Design-Driven Innovation in Urban Context—Exploring the Sustainable Development of City Design Weeks
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
Drawing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the study offers a cross-analytical material using the tools of the Creative Cities Index: it summarizes three types of design-led models for innovation practices in urban planning weeks: 1) metropolitan integrative transformation and innovation, 2) inclusive cultural diversity community and innovation, 3) cluster integration and collaborative innovation.
The presentation of the topic is appropriate. The presentation of the methods is good.
The research objective defined in the introduction is too broad, it should be more specific, in fact one or two scientific research objectives should be defined.
("...this study aims to explore the development mechanism of city design weeks, and how could these urban platform-based design events shoulder the social mission in the new era, to be as urban strategies that drive innovation through design, and to provide a source of power for urban innovation and sustainable development. This article, through a detailed examination of the concepts and values of major global city design weeks, attempts to illustrate how the vision of city can be realized through a design-driven innovation pathway.)
These concrete objectives should be linked to a focused formulation of the results in the conclusion.
Author Response
Dear expert reviewer,
Thank you sincerely for your thoughtful review and the constructive feedback on our manuscript. We appreciate the time and effort you dedicated to offering valuable insights. In the attached document, we have incorporated your original revisions, highlighted specific advice, and explained our reactions for improvement, all presented in blue.
In sum,
Regarding your concern about the broad research objective defined in the introduction, we appreciate your guidance and agree that a more specific focus should be more clearly pointed out in the article, which enhance the clarity of our study. To address this, we refined the theoretical review in the introduction part from section 1.1 to 1.3, and adding two more paragraphs (line 238 to line 260) right after 1.3. This paragraph serves to summarize and indicate clearly the specified research objectives, and introducing briefly the scope of the research and the following sections of the article. We hope such refinement will improve the objectives in a more concrete and direct way.
Regarding your concern about the correspondence of the results in the conclusion and the objectives, we did a series of refinements. These include the writing of the formulation process in the methods & materials section, the explanation in the results and discussion parts, then emphasizing the theoretical and practical significance and limitations by restructuring two paragraphs in the conclusion part (line 880 to line 914) specifically calling back to the objectives stated in the introduction.
We believe that these refined objectives will establish a more specific and targeted framework for our study. Additionally, we now better ensure that the conclusion clearly aligns with these objectives, providing a more cohesive and logically structured manuscript.
We hope these revisions address your concerns, and we look forward to your feedback on the updated manuscript.
Thank you once again for your valuable input to ensuring the presentation of our research significance, which contributes crucially to the quality of the paper.
Sincerely,
Han, You, Zhan, and Francesco
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear Authors,
Thank you for your manuscript. The paper explores the sustainable development of cities through the lens of design-driven innovation, specifically focusing on the role of city design weeks in promoting innovation approaches for urban development. The study analyses data from thirty design weeks worldwide, using the tools of the Creative Cities Index and aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Three design-driven models for innovation practice in city design weeks are identified: metropolitan integrative transformation and innovation, inclusive cultural diversity communion and innovation, and cluster incorporation and collaborative innovation. The research provides practical and theoretical insights into how city design weeks can contribute to the sustainable development of cities, supporting future design week organizations and extending the adaptation of design-driven innovation models for urban contexts. However, the paper cannot be published in the present form. In the following, some remarks are proposed that should be addressed to improve the quality of the paper. Therefore, a major revision is required before the paper can be accepted for publication.
Abstract
The abstract does not provide specific details about the methodology used in the research, such as the sampling design or data collection methods.
It does not mention the specific cities or design weeks that were included in the case study, which could be important for understanding the generalizability of the findings.
The abstract does not provide a clear statement of the research objectives or research questions that guided the study.
It does not mention the limitations or potential biases of the research, which could impact the validity and reliability of the findings.
The abstract does not provide a summary of the key findings or conclusions of the research.
It does not mention any recommendations or implications for practice or policy based on the research findings.
Introduction
The introduction does not provide a clear and concise statement of the research problem or research objectives.
It does not provide a justification for why the sustainable development of cities and city design weeks are important topics to study.
The introduction does not provide a comprehensive literature review that establishes the existing knowledge and research gaps in the field.
It does not clearly outline the research methodology or approach that was used in the study.
The introduction does not provide a clear statement of the significance or contributions of the research.
It does not mention any limitations or potential biases of the study.
The introduction does not provide a roadmap or structure for the rest of the paper.
Materials and methods
The materials and methods section does not provide a clear description of the sampling design used in the case study of city design weeks.
It does not specify how the relevant data was collected in response to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.
The section does not explain how the data was cross analysed using the tools of the Creative Cities Index.
It does not mention any specific criteria or indicators used to analyse the data and derive the three types of design-driven models for innovation practice.
The materials and methods section does not discuss any potential limitations or biases in the research methodology.
It does not provide any information on the ethical considerations or approval obtained for conducting the case study.
Results and discussion
The Results and Discussion section lacks a clear presentation and analysis of the collected data from the case study of city design weeks.
It does not provide a comprehensive discussion of the practical and theoretical significance of the study's findings in supporting the future organization of design weeks and extending the adaptation of the design-driven innovation model for urban development.
The section does not compare or contrast the findings with existing literature or studies in the field.
It does not address any potential limitations or challenges encountered during the research process.
The Results and Discussion section does not provide any recommendations or implications for future research or practice in the context of sustainable development and city design weeks.
Conclusion
Lack of specific recommendations for future research
Limited discussion on the practical implications for design week organizations
Insufficient exploration of the potential challenges and limitations of design-driven innovation in the context of urban development
Limited discussion on the applicability of the design-driven innovation model to other urban development contexts
Lack of in-depth analysis of the impact of city design weeks on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations
General comments
Pay more attention to grammar and sentence structure. Double read it again.
The conclusion does not provide specific recommendations for future research.
The document lacks a comprehensive discussion on the practical implications for design week organizations.
The paper does not thoroughly explore the potential challenges and limitations of design-driven innovation in the context of urban development.
The document does not extensively discuss the applicability of the design-driven innovation model to other urban development contexts.
The paper lacks an in-depth analysis of the impact of city design weeks on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Pay more attention to grammar and sentence structure. Double read it again.
Author Response
Dear expert reviewer,
Thank you sincerely for your thoughtful review and the constructive feedback on our manuscript. We appreciate the time and effort you dedicated to offering valuable insights. Your specific comments give us precious advice as well as opportunity to improve the quality of the paper from different perspectives. Therefore, we carefully revise the whole article from the abstract to the conclusion by your advice with a balanced consideration of the comments from other reviewers. We attached your original revision to this letter, explaining our reactions for improvement point-to-point regarding your revision comments. So in the main body of this letter, you can find our response (in blue) to the general comments, and in the attached part to this letter, you can find our more point-to-point feedback (in blue) regarding your specific comments for each section.
General comments and the respective modifications
Pay more attention to grammar and sentence structure. Double read it again.
We proof-read the rewritten article across four authors, and corrected the problems of grammar and sentence structure found in the article submitted previously. Additionally, we tried to revise the presentation of the language consistently to the British English style, due to the revision remind from other reviewers and the educational background of the co-authors.
The conclusion does not provide specific recommendations for future research.
We re-wrote up two paragraphs in the conclusion part, with the recommendations for the future research regarding the significance and limitations of the current research, theoretically and practically.
The document lacks a comprehensive discussion on the practical implications for design week organizations.
We revised the presentation of the discussion section, and even added one more paragraph to the discussion of each DDI type, indicating more clearly of the practical implications for design week organisations; and also revised the conclusion section with the emphasis of the practical implications. In this way, we ensure the comprehension of the discussion throughout the whole article in regards of the practical implications for design week organisations.
The paper does not thoroughly explore the potential challenges and limitations of design-driven innovation in the context of urban development.
In the paragraphs we re-wrote at the end of the discussions for each DDI type, we also gave additional elaboration of the potential challenges and limitations to this point.
The document does not extensively discuss the applicability of the design-driven innovation model to other urban development contexts.
In the conclusion part, we gave additional discussion to this point, by indicating the limited extension of DDI in urban development context due to the methodological limitation of the current study, and proposed possible future research in supporting applications of DDI in more possible urban development contexts.
The paper lacks an in-depth analysis of the impact of city design weeks on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations.
Responding to SDGs is the fundamental our this research from data collection to analysis and discussion, thanks a lot for your advice that aroused our awareness in improving our writing and presentations in each part pointing out clearly the role of SDGs in each part of this research. So we refined the writings and even the summary tables and appendixes addressing this point in the section of materials and methods; in each part of the discussion, we also indicated clearly at the ending paragraph; in the conclusion, we also summarize the impact of each type of DDI presented by city design weeks to the SDGs. We hope all of these efforts make this point more evident.
We believe that these modification efforts address your concerns, can better ensure our article in provision of a more cohesive and rigorously constructed manuscript. And we look forward to your feedback on the updated edition.
Thank you once again for your valuable input to ensuring the presentation of our research significance, which contributes crucially to improving the quality of the paper.
Sincerely,
Han, You, Zhan, and Francesco
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe idea and topic of the study is meaningful. The overall presentation is also good. While, there are some comments and suggestions for modification:
1. The description of case cities need to be make at the source explained part, could be a table and list. Literature source need to be including in the context.
2. what are the data source need more detailed information. And the index for study need to be added more information like definition and unit for assess or the questionnaire designed if have. How the results get from the long interview also need explained and have a discussing to make sure the method is effective and the collection of the data is from a comfortable channel and way.
3. There are lack of enough discussion for political suggestions and managerial suggestions. and limitation of the current study also need.
Author Response
Dear expert reviewer,
Thank you sincerely for your thoughtful review and the constructive feedback on our manuscript. We appreciate the time and effort you dedicated to offering valuable insights. In the attached document, we incorporated your original revisions and explained our reactions for improvement in details, all presented in blue.
In sum,
Regarding your concern about the case sampling and data source, we modified the whole passage of the Materials and Methods section, especially in section 2.1, explaining more in details of the case sampling process, adding the selected case list (‘table 1’) to also exhibit the generality of the study. A sampling record of all the case selections is attached in Appendix A.
Regarding your concern about the data source and the validity of the analysing methods, we modified the whole passage of the Materials and Methods section--in section 2.1, we explained the data source of all the cases in the article and adding a summary of the types of data sources as shown in ‘table 2’; in section 2.2 and section 3, we explained more clearly of the cross-analysis process with different tools and the respective summary (‘table 3’, as a summary of the cross-tool analysis, is further modified and put in the Results section considering the cohesion and comprehension of the article; and the formulation of the interviews is also added, with Appendix C as an interview outline), and we also refined the whole explanation of the construction of the analytical model, so as to better explain the validity of the case analysis.
Regarding your concern about the political suggestions, managerial suggestions, and limitations of the current study, we 1) modified the whole discussion part, adding one individual paragraph in the end of each DDI model summarizing clearly about the theoretical formulation of the model, adaptation to the practice, the implications to the managerial focus of different design weeks and limitations are also indicated with recommendation for future research, and the reminds to the policy makers and urban operators are provided with the consideration of both the significance and the limitation of the current research. 2) emphasized the theoretical and practical significance and limitations with clearer statement by restructuring two paragraphs in the conclusion part.
Moreover, we revised the paper with more literature support (adding 37 updated references in total) throughout each section to better ensure the scientific quality of each part and point.
We believe that these modification efforts address your concerns, and can better ensure our article in provision of a more cohesive and rigorously constructed manuscript. And we look forward to your feedback on the updated edition.
Thank you once again for your valuable input to ensuring the presentation of our research significance, which contributes crucially to the quality of the paper.
Sincerely,
Han, You, Zhan, and Francesco
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsReviewer's Comments:
Title: The title should be short and sweet! Modify it. My suggestion- Exploring Design-Driven Urban Innovation: City Design Week."
Abstract line 12 please change the highlighted areas.
Keywords: Line 26 Put the words in Alphabetical orders
Ensure that British English is used consistently throughout the manuscript, as some instances have been highlighted.
Repetitive Phrases:
• There are too many repeated instances of " .." Try using different words or phrases instead of "that" to improve readability and flow.
Table and Formatting:
• ensure that tables have captions for better clarity.
• double-check the formatting of the paper to align with the guidelines of the journal.
• Make sure all Tables, Figures, and Formulas are appropriately placed and cited in the manuscript.
Introduction Section: Line 29
For an introduction is to start with a general background or context, then narrow down to a specific gap or problem, and finally state your research aim and scope. You can also include a motivational statement, brief outline of the main sections or arguments of your article at the end of your introduction.
Add a motivational statement in the introduction to provide a clearer context and purpose for the research.
Present global, regional, and local scenarios as broader perspectives related to the research topic.
Line 57 use British English throughout the manuscript.
Lines 222/223 please follow the highlights. Add in the last paragraph like this -Lastly, the rest of this paper is organised as follows. ...... 2 Materials and Methods, .....
Lines 260/262 Remove the highlights/bold.
Lines 279 Figure 2 Make it bigger.
Lines 342 Discussions.
Lines 509 Figure should be bright. Follow the Journal guidelines for formatting Tables, Figures and equations.
Lines 619 Figure should be bright. Follow the Journal guidelines for formatting Tables, Figures and equations.
Lines 685 Conclusions, Recommendations, policy insights, and Future works.
Lines 763 Add more updated references at least 40.
Thanks for using updated references. Always follow the journal guidelines for reference styles and citation.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Reviewer's Comments:
Title: The title should be short and sweet! Modify it. My suggestion- Exploring Design-Driven Urban Innovation: City Design Week."
Abstract line 12 please change the highlighted areas.
Keywords: Line 26 Put the words in Alphabetical orders
Ensure that British English is used consistently throughout the manuscript, as some instances have been highlighted.
Repetitive Phrases:
• There are too many repeated instances of " .." Try using different words or phrases instead of "that" to improve readability and flow.
Table and Formatting:
• ensure that tables have captions for better clarity.
• double-check the formatting of the paper to align with the guidelines of the journal.
• Make sure all Tables, Figures, and Formulas are appropriately placed and cited in the manuscript.
Introduction Section: Line 29
For an introduction is to start with a general background or context, then narrow down to a specific gap or problem, and finally state your research aim and scope. You can also include a motivational statement, brief outline of the main sections or arguments of your article at the end of your introduction.
Add a motivational statement in the introduction to provide a clearer context and purpose for the research.
Present global, regional, and local scenarios as broader perspectives related to the research topic.
Line 57 use British English throughout the manuscript.
Lines 222/223 please follow the highlights. Add in the last paragraph like this -Lastly, the rest of this paper is organised as follows. ...... 2 Materials and Methods, .....
Lines 260/262 Remove the highlights/bold.
Lines 279 Figure 2 Make it bigger.
Lines 342 Discussions.
Lines 509 Figure should be bright. Follow the Journal guidelines for formatting Tables, Figures and equations.
Lines 619 Figure should be bright. Follow the Journal guidelines for formatting Tables, Figures and equations.
Lines 685 Conclusions, Recommendations, policy insights, and Future works.
Lines 763 Add more updated references at least 40.
Thanks for using updated references. Always follow the journal guidelines for reference styles and citation.
Author Response
Dear expert reviewer,
Thank you sincerely for your thoughtful review and the constructive feedback on our manuscript. We appreciate your time and effort dedicated to offering so detailed and considerate advices and valuable insights. Your specific comments give us precious advice as well as opportunity to improve the quality of the paper. We carefully revised the whole article from the abstract to the conclusion regarding your kind advice in each part, with a balanced consideration of the comments from other reviewers. In the main body of this letter, we briefly introduced the key modifications made in the manuscript submitted this time (all the revised paragraphs are highlighted in the submitted manuscript for your reference), and in the attached document to this letter, you can find our more point-to-point feedback (in blue) regarding your specific advices for each section.
In sum,
- The title has been revised to a bit shorter;
- All the tables and figures have been refined for better clarity, referring also to the guidelines of the journal; more tables an appendixes are added to better illustrate the methodology and analysis;
- Lexical modifications have been made regarding the repetitions, as well as the consistency of British English style;
- Two paragraphs are added in the end of the introduction part: one as a motivational statement stressing the specified objectives and the respective scope of this research, one introducing the structure of the rest of the paper; Additionally, the whole introduction part is revised to better outline the logic of the theoretical and practical building of the research objectives and significance, with also the consideration of broader perspectives related to the research topic;
- In the conclusion part, two more paragraphs are added, in regards of the summary of recommendations, policy insights, limitations and future research;
- More discussions on the implications for practice, political insights, limitations and future research are also added to the end of each part of the DDI discussions (section 3.1 to section 3.3);
- More updated references are added, to 59 in total;
- Thank you also for pointing out many mistakes in details, we’ve refined one by one.
We believe that these modification efforts addressing your concerns, can better ensure our article in provision of a more cohesive and rigorously constructed manuscript. And we look forward to your feedback on the updated edition.
Thank you once again for your valuable input for the presentation of our research significance, which contributes crucially to the quality of the paper.
Sincerely,
Han, You, Zhan, and Francesco
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsAccept
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsMy comments have been addressed well. I think this version is good for being acceptance.
