in recent decades, the theory of sustainable development has been introduced to several strands of science. this theory and its special view to communities (sustainable community development) as the cell of urban life, demonstrates the solution to urban problems by highlighting the meaning of city neighborhoods. in the local scale, it is essential to use a collaborative process of development, ...

The unprecedented wave of global urbanization has exerted increased pressure on urban land and made land-use sustainability an urgent concern. This Special Issue examines patterns, structures, and dynamics of urban land use from the economic, social, and, to a lesser extent, environmental standpoints, in light of the goal of equitable and sustainable development. This introduction discusses the...

Urban planning and change in the last century has been guided by concepts of Modernity rooted in the Age of Enlightenment that placed the needs of "rational man" at the core of human endeavors of all kinds. Yet, rather than leading to aesthetically beautiful cities characterized by sustainable resource utilization processes, the anthropocentric approach to urban and economic development has cre...

Cities are perhaps one of the most challenging and yet enabling arenas for sustainable development goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasize the need to monitor each goal through objective targets and indicators based on common denominators in the ability of countries to collect and maintain relevant standardized data. While this approach is aimed at harmonizing the SDGs at the ...

information and communication technologies are the most recent scientific achievements of mankind's ability seems to have much to offer society and are expected to be useful in solving the problems of human society. many around the world believe that accelerates the process of adjustment in the exchange of knowledge and information through information and communication technologies a vital role...

On 16 March 2014, the State Council of China launched its first urbanization planning initiative dubbed “National New Urbanization Planning (2014–2020)” (NNUP). NNUP put forward 20 urban agglomerations and a sustainable development approach aiming to transform traditional Chinese urbanization to sustainable new urbanization. This study quantitatively evaluates the level of sustainability of the...

In this article we argue that the City Monitor for Sustainable Urban Development in the Flanders (Belgium) acknowledges two kinds of complexities. Firstly, the set of almost 200 SDIs (Sustainable Development Indicators) is positioned in complex and strategic decision-making processes in Flemish cities. In this respect, this learning instrument contains actor-exceeding and policy-exogenous infor...

A continuing trend of global urbanization leads to a geographical concentration of population and social activities that causes a regional compression of concomitant resource and energy consumption. This paper argues that a Sustainable Living Lab infrastructure (SusLab) in urban areas facilitates a systematic integration of user’s consideration in the design and development of Product-Service S...

Faced to the economic and energetic context of our society, it is widely recognised that an alternative to fossil fuels and oil-based products will be needed in the nearest future. In this way, development of urban biorefinery could bring many solutions to this problem. Study of the implementation of urban biorefinery highlights two sustainable configurations that provide solutions to the Wallo...

Adequate shelter has always been one of man’s basic needs; it is a significant component for human survival and a useful barometer for gauging societal development. As a unit of the environment, it has a profound influence on the health, efficiency, social behavior, satisfaction, productivity, and general wellbeing of the individual and the entire community. However, one of the critical challen...