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Advances in Community Resilience and Sustainable Urban Governance

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 17975

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Chao Ye

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Guest Editor

Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Interests: urbanization; rural–urban governance; sustainability science; production of space; urban and rural planning

Prof. Dr. Luc Hens

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Guest Editor

Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), BE-2400 Mol, Belgium
Interests: interdisciplinary instruments for environmental management; sustainable development; environmental health
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Dr. Ayyoob Sharifi

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The IDEC Institute & Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS), Hiroshima University, 1-5-1, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan
Interests: urban resilience; smart cities; climate change adapatation and mitigation; neighborhood planning; eco-urbanism
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Dr. Zhimin Liu

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Guest Editor

Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Interests: urban resilience; rural–urban governance; spatial planning

Dr. Uchendu Eugene Chigbu

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Guest Editor

Land Administration Architecture and Spatial Sciences, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Khomas 9000, Namibia
Interests: gender; land use planning; governance and administration
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are glad to present a Sustainability Special Issue entitled “Advances in Community Resilience and Sustainable Urban Governance”.

Rapid urbanization and climate change pose increasing social and ecological challenges globally. With more than 56% of the world’s population living in cities and this proportion expected to rise to 60% by 2030, making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable has become a priority Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in many parts of the world. In the recent decades, resilience has emerged as a buzzword in the fields of complex urban systems and sustainable urban development. In particular, the resilience of urban communities, which are basic units of urban operation and governance, has gained extensive attention from academics, policy makers and practitioners since 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, promoting community resilience is now high on the agenda of any efforts aimed at sustainable urban planning and governance.

This Special Issue offers a platform for advancing our understanding of the theory and practice of community resilience and addressing some of the barriers and knowledge gaps related to community resilience and sustainable urban governance. It aims to draw together a collection of high-quality papers, discussing how the development and application of theoretical frameworks, assessment tools, practical applications, and innovative planning and governance paradigms can support communities and cities in their quest for resilient and sustainable development. We are looking for potential contributions that are dedicated to dealing with a wide range of issues associated with community resilience and its implementation within sustainable governance processes, and encourage researchers and practitioners to submit original research articles, case studies, reviews, critical perspectives, and viewpoint articles on topics including but not limited to the following:

New theories and methodologies of community resilience and sustainable urban governance.
Indicators, measurement tools and quantitative evaluation of resilient communities.
The logics, mechanisms and paths of cooperative and multi-actor governance.
Community planning and governance toward the Sustainable Development Goals.
Best practices of building community resilience.
Urban governance toward achieving community resilience and sustainability in the post-pandemic era.
Application of digital technologies and big data to the development, planning and governance of resilient and sustainable cities.
New perspectives, future directions, opportunities and challenges in advancing community resilience and sustainable urban governance.

Prof. Dr. Chao Ye
Prof. Dr. Luc Hens
Prof. Dr. Ayyoob Sharifi
Dr. Zhimin Liu
Prof. Dr. Uchendu Eugene Chigbu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

community resilience
climate change
pandemic
vulnerability
resilience assessment
social-ecological systems
adaptative management
cooperative governance
transformation
sustainable cities

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 4377 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Endogenous Development Path Based on Rural Local Elite Governance Model: A Case Study of Xiamen

by Jie Yin and Ju Rui

Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8882; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118882 - 31 May 2023

Viewed by 1415

Abstract

Under the background of the decline of rural society, the brain drain and the lack of endogenous development power are one of the main reasons restricting the development of rural China. Although village committees and village Party committees, as grassroots governance instictutions, have played a great role in the process of rural revitalization, it is still difficult to achieve effective governance in rural areas with only top-down bureaucratic power. Therefore, activating the vitality of local elites and promoting the bottom-up development of rural areas is the internal driving force of rural revitalization. However, local elites have neither the institutional power of grassroots cadres nor the same prestige as clan elders. Therefore, for local elites to gain effective governance power, they must go through a process of empowerment, that is, gaining recognition from various forces within the village. Taking the Yuanqian Community of Xiamen city in Fujian Province as an example, this paper analyzes the formation process of local elite power. In this process, local elites gained the trinity of administrative, social and economic empowerment, and became the subject of governance power and the leader of rural revitalization. A new rural governance network with local elites as the core was constructed in the Yuanqian Community. Under the role of the new governance network, the material space and industrial space of the village have been transformed, thus promoting the revitalization of the countryside. At the same time, the village gradually expanded its influence and eventually became a model village in the field of rural revitalization. Due to its growing influence, the Yuanqian Community has achieved sustainable development. The case of Xiamen shows that local elites could gain effective governance power through an empowerment process. Then, by reconstructing the rural governance network, local elites could be the important social foundation of rural sustainable endogenous development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Community Resilience and Sustainable Urban Governance)

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19 pages, 1214 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Disparities in Drinking Water and Sanitation in the Urban Slums of Kerala, India

by Anitha Vidhyadharan

Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7559; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097559 - 04 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1703

Abstract

Even though the water and sanitation situations in urban areas are better than those in rural areas, the situation in the urban slums is worse than that in rural areas. Knowledge of the actual situation of the deprived slums is very important for introducing effective policies to steer a resilient system. This study tried to determine the disparity between the two urban slums based on the principles of availability, accessibility, acceptability, quality and safety and affordability of water and sanitation. The study used a comparative analysis based on the absolute disparity methods. With the support of water and sanitation deprivation indices, percentages, chi-square test, t-test and Mann–Whitney U test the study determined the disparity between the slums. The deprivation level of the physical environment of the two urban slums is almost the same, whereas the water and sanitation deprivation levels are very high in the Vizhinjam slum area compared to those in Barten Hill. Therefore, concerted efforts are needed to reduce the disparities between slums as well as the overall physical environment of the urban slums. Since the physical environment, including infrastructural facilities, is lacking in urban slums compared to other urban areas, achieving a resilient economy requires a systematic institutional framework with proper governance. The three components in the integrated development approaches are households, communities and cities, lacking essential services, which needs immediate solutions. The entry point should be at the household level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Community Resilience and Sustainable Urban Governance)

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17 pages, 11209 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation Methods and Optimization Strategies for Low-Carbon-Oriented Urban Road Network Structures: A Case Study of Shanghai

by Chen Chen

Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 5803; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075803 - 27 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1059

Abstract

It is generally believed that the development of mass transportation is an effective and practical path by which to promote low-carbon development. As a form of infrastructure for the development of bus transits, urban road networks directly affect the planning and operation of a bus network. Existing studies have shown that urban road networks affect the layout effect of bus transit from aspects such as the topological network structure characteristics. Based on the existing foundation of research, this study aims to address evaluation methods for quantitative research on the topological structure of road networks, emphasizing that the topological structure characteristics are an important attribute affecting the morphological characteristics of the road network and also a key attribute affecting low-carbonization orientation. Furthermore, this study proposes an evaluation method for the low-carbon friendliness of urban road network structures and constructed a numerical comparison matrix. On this basis, the actual case of the central urban area of Shanghai was selected to conduct an empirical analysis of the evaluation of the low-carbon friendliness of the road network structure. Based on the street (township) as the regional unit scale, four types of evaluation results were obtained, corresponding to different levels of low-carbon friendliness. Based on the above analysis results, a low-carbon-oriented road network structure optimization strategy in Shanghai’s central urban area was further proposed to (1) develop countermeasures for low-carbon transportation development according to local conditions; (2) emphasize the key role of intersection forms in optimizing topology; (3) improve the connectivity level of important road sections; (4) encrypt the road network density in high-density development areas; (5) and combine this with other form of green transportation development to improve low-carbonization levels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Community Resilience and Sustainable Urban Governance)

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25 pages, 6295 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Multi-Faceted Approach to Improving Public Services in Low-Income Housing in Windhoek, Namibia

by Yewande Adetoro Adewunmi, Uchendu Eugene Chigbu, Uaurika Kahireke, Prisca Simbanegavi, Sam Mwando, Amin Ally Issa and Samuel Hayford

Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 4885; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15064885 - 09 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2458

Abstract

The characteristics of low-income housing in Namibia include severe inequality in housing standards, heavy reliance on non-office jobs, overcrowding, and poor infrastructure. This study uses a survey and semi-structured interviews to investigate the improved service delivery of this low-income housing. It explores this through the perspectives of community-based facilities management, sustainability, and enterprise development. In particular, the study examines opportunities for enterprise development, the willingness to participate in the production and management of public services, and the current state of public services in selected settlements in Windhoek. The results show that a lack of access to fire safety, disaster prevention, recreation, green spaces and tourist facilities are gaps in service delivery. Residents are willing to participate in both the co-production and management of public services. The study also found that residents have the appropriate skills to enable their engagement in management and production, and suitable governance structures are put in place to foster trust. The study recommends a policy that requires community visioning focused on public service improvement. It also calls for renewed trends in low-income people’s participation in public service development processes. The study’s contribution to existing knowledge on this subject is that it produced a multi-faceted framework for improving public services in low-income housing that is based on principles (and actions) of sustainability and policy (and planning) of land/housing access and has the potential to lead to public service-based community wellbeing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Community Resilience and Sustainable Urban Governance)

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18 pages, 2953 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatio-Temporal Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Urban Spatial Quality in Northeast China Based on DMSP-OLS and NPP-VIIRS Nighttime Light Data

by Hang Liu, Xiaohong Chen, Ying Wang, Xiaoqing Xu and Mingxuan Zhang

Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 15668; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142315668 - 24 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1036

Abstract

The quality of urban spaces is a pivotal part of high-quality spatial development. It is directly connected to the comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development of a region. In recent years, Northeast China has characterized urban space contraction and development. To study the quality of urban space in Northeast China, this paper fitted the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) and the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (NPP-VIIRS) nighttime light data with 11 indicators related to high-quality urban development for the period 1992–2018. The feasibility of nighttime light data reflecting urban spatial quality was verified by a linear equation, and the temporal characteristics of urban spatial quality in Northeast China were obtained. The Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (ESDA-GTWR) explores the spatial relevance and possible influencing factors of this kind of development. The results suggest that the overall trend of spatial quality in the three northeastern provinces is “initial slow growth and significantly weakened after”. The fast developing cities include Panjin, Liaoyang, Shenyang, and Dalian in the Liaoning Province. On the other hand, cities such as Heihe and Yichun in the Heilongjiang Province have relatively slow development speeds. Furthermore, the spatial quality development in the three northeastern provinces exhibits a trend of continuous concentration. The cities with high spatial qualities are concentrated near the Liaoning Province, with low spatial qualities in the north and high spatial qualities in the southern parts of the three provinces. As there is a notable gap between the northern and the southern regions, the central region represents an area in partial transition. The spatial quality of each city in the three northeastern provinces is the result of a number of intertwined factors, with significant differences in the degree of their influence. The significant degree of influence factors on spatial quality from higher to lower is urbanization, quality of life, rural revitalization, government promotion, and infrastructure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Community Resilience and Sustainable Urban Governance)

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13 pages, 2217 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Cross-Boundary Supply on the Accessibility of Public Services in Urban Governance: An Example of Shanghai

by Jing Xiong, Zening Xu, Liwen Li and Xu Liu

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12771; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912771 - 07 Oct 2022

Viewed by 1157

Abstract

Due to regional variations in urban governance and the division of functions across different government departments, administrative divisions have caused serious fragmentations in local governance and raised serious obstacles to the standardization and equitable delivery of public services within communities. Existing studies have put forward solutions to the problem of governance fragmentation that prioritize optimizing organizational structures. However, these studies neglect to take into account the impact of administrative divisions on public service supply. Current developments in information technology (IT) have brought new opportunities to urban governance. In this study, we take the Community Public Service Centers (CPSCs) of Shanghai as an example to illustrate the impact of administrative divisions on the equitable delivery of public services. We then explore the use of IT-driven implementation of cross-boundary public services to establish an innovative urban governance model that improves the accessibility of public services. The study found that the cross-boundary supply with the support of IT will effectively improve the equitable delivery of public services. This research will provide references for improving the accessibility of public services, the efficiency of resource allocation, and the promotion of the equitable delivery of public services among communities—all of which contribute to the optimization of urban governance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Community Resilience and Sustainable Urban Governance)

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26 pages, 1132 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Grassroots Mirroring under COVID-19: Does Community Resilience Affect Residents’ Responses? The Case of Shenzhen, China

by Jing Xu, Zhenjian Zeng, Yu Hong, Zhenhua Xi, Xiting Zhu and Zhencong Peng

Sustainability 2022, 14(16), 10159; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610159 - 16 Aug 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1713

Abstract

In the face of the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, the community has played a large role in stemming the impact of COVID-19, and community resilience has become a key part of community governance. Community resilience is the ability of a community to respond effectively to risk and keep the community functioning by strengthening governance and leveraging community relationships in the face of external-disaster disruptions; this gives community participants a real sense that the community is equipped to face adversity and challenges. However, the evasive response of some residents is an important factor that hinders the community’s emergency response capabilities. Therefore, this study selected different types of communities in Shenzhen, China, from 9–23 July 2021, conducted a field survey, and obtained 2256 questionnaires using multi-segment random sampling. Based on the questionnaire data, this study uses factor analysis, correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, and cluster analysis to explore the mechanisms of community resilience on residents’ risk coping styles, and the differences between community resilience and residents’ risk coping styles in different types of communities. The study found that, first, community resilience has a significant positive impact on proactive risk response, among which governance performance has a more significant impact; second, community resilience has a negative correlation with evasive coping styles, in which governance performance has a more significant impact; third, there are obvious differences in the level of resilience between different types of communities, with urban communities being the best, mixed communities being second, and transition communities being last. The government’s role in guiding and organizing the population was extremely significant during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the superiority of the socialist system. The role of the community in social management has become increasingly prominent, and community resilience has become a key factor in controlling COVID-19. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Community Resilience and Sustainable Urban Governance)

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18 pages, 2087 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Community Renewal under Multi-Stakeholder Co-Governance: A Case Study of Shanghai’s Inner City

by Simeng Li, Zhimin Liu and Chao Ye

Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 5491; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095491 - 03 May 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2904

Abstract

Multi-stakeholder (e.g., governments, residents, the “3C” of community and “third party”) co-governance has become a hot topic in the community-renewal research field. However, the co-ordination of various rights and interests hinders the co-governance of multiple stakeholders, particularly in China. Current research on the mechanisms of multiple co-governance remains inadequate. This article presents a typical case of multi-stakeholder co-governance for community renewal with respect to adding elevators to an apartment building in Shanghai’s inner city. The multi-stakeholder co-governance process involved in this research differs from the traditional model, which is mainly led by governments. Field investigations and in-depth interviews were employed to explore how multiple stakeholders conduct dialogues and negotiations in the process of elevator installation. We summarize the key elements of community renewal, show the internal mechanism, and provide a new practical and methodological investigation of multi-stakeholder co-governance. This article highlights the significance of a good interest-co-ordination mechanism and simplification of the community-renewal process. It is also suggested to encourage the participation of multiple stakeholders and to promote co-operation between the community and enterprises in community governance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Community Resilience and Sustainable Urban Governance)

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Review

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12 pages, 1050 KiB

Open AccessReview

Urban Community Resilience Amidst the Spreading of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): A Rapid Scoping Review

by Vanda Ningrum, Chotib and Athor Subroto

Sustainability 2022, 14(17), 10927; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710927 - 01 Sep 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2411

Abstract

This article aims to examine the existing current studies in urban community resilience related to the pandemic (COVID-19 Pandemic) and to raise a sense of urgency in future research for the model building of urban community resilience during the next pandemic if any. Our review is based on 47 articles considered eligible following inclusion and exclusion criteria after identifying, screening, and prioritizing the title and abstract of 703 records. The insights are organized by three indicators that affect community resilience. The first is the urban community’s vulnerabilities during a particular pandemic. Second, the types of community organizations in dealing with the impact of the pandemic. Third, key dimensions to build community resilience. We draw some intriguing takes for future research that needs to focus on community resilience after the pandemic cases have hit the ground, as a need to draw lessons for the new normal and future challenges and to examine the social learning and transformation process to establish community resilience. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Community Resilience and Sustainable Urban Governance)

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