How to evaluate the inclusivity, safety, resilience, and sustainability of cities and communities efficiently and accurately？

Introduction

In 2020, over 55% of the global population had gathered in cities and towns. The sustainability of cities and towns is closely related to the future of humanity, and cities have become a key link in promoting the implementation of sustainable development strategies. The types of cities and towns in China are complex and diverse, and effective evaluation and scientific decision-making throughout their development process can help cities and towns achieve sustainable development. With China vigorously promoting the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the construction of a sustainable development experimental demonstration system, it has become an urgent need for local governments to scientifically and effectively evaluate urban sustainable development and propose corresponding decision-making plans to implement the national sustainable development strategy.

At present, China has made some preliminary explorations in the field of SDGs localization, especially in integrating SDGs into national and local development plans. However, there is a relative lack of theories on SDGs localization, and there is still a lack of evaluation standards and diagnostic tools, and in line with China's national conditions and urban characteristics. At the same time, considering the differences in economic, social, and resource environmental endowments of different cities and towns, it is necessary to evaluate them from multiple perspectives based on goals and indicators under a universal framework. It is urgent to construct a standardized assessment method for sustainable development based on SDGs that is suitable for different types of cities and towns, providing guidance and reference for scientific decision-making.

At present, China urgently needs to answer how to accelerate the formation of a theoretical method for evaluating urban sustainable development that can balance "internationalization" and "localization", build an intelligent and standardized evaluation technology system for urban sustainable development, support multi-source monitoring data fusion and interactive decision-making simulation technology, and integrate urban SDGs dynamic monitoring intelligent evaluation decision support integrated information exchange system equipment, and how to validate the above work in the national sustainable development experimental demonstration system, and form technical strategies that can promote the improvement of urban sustainable development capabilities. This special issue aims to provide an important communication platform for many experts and scholars interested in these topics.

Topics of interest

The topics relevant to this special issue include but are not limited to:

1. Evaluation indicators, techniques and standards for urban sustainable development.
2. Diagnosis technical and improvement path for urban sustainable development issues.
3. Data mining, fusion and management of urban sustainable development.
4. Interactive decision-making and management technology for urban sustainable development.
5. Planning and policy of urban sustainable development.
6. Typical Models and Empirical Analysis of urban sustainable development.

Submission instructions

All authors must follow the editorial guidelines provided in the Guide for Authors of the Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment (CJPRE). Authors should submit their manuscripts via the Editorial System. Authors should select “VSI: How to evaluate the inclusivity, safety, resilience, and sustainability of cities and communities efficiently and accurately” as the article type for this VSI when they wish to submit their manuscript to the journal.

Papers must be written in good English. Authors with limitations in the command of written English are recommended to have their papers edited by a 'Professional English Scientific Editor', before the first submission because poorly written pieces can compromise the decisions during the review process. Similarly, they should have their final document edited by a 'Professional English Scientific Editor', before they submit their final document for the final review and for publication. All submissions will be checked for similarity and those manuscripts showing too high levels of similarity will be rejected.

Important deadlines

• Deadline submission of full papers: 30 April 2024

Guest Editors

Managing Guest Editor:

• Dr.Xiaotong Zhang. Professor and national registered urban-rural planner of China National Engineering Research Center for Human Settlements, Zhang holds the position of Member of Council, Chinese Society for Sustainable Development (CSSD), Secretary General, Special Committee for Human Settlements, CSSD, mainly engaged in the research and development of sustainable assessment and interactive planning technology for urban and rural human settlements. Currently, he is leading the national key research and development plan project "Key Technologies for Urban Sustainable Development Assessment and Decision Support (2022YFC3802900)", And led the compilation of the series of reports of China's implementation of Goal 11 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Blue Book on Urban Human Settlements in China.

• Email: zhangxt@cadg.cn

Guest Editor:

• Dr.Chaofeng Shao. Professor of Nankai University, Council of Chinese Society for Sustainable Development (CSSD), and Secretary General of Tianjin Society for Sustainable Development (TJSSD), mainly engaged in the theory and technology of SDGs localization. Currently, he is fully involved in the construction of the innovation demonstration zone of the National Sustainable Development Agenda, carry out a number of national and provincial research projects in the field of sustainable development, and has published more than 100 papers and books.

• Email: shaocf@nankai.edu.cn

• Mr.Sheng Ying. National Officer of UN-Habitat China Office. Mr. Ying is a senior urban planning expert, Council Member of International Society of City and Regional Planners. He has served as urban planning expert for many projects and studies for the United Nations, the European Union, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Cities Development Initiative for Asia, and has extensive work experience in urban planning, sustainable development, smart cities and international development cooperation. He has chaired and participated in important reports such as UN-Habitat's Future Cities Advisory Outlook report and the World Economic Forum's insight report Reshaping the Future of Small and Medium-sized Cities: Frameworks and Pathways for Digital Transformation.

• Email: sheng.ying@un.org

• Dr.Xiuxiu Gao(F). Senior Engineer at China Architecture Design & Research Group (CCTC) with a PhD in Environmental Economics and Environmental Management. Gao has extensive experience in environmental sustainability, urban development and international research collaboration, having served as a Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher at the University of York, UK, from 2014-2017, and participated in several European Framework Programme projects. She has been leading several research tasks in the field of urban and rural planning, human settlements improvement and sustainable cities.

• Email: gaoxx245@cadg.cn