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Sustainability
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Sustainability and Territorial Project Assessment
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Sustainability and Territorial Project Assessment

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 16829

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Francesco Scorza

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Engineering, University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Interests: sustainable urban and regional planning; ecosystem services; advanced models and spatial techniques for territorial assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Beyond an “environmental impact assessment” approach, the issue to define effective metrics and methods in order to perform the assessment of territorial transformations represents an incomplete contribution of territorial sciences to policy making processes at any territorial scale. The ambition to identify “the best” methodology or “the best” set of indicators, relevant for any specific field of application, is far from being intended as an objective to be reached. However, the effort to perform robust case study applications oriented toward delivering project assessment through the elicitation of effects produced in the territorial dimension, benchmarking sustainability principles adopted under international agreements, represents a challenging interdisciplinary research domain.

The Special Issue aims at collecting papers in an interdisciplinary framework of applied processes of territorial design characterized by the focus on scoping the relation between specific artifacts or anthropic activities/objects and existing territorial systems of values.

Such practices link academic research and policy debate, providing on-field examples of current territorial development processes which are mainly based on projects and planning.

This SI expects to collect papers critically assessing technical improvements in urban and regional development and territorial governance, based on case study research, demonstrating evidence-based results and the feasibility of innovative urban planning solutions and projects evidence on the bases of robust methodological frameworks oriented toward assessing sustainability and territorial impacts.

Case studies, theoretical and methodological contributions, as well as critical discussion on policy implementation and project design are welcome, with reference to the following topics:

  • Framework and toolkits for territorial design;
  • Project assessment process;
  • Impact evaluation models and scenario building;
  • Sustainability assessment of territorial transformation;
  • Strategic environmental assessment as a tool for project improvement;
  • Spatial planning policies and scenario analysis;
  • New Urban Agenda and “planning for urban future” under sustainability umbrella;
  • Natural Risks preparedness as mean of sustainable territorial management.

Prof. Francesco Scorza
Guest Editor

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

  • sustainable territorial design
  • project evaluation
  • impact assessment
  • strategic environmental assessment
  • geodesign
  • sustainable development
  • advancements in territorial governance
  • new urban agenda
  • natural risks preparedness
  • regional studies

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 11549 KiB  
Article
Tool for the Establishment of Agro-Management Zones Using GIS Techniques for Precision Farming in Egypt
by Mohamed M. Elsharkawy, Abd El Aziz S. Sheta, Paola D’Antonio, Mohammed S. Abdelwahed and Antonio Scopa
Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 5437; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095437 - 30 Apr 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2723
Abstract
Agro-management zones recently became the backbone of modern agriculture. Delineating management zones for Variable-Rate Fertilization (VRF) can provide important ecological benefits and better sustainability of the new Egyptian farming projects. This article aims to represent an approach for delineating management zones using Spatial [...] Read more.
Agro-management zones recently became the backbone of modern agriculture. Delineating management zones for Variable-Rate Fertilization (VRF) can provide important ecological benefits and better sustainability of the new Egyptian farming projects. This article aims to represent an approach for delineating management zones using Spatial Multicriteria Evaluation (SMCE) within irrigated peanut pivot situated at the eastern Nile Delta, Egypt. The results indicated that soil data, such as soil texture, soil type, the elevation of the landscape, and slope, allow for sampling the study area into similar classes and in smaller units, along with a crop productivity map. The effects of the variability in soil characteristics within the field on Peanut yields are predicted by the soil suitability model. In addition, final management zones map a varied amount of nutrients that could be added to different pivot zones. In conclusion, mapping soil units with a sufficient number of field observations within each class provided an acceptable accuracy, and a good spatial distribution of the suitability classification was achieved. Hence, agro-management zones are essentially needed for policymakers in a specific field in order to furnish an evaluation about the transformations at a territorial scale and for studying the strategies to realize environmental sustainability and to reduce the territorial impacts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability and Territorial Project Assessment)
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24 pages, 2222 KiB  
Article
Infrastructure Service Assessment Model Based on a Service Quality Gap Model—Focused on South Korea
by Seulki Lee
Sustainability 2022, 14(1), 577; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010577 - 5 Jan 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3930
Abstract
To improve the quality of life (QOL) of the citizen, it is essential to not only to secure a quantitative stock, such as the number or extension of individual infrastructure, but to also understand the perspective of the public on service levels and [...] Read more.
To improve the quality of life (QOL) of the citizen, it is essential to not only to secure a quantitative stock, such as the number or extension of individual infrastructure, but to also understand the perspective of the public on service levels and the demand for infrastructure. In this study, an infrastructure service level assessment model that reflects the demands of citizens is proposed, and the importance and adequacy of infrastructure service indexes for setting priorities and goals for the investment of government funds in infrastructure are verified. The evaluation items used in this model included usability, accessibility, and recovery speed. The infrastructure service level for 12,500 Korean citizens was surveyed using the proposed assessment model, and the results reveal that the satisfaction of citizens with their residences had a significant effect on the QOL improvement, and that the level of infrastructure performance in a residential area significantly affected the satisfaction of citizens with their residences. In addition, the results revealed that the quantitative and qualitative aspects of infrastructure should be simultaneously considered. Lastly, the possible application of this model for the evaluation of the effectiveness of investment for infrastructure improvement is proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability and Territorial Project Assessment)
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22 pages, 3249 KiB  
Article
Comparing Impact Evaluation Evidence of EU and Local Development Policies with New Urban Agenda Themes: The Agri Valley Case in Basilicata (Italy)
by Piergiuseppe Pontrandolfi and Priscilla Sofia Dastoli
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9376; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169376 - 20 Aug 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2228
Abstract
The European Union’s Cohesion Policy is the most important structural policy in terms of financial commitment, geographical size and time frame, aimed at redistributing wealth between regions and countries, to stimulate growth in areas whose development is lagging behind. The reach of the [...] Read more.
The European Union’s Cohesion Policy is the most important structural policy in terms of financial commitment, geographical size and time frame, aimed at redistributing wealth between regions and countries, to stimulate growth in areas whose development is lagging behind. The reach of the investments prompted the EU Commission to promote an impact evaluation of the European Structural Funds (SF); however, the impact evaluation of EU programs is almost neglected in the Italian regions. This paper is based on the results developed within the RI.P.R.O.VA.RE project and is aimed at defining an impact evaluation of EU SF and other regional funds, based on evidence derived from the analysis of a specific case study in the Agri Valley area (Basilicata, Italy). To develop the impact evaluation process, the euro amounts of all the individual policies organized according to the themes of the New Urban Agenda (NUA), the impact indicators and the trend for the municipalities are considered together, in order to obtain an overall trend for the entire case study area. An important result is achieved above all in the methodological approach to impact evaluation: the municipal territorial scale is taken into account; the maps illustrate the use of resources; regardless of the type of funding source since there is a comparison between the priority axes of the funds with the NUA issues; and indicators are developed with open data available at a national level. This experiment makes it possible to detect that, even in the face of significant investments, some substantial aspects that are part of the policy objectives remain unchanged or even worsen. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability and Territorial Project Assessment)
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23 pages, 5817 KiB  
Article
The Italian Experience of the Covenant of Mayors: A Territorial Evaluation
by Luigi Santopietro and Francesco Scorza
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1289; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031289 - 26 Jan 2021
Cited by 42 | Viewed by 3461
Abstract
European climate policy, since the 1990s, has developed incrementally and supported programs, plans and actions for sustainable, clean and secure energy. Additionally, climate-change adaptation issues have been tackled through Mayors Adapt since 2016. The Covenant of Mayors (CoM), a volunteer movement of local [...] Read more.
European climate policy, since the 1990s, has developed incrementally and supported programs, plans and actions for sustainable, clean and secure energy. Additionally, climate-change adaptation issues have been tackled through Mayors Adapt since 2016. The Covenant of Mayors (CoM), a volunteer movement of local administrators established in 2008, set a target of a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020. The CoM has launched a new season on energy planning in Europe based on Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs), defining actions for selected intervention sectors. The aim of the work was to evaluate the state of the Italian CoM signatories, assessing the results achieved in terms of the Municipalities involved (CoM signatories), the SEAPs developed and the Monitoring Reports submitted. Specifically, the analysis of the Monitoring Reports data represents a relevant step needed in order to formulate some critical appraisals concerning the performance level of CoM adoption at a national scale, in terms of the commitment levels, goals achieved and actions completed or in progress. The paper also compares national figures with a regional detailed survey developed for the Basilicata Region. It represents a benchmark useful for interpreting the general results derived from the CoM official data and a marker for pointing out suggestions for improving the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) adoption procedures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability and Territorial Project Assessment)
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23 pages, 335 KiB  
Article
The Effect of the Comprehensive Rural Village Development Program on Farm Income in South Korea
by Eunji Choi, Jonghoon Park and Seongwoo Lee
Sustainability 2020, 12(17), 6877; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176877 - 24 Aug 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3393
Abstract
Faced with an aging and declining population, many governments around the world endeavor to revitalize their rural communities in a sustainable manner. In South Korea, the Comprehensive Rural Village Development Program (CRVDP) was carried out from 2004 to 2013 as a key strategy [...] Read more.
Faced with an aging and declining population, many governments around the world endeavor to revitalize their rural communities in a sustainable manner. In South Korea, the Comprehensive Rural Village Development Program (CRVDP) was carried out from 2004 to 2013 as a key strategy to reinvigorate rural areas. This study aims to conduct an ex-post quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness of the CRVDP in boosting rural households’ farm income. In doing so, the present study adopts quasi-experimental research design that is seldom utilized in assessing rural policies. As an alternative evaluation tool with flexibility for using readily available data, the study employed the combined application of the Heckman selection model and the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition method. The study revealed a significant positive impact of the Program on farm income of rural households in the program-supported areas from both cross-sectional and longitudinal perspectives. A robust causal estimation of the impact of this bottom-up, multi-sectoral rural development program on farm income is achieved, which can be leveraged to widely promote similar type of rural development approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability and Territorial Project Assessment)
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