Urban infrastructure development is one principal way people are transforming the natural world and their living conditions. It is important for humanity, but it can also cause major impacts to the environment, such as huge amounts of solid waste and CO2 emissions. Considering this, the circular economy (CE) is a promising alternative to the traditional “make, use, and dispose” linear economy model. However, as a strategy for sustainable development (SD), the CE is still in its infancy in the urban transport infrastructure sector. Therefore, this article aims to guide the implementation of CE during transport infrastructure projects. To achieve this goal, a literature review and case study were adopted as the research methods. After reviewing existing well-established CE frameworks, the iReSOLVE (implement, Regenerate, Share, Optimize, Loop, Virtualize, Exchange) framework is recognized as the most comprehensive one. Upon it, an analytical framework containing specific-related aspects of CE in urban transport infrastructure projects (which belongs to meso-scale) is proposed (coined as the 4Wh-iReSOLVE framework). The 4Wh means Who, When, Where, and What. The proposed framework offers insight into potential CE activities for transport infrastructure projects and assists in assessing the performance and impacts of CE of these projects to cover the gap of the neglected meso-scale. Ten circular viaduct project initiatives in the Netherlands are used as case analyses with the 4Wh-iReSOLVE framework. The results present the highlights of the circular viaduct initiatives in the Netherlands, with CE activities categorized into five groups (design-related strategies, general CE strategies, implementation, management, and related digital technologies and materials, as well as environmental sustainability). As verified by several experts of the projects studied, it can be concluded that the 4Wh-iReSOLVE framework is suitable for transport infrastructure project CE analyses and implementations. It can potentially be a suggested guideline in future policy documents.@en

Rapid global urbanization, urban renewal and changes in people's lifestyles have led to both an increase in waste generation and more complex waste types. In response to these changes, many local governments have invested in municipal solid waste infrastructure (MSWI) to implement circular strategies. However, matching and bridging the costly and logistically complex MSWI with the dynamic social context is a central challenge. In this paper we aim to explore the interdependencies between MSWI and the local social system, and then conceptualize and empirically validate the systemic nature of MSWI. We first review the current MSW treatment methods, corresponding infrastructure, and the challenges facing them. Then, we interrogate system-oriented concepts and use two key insights to set up a conceptual model for mapping the interdependencies in a MSWI system (MSWIS). Finally, a case study of the Dutch city of Almere is used to empirically validate the MSWIS model and identify the social systems that contribute to the development of the MSWIS. The analysis reveals that the development of MSWIS is beyond the municipality's control: efficient resource recovery facilities established by businesses under market rules and waste reuse facilities constructed by social organizations/individuals based on their own needs are key pieces of the puzzle to complete the MSWIS. This highlights the ability of the framework to capture interdependencies that go further than just the formal municipal sphere of influence.

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In the quest for Smart City (SC) development, numerous examples of ‘good practices’ have circulated in national and international policy arenas. Learning from good practices elsewhere is a common approach for cities to initiate and develop SC policies of their own. Nevertheless, because of political, legal and cultural differences across countries and cities, policies will always be context dependent, and prosper under specific conditions. There is a vast literature on policy transfer and policy mobility, but much of it utilizes different concepts (i.e., policy translation, policy learning, and policy diffusion). Nonetheless, a critical omission they all share is limited concern for context-dependence and lack of prescriptive clues. Addressing both omissions would lead to a framework in which learning from good SC policy practices, formulating lessons, transferring them, and then adjusting them to fit the recipient's needs is taken up systematically in a stepwise manner. To develop a theoretical framework for Smart City adoption, this study brings together variegated existing literature under the heading ‘policy transplantation’ and synthesizes existing insights into a prescriptive procedure policymakers can follow. A systematic literature review is conducted to identify all key elements and sub-elements associated with SC policy transplantation, leading to a theoretical framework. This (prescriptive) theoretical framework is subsequently validated using an expert group and illustrated through a real-life case. The framework can be used as an analytical lens by researchers, but also constitutes a practical tool to guide policymakers aiming to use insights from good practices and implement them in line with their own contextual setting. Conducting contextual assessment before transplanting a SC policy is essential.@en

With rapid high-speed railway (HSR) developments in China, HSR-based transit-oriented development (TOD) has proliferated across the country. Although local governments claim that HSR station areas are planned according to TOD principles, some scholars argue that these station areas actually contribute to unsustainable development. This study investigates two main questions: (1) what success factors should be included in a TOD plan for HSR station areas? (2) to what extent are these factors considered in the plans of Chinese HSR station areas? To answer these questions, we use content analysis to compare spatial plans for 15 HSR station areas across China, triangulating the findings via in-depth interviews and field investigations. This study reveals that most of the factors in the plans for HSR station areas deviate from TOD principles, especially in small- and medium-sized cities. We find that Chinese local governments mainly use TODs as a tool to promote suburban expansion around HSR stations.@en

Xiong’an New Area is not only a newly emerging and nationally endorsed technopole, it is also regarded as a test-bed for novel forms of governance and financial management in China. Although it is currently only in its starting phase, Xiong’an demonstrates that various institutional features are very different from those found in traditional technopoles, such as National High-tech Industrial Development Zones (NHTIDZs). How such institutional innovation affects feasibility and viability of the construction and maintenance of new high-tech metropolises is under-studied. This article develops a conceptual framework based on the theory of space production and identifies two types of space production, global industrialization and local urbanization, which are then applied to the NHTIDZs. Analysis of the situation in Xiong’an leads to the conclusion that Xiong’an represents a mode of strong state-led space production within China’s governance modernization. This not only opens the door to a reconsideration of current land finance and social management systems but it also implies that the transferability of its institutional innovations is limited to other cities where imposing greater social control through technologies is possible.

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The development of high-speed railway (HSR) new towns in China represents a new phase of suburbanization and has had a significant impact on urban expansion, but not all of its mechanisms and drivers have been studied. This article aims to understand the booming development of HSR new towns in China through the theoretical lens of state entrepreneurialism. It dissects the entrepreneurial behaviors of the local state in a medium-sized city, which harnesses the HSR project strategically to develop a new town. Our findings reveal that local governments play out state entrepreneurialism in developing HSR new towns. They compete with other cities for HSR projects. They are motivated by land revenue generation, career advancement for officials, and maintaining state power. Furthermore, this article contributes to the understanding of interactions among multi-level governments. Local states in China can also exert influence on the policymaking and resource allocation of the national government.

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Co-production is a solution by which the government provides public services. Coproduction theory is built upon Western experience and currently focuses on the types of coproduction in different policy stages, the barriers and governance strategies for co-production. However, little attention is paid to how political background will influence the co-production process. To fill the gap, we analyzed a case of co-production that occurred in China, and we characterized the political background as consisting of three main political features: political mobility, central–local relations, and performance measurement. Based on an in-depth case study of a government project in a medium-sized Chinese city, the impact and the changes of political features affecting governmental projects in different co-production stages are analyzed and assessed. We find that political features play a critical role in the co-production of China’s large government projects and may separately and jointly affect co-production. Government performance measurement affects the co-design and co-implementation of projects. Political mobility and changes in local government and performance measurement also affect the co-implementation continuity of the project. Political focus affects the co-design of projects. Central-local relations influence the support from higher government and the actual practices of lower government in the co-implementation stage.

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SDG 11 – ‘making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’ – draws attention to the criticality of urban governance in the quest for sustainable development. Reflecting this, diverse city labels, such as ‘sustainable city’ and ‘smart city’, have been mobilized by urban actors and scholars to consider cities’ responses to various challenges of urban transformation. Consequently, this study interrogates: (1) the growing use of city labels in the scientific literature over three decades; (2) the conceptual dimensions of individual city labels and their mutual interdependencies; and (3) likely future trajectories. This is accomplished through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of 35 city labels: we examine their (co-)occurrences during 1990–2019 based on 11337 articles harvested in Scopus; analyse their conceptual associations drawing on a corpus of 22820 author keywords; and make a future forecast based on logistic growth modelling (the underlying datasets are available through open access). The findings significantly take forward recent bibliometric research by demonstrating: the rapid growth in scientific outputs; the diversification of city labels beyond ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’; and the evolution of an intricate conceptual field made up of different constellations of city labels. The findings have implications for urban policy and practice: regarding ongoing concerns about how to achieve synergies, rather than trade-offs, between SDGs, the conceptual field points to possible ways for relating SDG 11 to other dimensions of sustainable development. More broadly, the clarification of individual city labels’ conceptual underpinnings should help policymakers and practitioners make considered choices when mobilizing city labels in support of urban transformation efforts.@en

Local governments in China actively promote low carbon city pilots to respond to the challenges of climate change mentioned in the Sustainable Development Goals, including building sustainable cities and communities, and taking climate action. However, relatively little is known about the actual implementation of programs to achieve sustainable cities, especially how combinations of policy instruments are deployed in the realisation of low carbon cities. First, this study contributes to the literature in policy studies by identifying how four types relevant to carbon city development, hierarchy, market, network and information based ones, can be combined in policy mixes and play out in the effective realisation of low carbon cities in other countries. Second, this framework is used to map the application of policy instruments in China's 35 low carbon pilot cities. This study uses fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to explore which configurations of policy instruments are in use and assesses their effects on low carbon city construction. It thus builds a bridge between theory on policy instruments, their combinations and low carbon city development. The presence of hierarchical policy instruments appears to be a necessary condition for low carbon city development and their use prevails. Market-based and network-based instruments complement hierarchical instruments but do not suffice in themselves. Applying hierarchical instruments and market-based instruments together tends to hamper the effect of network instruments and information instruments, whereas network instruments appear to be interchangeable with information instruments. Network governance in China's low carbon city development is still comparatively underdeveloped.

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Many local governments engaging in sustainable urban development also have a growing interest in becoming inclusive too, brand themselves as such and develop policies to become inclusive cities. However, knowing what exactly this entails and how it can be achieved is not always quite straightforward and requires thorough theoretical and empirical exploration. Consequently, we present a systematic deconstruction of the inclusive city concept in order to develop a better understanding of the main features and dimensions; this is done by means of both a bibliometric analysis and qualitative literature review. The results indicate that inclusiveness is multidimensional and comprised of spatial, social, environmental, economic, and political dimensions in which the characteristics of participation, equity, accessibility and sustainability are sometimes interwoven. Overall, the inclusive city is not merely a precondition for the creation of just space, well-being, and environmental responsibility, but also an opportunity to take stock of interests of stakeholders in cities and to create local public value. The findings have implications for urban policy and practice, more specifically, the clarification of the inclusive city concept and conceptual dimensions will provide significant reference for policymakers and practitioners to make prudent decisions in the process of creating an inclusive city.@en

Among known studies of city branding by Chinese megacities to realise urban transformation, there is no explorative study of how smaller Chinese cities engage in city branding and attempt to trigger industrial transformation. In response, this article presents an in-depth case study of city branding processes in a medium-sized Chinese city. Roles, resources and interactions among the city's stakeholders are analysed during the brand creation and implementation stages in two different economic city branding projects. The stakeholder involvement mechanisms we identify confirm that city branding creation in China primarily follows political rather than business channels. Chinese local public authorities and more specifically key politicians, departments, and public enterprises are core stakeholders in branding creation. However, this leads to challenges in the branding implementation, since key public sector players tend to withdraw themselves when implementation begins, leaving previously uninvolved private (and public) players to implement the brands. The unsuccessful transformation contrasts with those observed in Chinese megacities, where involvement of powerful corporations and support from higher levels of government are both much higher. It appears that the imperative of broad stakeholder involvement to make city branding successful as we know it for Western cities may also apply in medium-sized Chinese cities.

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The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) as the new paradigm of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and rapid changes in technology and urban needs urge cities around the world towards formulating smart city policies. Nevertheless, policy makers, city planners, and practitioners appear to have quite different expectations from what smart cities can offer them. This has led to the emergence of different types of smart cities and pathways of development. This paper aims to answer the research question: When comparing a selection of smart city projects, can we classify pathways for their implementation? We do this by using a cross-case research design of four cities to explore commonalities and differences in development patterns. An input-output (IO) model of smart city development is used to retrieve which design variables are at play and lead to which output. The four cases pertain to the following smart city projects: Smart Dubai, Masdar City, Barcelona Smart City, and Amsterdam Smart City. Our analysis shows that Amsterdam is based on a business-driven approach that puts innovation at its core; for Masdar, technological optimism is the main essence of the pathway; social inclusion is the focus of Barcelona Smart City; and visionary ambitious leadership is the main driver for Smart Dubai. Based on these insights, a classification for smart city development pathways is established. The results of the present study are useful to academic researchers, smart city practitioners, and policy makers.

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New towns are a major form of urban growth in China. In recent years, increasing numbers of large new town projects have been planned and built in and around existing cities. These new town projects have frequently been employed by city governments as central elements of pro-growth strategies, based on ideas of urban entrepreneurialism, which seek to promote economic growth, project a dynamic city image, and increase urban competitiveness. This article studies how the pro-growth, urban entrepreneurial approach affects the planning and development of Chinese megacities. A conceptual framework focusing on land-leasing revenue and new town development strategies is employed to explore the linkages between urban growth mechanisms and urban outcomes. Empirical material from four cities in the Pearl River Delta—Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, and Zhuhai—is presented. The analysis indicates that new town developments in these cities have different levels of dependency on spatial expansion and land revenue, and emphasize different issues of sustainable development in their plans. Cities with a lower dependency on physical and economic growth are be more likely to emphasize the quality of the built environment and address issues of sustainable urban development more closely when planning and implementing new town projects.@en

Along with unprecedented urbanization in the last few decades, cities have experienced rapid social and economic transformation in China. A major challenge facing urban authorities in the immediate future is how to plan and govern cities such that they can serve as inclusive systems where everyone is enabled and empowered to fully participate in and contribute to socioeconomic life. A first step towards realizing this is to conceptualize an integrated framework that allows analysts and decision-makers to delineate, evaluate, and guide the development of these cities towards inclusiveness. In this study, we conducted a conceptual analysis of urban inclusiveness and then proposed a multidimensional framework for the evaluation of inclusive development. This is followed by the presentation of the case of Xiong'an, for which inclusive development indicators (IDIs) were selected. By comparing the state before the establishment of Xiong'an with its current development progress, and analyzing the area's management structure and policy measures, the inclusive development challenges are identified. Subsequently, suggestions are given on how to direct Xiong'an toward higher levels of inclusiveness, including offering equal access to public services and employment opportunities, preserving environmental health and sustainable use of natural resources through waste recycling, and encouraging public participation in decision-making to bring higher levels of inclusion within reach.

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While many national and local governments in the world are placing their bets on smart city development in countering challenges such as climate change, air pollution, and congestion, few know exactly how to develop them in practice. A high and rising number of publications has appeared addressing the concept of “smart city,” but not many address its implementation. This paper aims at a conceptual understanding of the smart city by describing its various facets and using them to develop an Input-Output model helping policymakers and analysts make informed design choices. Using this model allows them to further their conceptual understanding of smart cities, envisage design choices they will face during planning and implementation, and help them to understand the impact of these choices. The model is illustrated by introducing the case of “Smart Dubai.” Overall, this paper provides enhanced understanding of smart city development processes. This can be used in decision-making processes.

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The emergence and expansion of clusters of large metropolitan areas also known as Mega City Regions (MCRs) is a worldwide phenomenon. In China, governmental attempts are made to develop so-called regional brand identities for them. Regional brand identities, as a subspecies of place brand identities, differ from regional identities in the sense that they are the result of conscious branding efforts on the part of public authorities rather than more historically evolved regional identities as experienced by citizens. In this study, the establishment of regional brand identities for three MCRs in China is examined, as these are constituted through and institutionally embedded in intergovernmental relations. We map the perceptions of national, provincial and municipal governments of regional brand identities based on planning documents and relevant interviews. The emergence and stabilization of the regional profiles for China's largest MCRs Pearl River Delta (PRD), Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Jing-Jin-Ji (JJJ) are featured in their dynamic territorial boundaries, centralized institutionalization and various symbolic meanings. The national government promotes the regional brands to reinforce the strategic awareness and future direction of the region, and these profiles are diffused at the provincial and municipal level.

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Sustainable development and Circular Economy (CE) have drawn massive attention worldwide. Construction practices consume large amounts of materials, resources and energy. Sustainability and CE could play a big role in reduction efforts. However, the potential influence of both concepts on the planning and construction of large infrastructures remains unexplored. This paper investigates how professionals involved in a high-speed railway station project in the Chinese city of Jingmen envision the use of sustainability and CE for the planning and construction of the railway station and its surrounding areas. We reviewed policy documents and interviewed local professionals with the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework. The analysis reveals opportunities for improvement towards sustainability and the interdependence between the dimensions in the TBL framework for the railway station and its surroundings. The case shows that local professionals identify ample opportunities for improvement (presented as "sustainability ideas"), but none appear truly sustainable. These insights provide evidence that the hierarchical introduction of transition(s) creates a cognitive silo for local professionals when envisioning sustainability ideas. In the TBL framework, this study finds a useful and novel approach to break down the silos, because the TBL stresses the interdependence between the various sustainability dimensions.@en

In the past three decades Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have realised a meteoric economic rise. Whereas the former two can be considered ‘rentier states’ heavily depending on oil (and gas) revenues, the latter only leans on oil for a mere 6% of its gross domestic product (GDP). Although the economic rise has brought considerable welfare, it has also led these emirates to attain the world’s highest per capita carbon footprint. To address this problem Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai seem to have formulated policies with regard to sustainable urbanisation and adopted strong branding strategies to promote them internally and externally. In this paper we examine which steps have been taken to substantiate their claims to sustainable urbanisation, in branding as well as in actions taken towards implementation. We find that all three have been very active in branding their sustainable urbanisation policies, through visions and policy frameworks as well as prestigious development projects, but that the former is substantially more impressive than the latter. Results also show there is a difference between Abu Dhabi and Qatar on the one hand, and Dubai on the other. Dubai has large number of small ‘free economic zones’, academic institutions for developing a knowledge economy, and smart and/or sustainable urban neighbourhoods, while Qatar and Abu Dhabi have a small number of very large ones. From the three, it is currently Dubai which has taken the lead in this development, largely completing its industrial transition with vast economic diversification and urban expansion. However, across the board this has had little effect on its ecological footprint. @en

Aging, shrinking cities, urban agglomerations and other new key terms continue to emerge when describing the large-scale population changes in various cities in mainland China. It is important to simulate the distribution of residential populations at a coarse scale to manage cities as a whole, and at a fine scale for policy making in infrastructure development. This paper analyzes the relationship between the DN (Digital number, value assigned to a pixel in a digital image) value of NPP-VIIRS (the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) and LuoJia1-01 and the residential populations of urban areas at a district, sub-district, community and court level, to compare the influence of resolution of remote sensing data by taking urban land use to map out auxiliary data in which first-class (R1), second-class (R2) and third-class residential areas (R3) are distinguished by house price. The results show that LuoJia1-01 more accurately analyzes population distributions at a court level for second- and third-class residential areas, which account for over 85% of the total population. The accuracy of the LuoJia1-01 simulation data is higher than that of Landscan and GHS (European Commission Global Human Settlement) population. This can be used as an important tool for refining the simulation of residential population distributions. In the future, higher-resolution night-time light data could be used for research on accurate simulation analysis that scales down large-scale populations.

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Place branding is seriously studied in various academic disciplines. Its impact on strategic development plays a vital role in processes of sustainable urban transformation. Place branding originated in tourism management and over time its research focus spilled over and evolved in environmental science, urban studies and public administration. Scholars and policy makers are currently faced with a myriad of concepts in place branding research, which show considerable overlap but should be carefully distinguished from each other. To increase our understanding of this body of research, this article observes a strong pattern of the concepts in use, in their references to location types (i.e. urban, city, destination, place) and broadcasting activities (branding, marketing, promotion). It builds on this observation by collecting studies from the Scopus database by location type and broadcasting activities (LT–BA) reference pairs and systematically analysing and reviewing these from 1980 to 2018. A total of 2,665 articles and reviews were identified and analysed based on (1) occurrences per reference pair, (2) co-occurrences per reference pair, and (3) co-occurrences for each reference pair with other concepts. On that basis, the origin and evolution of the research field including multiple reference pairs in use is explored and described. @en