30 Chinese provinces from 2012 to 2021, yielding the following key findings. Firstly, the decoupling performances for TC, PC, and CI indicate general improvements, with an exception of 2019. Spatially, the decoupling for TC, PC, and CI exhibits similarities, with strong decoupling (SD) primarily occurring in eastern provinces while strong negative decoupling (SND) concentrated in western provinces. Secondly, CI is likely to be the leading parameter to achieve SD, relative to TC and PC. Furthermore, the GMM estimation reveals inverted N-shaped patterns in the decoupling of TC, PC and CI. Lastly, this study provides policy recommendations to address the unique challenges faced by regions. Theoretically, this research enriches the discourse on carbon emissions in the construction sector and contributes to the field of economic geography. Practically, it aids policymakers in setting achievable carbon reduction targets and developing effective action plans.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"128 ","pages":"Article 106464"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144134947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of high-density urban spatial form on urban vertical ventilation and thermal comfort in extreme cold region","authors":"Di Song ,&nbsp;Ming Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106451","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106451","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The influence of the spatial form and roughness of an actual urban area on the distribution of the comfort zone of the wind and thermal environment is crucial for the liveable and sustainable development of urban spaces. Four cases in Harbin, a high-density city in an extremely cold region, were selected as the analysis objects, with six spatial shape parameters and two aerodynamic roughness parameters. The overall urban status was simulated by computational fluid dynamics and the thermal environment. The results showed that in spaces containing buildings, the urban spatial form significantly affected the aerodynamic roughness of the city. The comfortable wind speed decreases by 16.30–23.96 percentage points in the main rough surface and by 6.29 to 7.52 percentage points in a non-thermal stress environment. The prediction and interpretation degree of the influence of the morphological parameters of the comfortable wind and thermal environment was high. The numerical limit of the spatial morphological parameters was also clarified to ensure that the wind comfort was higher than 66.36 %, and the thermal comfort was higher than 22.83 %. Priority was given to controlling the spatial building height and distribution density. These findings provide valuable spatial impact results for the initial layout stage of urban space planning and a set of simulation frameworks for large-scale urban spaces, making it possible to simulate and analyse the wind and thermal environments of high-density urban spaces in extremely cold regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 106451"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144072040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A pathway to net-zero urban emissions: Does green fiscal policy stimulate renewable energy consumption in China?","authors":"Shimei Weng ,&nbsp;Weiliang Tao ,&nbsp;Jianbao Chen ,&nbsp;Malin Song","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106461","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106461","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurately assessing the impact of green fiscal policy on urban renewable energy development holds substantial practical importance for achieving energy transition and net-zero emissions goals. This paper uses fiscal policy for energy conservation and emission reduction as a quasi-natural experiment. It analyzes the impact of the green fiscal system on regional renewable energy consumption using sample data from 284 Chinese cities spanning 2005 to 2021, employing the multi-period difference-in-differences method. The study finds that green fiscal policy has significantly improved renewable energy consumption, leading to an increase of 0.1666 units observed in the pilot city. Notably, the impact is more prominent in the first batch of demonstration cities, central cities with high administrative levels, non-resource-based, and low climate risk cities. Additionally, improvements in fiscal self-sufficiency, government intervention, and marketization strengthen its positive impact, whereas market segmentation weakens it. Further analysis reveals that the comprehensive demonstration policy promotes renewable energy consumption both in the city and geographically adjacent areas, exhibiting spatial spillover effects. The conclusions offer policy implications for constructing green fiscal coordination mechanisms compatible with local finance and developing renewable energy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"128 ","pages":"Article 106461"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144138508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of environmental factors on land surface temperature and surface urban heat island. A cross-country analysis in Romania","authors":"Irina Onțel ,&nbsp;Vlad Amihăesei ,&nbsp;Dana Micu ,&nbsp;Alexandru Dumitrescu ,&nbsp;Sorin Cheval","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106454","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106454","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Environmental factors such as vegetation, albedo, building density and height play a crucial role in modeling and analysing Land Surface Temperature (LST) and understanding the Surface Urban Heat Island intensity (SUHII) through interactions between surface properties and energy fluxes. Monitoring and optimizing these factors allow cities to implement urban cooling strategies, such as expanding green spaces, using high-albedo materials, and creating water features, thus helping mitigate the impacts of climate change and enhancing thermal comfort for urban residents. This study investigates the relationship between LST and environmental factors, including albedo, vegetation (measured through indices such as Fcover, LAI, NDVI, and tree density), and built-up areas characterized by density, volume, surface area, and height. Additionally, we sought to identify the main environmental components that significantly contribute to either cooling or warming urban surfaces. The study covered 41 cities in Romania, and it is based on high-resolution satellite imagery, including Sentinel-2 for vegetation indices and albedo, satellite products for built-up area characteristics. The 1-km resolution Sentinel-3 SLSTR LST was subsequently enhanced to 20 m for increased accuracy of the results. The analysis covered the period 2018–2023, focusing on the summer season. This study provides valuable insights into how environmental factors shape urban temperature dynamics, offering a foundation for developing targeted strategies to reduce urban heat and improve city resilience against climate change impacts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"128 ","pages":"Article 106454"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144117037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Measuring the impact of technological innovation on urban resilience through explainable machine learning: A case study of the Yangtze River Delta region, China","authors":"Shanggang Yin ,&nbsp;Rourou Shi ,&nbsp;Nannan Wu ,&nbsp;Jun Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106457","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106457","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Technological innovation (TEC) is the core driving force of regional and urban development; its role in promoting economic growth, social progress, and ecological sustainability is well-documented, but its impact on urban resilience (UR) remains unexplored. We constructed a comprehensive evaluation system for UR in 41 cities within China’s Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region across four dimensions: economy, society, ecology, and infrastructure. The spatiotemporal evolution of UR from 2010 to 2022 was uncovered, and the XGBoost-SHAP model was employed to explore the influence of TEC on UR. The average UR score in the YRD region increased from 0.3010 in 2010 to 0.4882 in 2022. Spatially, UR exhibited a pattern of “higher in the east, lower in the west” and “higher in the central, lower in the north and south,” with high-value areas concentrated in provincial capitals and southern Jiangsu and low-value areas primarily located in northern and western Anhui. In terms of the sub-dimensions, economic and infrastructure resilience showed rapid improvement, whereas social and ecological resilience grew more slowly. The contribution of TEC to UR was 47.03%, making it the most significant factor influencing resilience. When the TEC level exceeded 20, UR significantly promoted UR; however, when it reached 50, a negative threshold effect emerged. The impact of the TEC on UR varied considerably across different socioeconomic contexts. Our findings demonstrate the intricate and nonlinear relationship between TEC and UR, underscoring the critical role of TEC and governance capabilities in fostering UR and enabling more precise management decisions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 106457"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144090291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing annual carbon emissions and its peak year in the Yangtze river economic belt (2021-2035) through land use/land cover analysis","authors":"Lin Du,&nbsp;Chuanjing Peng,&nbsp;Hangxing Ren,&nbsp;Zhiyuan Wu,&nbsp;Wei Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106453","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106453","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As a major carbon emitting country, China is committed to peak carbon emissions before 2030. The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), a key economic region in China, plays a significant role in national carbon emissions, making it crucial to study its emissions. This study uses the STIRPAT model and the Grey Model (GM) to analyze the carbon emissions of building land from 2021 to 2035; then the Patch-generating Land Use Simulation model (PLUS) is employed to predict the land-use changes over next 15 years, and future emissions from cropland, forest, grassland, water area, and unused land estimated using emission coefficients. Finally, carbon emissions across the YREB are calculated and mapped. The projections reveal that carbon emissions from building land increase and then decrease in the baseline scenario from 2021 to 2035. However, carbon emissions from cropland decline annually. Furthermore, this study identifies 2028 as carbon peak year in YREB area, totaling 8.278 × 10⁸t. Additionally, diminishing total energy consumption and the proportion of some industries may be beneficial for regional carbon reduction. The results of this study are instructive for carbon emission reduction and peak carbon attainment in China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 106453"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144084150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nonlinear relationships and spatial heterogeneity between geographical environment and mental health among middle-aged and older adults in China","authors":"Xu Lingyi,&nbsp;Han Huiran,&nbsp;Yang Chengfeng","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106459","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106459","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The nonlinear dynamics and spatial heterogeneity between the \"geographical environment and mental health\" represent pivotal elements in ongoing theoretical debates and empirical discrepancies. However, existing analyses are often fragmented and constrained by issues such as the predominance of linear models, multicollinearity, and omitted variable bias. This study bridges these gaps by employing the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) to examine the non-linear effects, spatial variability, and interactions of the natural, built, and social environments on the mental health of middle-aged and older adults in China. The findings reveal that nearly all geographical environmental factors exhibit non-linear relationships with mental health, with maximum temperature, NDVI, population density, and per capita park green space area showing the most pronounced effects. Their directional impact and marginal effects follow divergent trends. Geographical environmental factors not only exert independent effects on mental health but also interact in complex ways. Moreover, the relationship between geographical environmental variables and mental health displays significant spatial heterogeneity. K-means clustering analysis further identifies four distinct regions where geographical environmental factors differentially influence mental health. These results offer valuable insights for resolving theoretical disputes, understanding empirical variations, and informing urban planning, landscape architecture, and environmental management strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 106459"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144071961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temporal patterns and socioeconomic controls of PM2.5 across global cities","authors":"Kangning Li ,&nbsp;Dian Lyv ,&nbsp;Jinbao Jiang ,&nbsp;Xiaojun Qiao ,&nbsp;Haoran Ma ,&nbsp;Xuelin Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106456","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106456","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As PM_2.5 pollution poses increasing challenges to human health and sustainable development, further understanding its temporal patterns is significant to develop targeting and effective strategies for pollution control. However, the temporal patterns of PM_2.5 for each city worldwide over the past two decades, their controlling factors and difference between urban and rural areas need to be further investigated. Therefore, this paper proposes to identify temporal patterns of PM_2.5 from 2000 to 2020 and further explores the related factors for these temporal patterns. There are two major findings summarizing as follows. (1) The global temporal patterns of PM_2.5 are grouped into four typical types based on the decision tree classification with Savitzky-Golay filtering and Mann-Kendall trend test, verified through visual interpretation on a case-by-case basis. The four typical patterns are Gradual-Decreasing Type (GDT), Single-Peak Type (SPT), Single-Valley Type (SVT) and Gradual-Increasing Type (GIT), accounting for 16%, 49%, 2% and 16%, respectively. The rest of global cities exhibit none of the features in temporal patterns of PM_2.5 (17%). The urban and rural areas show similar temporal patterns in the global PM_2.5 pollution. (2) The temporal patterns of PM_2.5 in cities around the world are greatly influenced by the level of economic development. The GDT predominates in very high human development cities, comprising 55% of the global cities. In contrast, SPT and GIT account for 71% and 23% of medium human development cities, where pollution concentrations peaked or increases with economic growth. Additionally, nature-based factors for temporal patterns, PM_2.5 urban pollution island, strategy proposal and research prospects are discussed. This paper aims to better understand the sources, dispersion, and accumulation processes of pollutants, and provide scientific basis for governments and environmental protection agencies to help propose more effective pollution prevention and control measures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 106456"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144090290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Urbanization-induced disparity of extreme heat distribution in metropolitan Beijing","authors":"Haoran Hou ,&nbsp;Weiqi Zhou ,&nbsp;Jing Wang ,&nbsp;Miao Yu ,&nbsp;Jie Cao ,&nbsp;Yihang Wang ,&nbsp;Ariane Middel ,&nbsp;Zhi-Hua Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106458","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.106458","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cities are facing more frequent, intense, and prolonged extreme heat (EH) due to climate change and urban heat island effects. While the urban-rural EH difference is well documented, intra-urban EH distribution and the influence of local urbanization trajectories remain largely unknown. Here, we use five EH indices derived from in-situ observations and a global seamless near surface air temperature dataset to measure the frequency, intensity and diurnal changes of EH in Beijing. We first evaluate the dataset’s reliability in capturing intra-urban EH variations, then investigate how EH correlates with urbanization trajectories based on changes in land use and population from 2000 to 2020. We employ linear regressions to quantify the spatial pattern of EH within the city and clustering algorithms to analyze the impact of urbanization on EH. We find a clear urban-rural EH gradient, with the annual values of frequency and intensity increasing by 207.8 % and 27.8 % toward the city center, while the diurnal temperature range decreases, limiting nighttime heat relief in downtown areas. This reverse pattern underscores the rising threat of compound EH throughout the day and night for urban residents. Additionally, EH disparities among groups categorized by changes in land use and population highlights disproportionate heat stress in densely populated neighborhoods. Our study offers new insights on understanding the intra-urban EH variations for heat stress mitigation and adaptation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 106458"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144106542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}