Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Binghua Gong, Zhifeng Liu, Yupeng Liu, Shunli Zhou
Summary: The sustainability of China's cities is threatened by water scarcity caused by both quantity and quality issues. The water footprint can be measured from consumption or production perspectives. While the water footprint from the consumption perspective has been widely studied, the changes in water footprint from the production perspective in China's cities remain unclear. A large-scale decrease in urban water footprint from the production perspective has been observed, with significant reductions in drylands. The implementation of water pollution prevention policies has played a crucial role in these savings. However, the rapid growth of domestic and ecological blue water footprint caused by urbanization and urban greening poses a challenge to alleviating urban water scarcity in the future.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
En Hua, Xinyu Wang, Bernie A. Engel, Haiyang Qian, Shikun Sun, Yubao Wang
Summary: This study analyzed the water footprint of food and energy in China from 1997 to 2016, focusing on the competition mechanism between the two sectors. The results showed an increase in water consumption for energy production, leading to intensified competition for water resources between food and energy sectors. The study also highlighted the inefficacy of certain water management projects in alleviating water scarcity issues in specific regions.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Harm A. R. M. van den Heiligenberg, Gaston J. Heimeriks, Marko P. Hekkert, Rob P. J. M. Raven
Summary: The transfer of sustainability innovations requires consideration of local and regional conditions, with technological innovations being more easily diffused globally than social innovations. The transfer of innovations often involves translation rather than replication, and local cultural and institutional contexts play a significant role in enabling this transfer.
ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION AND SOCIETAL TRANSITIONS
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Yuanting Xia, Wenxiu Hu, Zhenxing Su
Summary: This paper investigates the impact of economic policy uncertainty on fiscal sustainability and finds that it has a negative effect. The study also highlights that economic policy uncertainty primarily affects fiscal sustainability through the social financing scale.
Article
Urban Studies
Zhilin Liu, Jie Wang, Craig W. Thomas
Summary: This paper examines the motivations for local sustainability actions in an authoritarian context using China's Low-Carbon City Pilot Program as a case study. The findings confirm the impact of multi-level governance on local sustainability initiatives in China, emphasizing the importance of experimentation under hierarchy in shaping urban sustainability policymaking in China.
URBAN AFFAIRS REVIEW
(2022)
Article
Development Studies
Tessa Mauw, Shaun Smith, Jonas Torrens
Summary: Growing urban populations, climate change, drought, and ageing infrastructures put pressure on water delivery. To find innovative solutions, water utility companies are increasingly embracing and guiding experimental approaches. This research focuses on the "La Kretz Innovation Campus" and three experiments initiated by the incumbent water utility in Los Angeles. It examines how creating an internal "protective space" for experimentation leads to struggles over necessary institutional changes for successful experiments, shedding light on the tensions incumbents face when pursuing sustainable directions.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY & PLANNING
(2023)
Editorial Material
Agronomy
Yitao Zhang, Pingguo Yang, Jian Liu, Xucheng Zhang, Ying Zhao, Qiang Zhang, Lei Li
Summary: The Yellow River Basin faces challenges in sustainable water management in agriculture, but research shows that practices such as mulching, drip irrigation, and water-nutrient coupling are essential for improving crop production and environmental protection. Further research is needed to understand the efficiency of management practices in different landscapes and changing climates, as well as to analyze system-level linkages between water balance, soil water availability, conservation, water and soil losses, and agricultural and environmental sustainability.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xinxueqi Han, Yong Zhao, Xuerui Gao, Shan Jiang, Lixing Lin, Tingli An
Summary: This study analyzed the evolution trend of water footprint in Northwest China, revealing the virtual water transfer pattern and its impact on local water resource pressure. Despite improvements in technology reducing water footprint, there is still a net virtual water output exacerbating water resource pressure.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Political Science
Xufeng Zhu, Hui Zhao
Summary: This article investigates the distinct features of experimentalist governance in China, proposing a framework that combines central-local interactive relations. The central government's concerns for policy performance and the reliance on local responses for policy evaluation are highlighted. Three new patterns of experimentalist governance in China are conceptualized, illustrated through case studies on pension policies for different groups.
POLICY STUDIES JOURNAL
(2021)
Review
Geography
Wenxin Ba, Dejiang Wang, Binghua Gong, Yihua Dai, Zhipeng Yang, Zhifeng Liu
Summary: Urban water scarcity in China has become a major hindrance to socioeconomic development. A comprehensive review of literature from 2002 to 2022 reveals that China's UWS has been receiving increasing attention, with 107 cities experiencing water stress. The research mainly focuses on large cities and the quantity-induced UWS in North China and Northwest China, as well as the quality-induced UWS nationwide. While various indicators have been used in UWS assessments, there is still a lack of a comparable evaluation system. Moreover, comprehensive assessments of driving forces, effects, and solutions are still insufficient.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Fabiano de Araujo Moreira, Michele Dalla Fontana, Patricia Marra Sepe, Mathews Vichr Lopes, Lucas do Vale Moura, Larissa Santos Medeiros, Joop de Kraker, Tadeu Fabricio Malheiros, Gabriela Marques Di Giulio
Summary: This paper reports on the co-creation of sustainability indicators related to the WEF nexus in Sao Paulo, Brazil. With a transdisciplinary approach, non-academic actors were involved to improve the usability of the indicators. Thirty-four indicators were developed through interactive activities.
SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Reihaneh Bandari, Enayat A. Moallemi, Rebecca E. Lester, David Downie, Brett A. Bryan
Summary: The United Nations 2030 Agenda takes a holistic and multi-sectoral view on sustainability through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the successful implementation of this agenda depends on understanding the synergies and trade-offs among SDGs. A case study in the Goulburn-Murray region in Victoria, Australia identified clean water and sanitation, agricultural activities, economic growth, climate action, and life on land as the top five priority SDGs for the region, highlighting potential trade-offs between unsustainable agricultural practices and water resources, the environment, and sustainable economic growth. Ongoing uncertainties like climate change, policies on environmental water recovery, international markets, and emerging technologies could pose risks for the future of agriculture and the economy.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & POLICY
(2022)
Article
Business, Finance
Tianyu Li, Tongwei Du
Summary: The study reveals that the fiscal behaviors of local governments in China are unsustainable, but fiscal sustainability can be achieved through fiscal adjustments despite fiscal fatigue. Furthermore, the impact of transfer payments from the central government on fiscal sustainability depends on the degree of vertical fiscal imbalance.
INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF ECONOMICS & FINANCE
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Rui Nan, Yongjiao Yang
Summary: This study, based on a large-scale survey in China, reveals the willingness of citizens to participate in local governance and its influencing factors. The findings have important implications for motivating individuals who are unwilling to engage in local governance and can contribute to the modernization of shared governance both nationally and internationally.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Yu Mou, Yuyan Luo, Zerui Su, Jun Wang, Tao Liu
Summary: This paper evaluates the sustainability and resilience of cities in the face of potential threats in the future, considering five subsystems including economy, environment, population, resource, and science & technology. Using Chengdu as a case study, it was found that limited water resources, expanded impacts of disturbances, and the presence of more resilience system elements lead to a more developed sustainability system.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)