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Sustainability
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Advancing Urban Sustainability through a Diverse Social-Ecological System Research Agenda
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Advancing Urban Sustainability through a Diverse Social-Ecological System Research Agenda

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2019) | Viewed by 16081

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Abigail York

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Interests: environmental governance; social-ecological systems; cities
Prof. Dr. Morgan Grove

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Baltimore Field Station and Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES), Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Baltimore, MD 21228, USA
Interests: urban ecology; social-ecological systems
Prof. Dr. Dexter Locke

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), Annapolis, MD 21401, USA
Interests: urban ecology; spatial analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cities are central to many, if not all, sustainability issues. This Special Issue highlights the great strides in urban social-ecological system (SES) research since the concept was first used. No longer does this urban SES work simply describe environments; instead it advances our understanding of the complex, dynamic nature of cities and in some cases actively shapes urban environments. Manuscripts span the methodological spectrum, but all work toward advancing our understanding of sustainability in cities. Comparative work highlights trends across regional and global contexts while case studies provide a richer understanding of the dynamics driving these trends. Together, this work addresses limits of understanding of sustainability when focusing exclusively on “social” or “ecological” aspects of our urban environments. Bridging disciplinary divides, and academy and practice, leads to novel transdisciplinary perspectives that may imperative to addressing the pressing urban sustainability challenges. Harnessing diverse perspectives and world views from across the globe, additionally illustrates the opportunities to combat environmental injustices that are problematic in most cities.

Prof. Dr. Abigail York
Prof. Dr. Morgan Grove
Prof. Dr. Dexter Locke
Guest Editors

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

  • Urban sustainability
  • social-ecological system
  • city, environmental justice

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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30 pages, 1260 KiB  
Article
Advancing Water Sustainability in Megacities: Comparative Study of São Paulo and Delhi Using a Social-Ecological System Framework
by Rimjhim M. Aggarwal and LaDawn Haglund
Sustainability 2019, 11(19), 5314; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11195314 - 26 Sep 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4063
Abstract
In this paper, we frame the problem of urban water sustainability in megacities as a social-ecological system (SES) to examine the underlying coupling of social and ecological factors and processes. Based on our empirical research of two major megacities of the global south, [...] Read more.
In this paper, we frame the problem of urban water sustainability in megacities as a social-ecological system (SES) to examine the underlying coupling of social and ecological factors and processes. Based on our empirical research of two major megacities of the global south, São Paulo and Delhi, we have developed an urban water SES module within the broader SES framework proposed by Ostrom. The module’s multilevel nested structure consists of the following four subsystems: water resource and infrastructure, settlements, governance, and actors. A distinct advantage of our module is that it enables us to capture the plurality of settlements patterns (from formal to informal settlements), actor networks, and governance patterns found in cities of the global south and how these uniquely shape and are shaped by the process of rapid urbanization. We use this module as: (a) an analytical tool to identify the different variables and processes within each subsystem, which through their interactions, have influenced the trajectory of water systems in these cities; (b) a diagnostic tool in a comparative setting to examine why desired goals in terms of service delivery and/or governance were achieved (or not); and (c) a prescriptive tool to identify cross-learnings and practical lessons. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Urban Sustainability through a Diverse Social-Ecological System Research Agenda)
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17 pages, 3281 KiB  
Article
An Observatory Framework for Metropolitan Change: Understanding Urban Social–Ecological–Technical Systems in Texas and Beyond
by R. Patrick Bixler, Katherine Lieberknecht, Fernanda Leite, Juliana Felkner, Michael Oden, Steven M. Richter, Samer Atshan, Alvaro Zilveti and Rachel Thomas
Sustainability 2019, 11(13), 3611; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133611 - 1 Jul 2019
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 6149
Abstract
In Texas and elsewhere, the looming realities of rapid population growth and intensifying effects of climate change mean that the things we rely on to live—water, energy, dependable infrastructure, social cohesion, and an ecosystem to support them—are exposed to unprecedented risk. Limited resources [...] Read more.
In Texas and elsewhere, the looming realities of rapid population growth and intensifying effects of climate change mean that the things we rely on to live—water, energy, dependable infrastructure, social cohesion, and an ecosystem to support them—are exposed to unprecedented risk. Limited resources will be in ever greater demand and the environmental stress from prolonged droughts, record-breaking heat waves, and destructive floods will increase. Existing long-term trends and behaviors will not be sustainable. That is our current trajectory, but we can still change course. Significant advances in information communication technologies and big data, combined with new frameworks for thinking about urban places as social–ecological–technical systems, and an increasing movement towards transdisciplinary scholarship and practice sets the foundation and framework for a metropolitan observatory. Yet, more is required than an infrastructure for data. Making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable will require that data become actionable knowledge that change policy and practice. Research and development of urban sustainability and resilience knowledge is burgeoning, yet the uptake to policy has been slow. An integrative and holistic approach is necessary to develop effective sustainability science that synthesizes different sources of knowledge, relevant disciplines, multi-sectoral alliances, and connections to policy-makers and the public. To address these challenges and opportunities, we developed a conceptual framework for a “metropolitan observatory” to generate standardized long-term, large-scale datasets about social, ecological, and technical dimensions of metropolitan systems. We apply this conceptual model in Texas, known as the Texas Metro Observatory, to advance strategic research and decision-making at the intersection of urbanization and climate change. The Texas Metro Observatory project is part of Planet Texas 2050, a University of Texas Austin grand challenge initiative. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Urban Sustainability through a Diverse Social-Ecological System Research Agenda)
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Review

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22 pages, 1066 KiB  
Review
Pathways to Modelling Ecosystem Services within an Urban Metabolism Framework
by Thomas Elliot, Javier Babí Almenar, Samuel Niza, Vânia Proença and Benedetto Rugani
Sustainability 2019, 11(10), 2766; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11102766 - 14 May 2019
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 5354
Abstract
Urbanisation poses new and complex sustainability challenges. Socio-economic activities drive material and energy flows in cities that influence the health of ecosystems inside and outside the urban system. Recent studies suggest that these flows, under the urban metabolism (UM) metaphor, can be extended [...] Read more.
Urbanisation poses new and complex sustainability challenges. Socio-economic activities drive material and energy flows in cities that influence the health of ecosystems inside and outside the urban system. Recent studies suggest that these flows, under the urban metabolism (UM) metaphor, can be extended to encompass the assessment of urban ecosystem services (UES). Advancing UM approaches to assess UES may be a valuable solution to these arising sustainability challenges, which can support urban planning decisions. This paper critically reviews UM literature related to the UES concept and identifies approaches that may allow or improve the assessment of UES within UM frameworks. We selected from the UM literature 42 studies that encompass UES aspects, and analysed them on the following key investigation themes: temporal information, spatial information, system boundary aspects and cross-scale indicators. The analysis showed that UES are rarely acknowledged in UM literature, and that existing UM approaches have limited capacity to capture the complexity of spatio-temporal and multi-scale information underpinning UES, which has hampered the implementation of operational decision support systems so far. We use these results to identify and illustrate pathways towards a UM-UES modelling approach. Our review suggests that cause–effect dynamics should be integrated with the UM framework, based on spatially-specific social, economic and ecological data. System dynamics can inform on the causal relationships underpinning UES in cities and, therefore, can help moving towards a knowledge base tool to support urban planners in addressing urban challenges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Urban Sustainability through a Diverse Social-Ecological System Research Agenda)
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