This paper explores the use of assumptions to build multiple models about sustainable development in a compositional way. It presents a model aiming at supporting stakeholders to improve their understanding about a water basin system under the pressure of changes in land use. Domain knowledge is approached from three perspectives: urban, semi-urban and rural. Simulations explore sustainability ...

Eco village design is a new field of knowledge still under development. It will be the physical manifestation of the unfolding of the ecovillage dream held by so many. It is generally agreed that concept of sustainability should play an increasing role in future urban development world-wide. In order to ensure ecological sustainability, cities around the world have to decrease their environment...

Ecological destruction in human-dominated landscapes has significant impacts on environment sustainability internationally. Landscape planning can play a role in mitigating the effects of human-related activities. One element of landscape planning involves the analysis of the biological, spatial and social arrangement of areas in an urban environment and identifying characteristics that are und...

The increasing importance of sustainability in urban and architectural design progressively influences the conception of urban neighborhoods. Among the multiple aspects of this evolution, the reduction of global energy consumption plays a crucial role. Its full achievement involves carrying out different complementary strategies in a structured approach at the territorial, urban, architectural ...

An urban energy transition is needed to address the two global environmental challenges of urbanisation and increasing carbon emissions. Urban energy landscapes represent the spatial patterns of urban energy systems which are visible in the built environment. Spatial regularities in the way systems of energy provision and use are organised are manifest in urban energy landscapes. Energy uses ma...

The use of the metabolism concept, expanded to include aspects of livability, is applied to cities to demonstrate the practical meaning of sustainability. Its application in industrial ecology, urban ecology, urban demonstration projects, business plans and city comparisons are used to illustrate its potential. # 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The form of cities does affect the way people use cities. The way people use cities does affect the urban quality of life, the richness of local economy, the level of social cohesion, the level of safety and equity, the amount and the kind of human activities in public spaces. The above are all components of the urban sustainability issue. Making a reflection on urban form relevant to urban (so...

Urban fragmentation affects sustainability through multiple impacts on economic, social, and environmental cost. Characterizing the dynamics of urban fragmentation in relation to economic transition should provide implications for sustainability. However, rather few efforts have been made in this issue. Using the case of Shanghai (China), this paper quantifies urban fragmentation in relation to...

Urban areas such as megacities (those with populations greater than 10 million) are hotspots of global water use and thus face intense water management challenges. Urban areas are influenced by local interactions between human and natural systems and interact with distant systems through flows of water, food, energy, people, information, and capital. However, analyses of water sustainability an...

A sustainability technology evaluation platform has been prototyped for simulating integrated technology systems within a specific urban regional context. ‘‘Sustainability technologies’’ refer to available and potentially available technologies that may help to decrease human pressures on the environment or natural resources while providing a desired standard of living. The platform is based on...