Determining key indicators for the assessment of sustainable development in Spanish cities under a multi-criteria approach
In the second half of the 20th century, the behaviour of the world's population has undergone drastic changes: it has grown very rapidly, become longer-lived and moved preferably to urban areas. Migration of populations to cities has a special focus because it not only generates socio-economic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Cleaner Production Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666791623000192 |
| _version_ | 1797398993531043840 |
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| author | Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva Leonardo Vásquez-Ibarra Gumersindo Feijoo María Teresa Moreira Sara González-García |
| author_facet | Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva Leonardo Vásquez-Ibarra Gumersindo Feijoo María Teresa Moreira Sara González-García |
| author_sort | Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the second half of the 20th century, the behaviour of the world's population has undergone drastic changes: it has grown very rapidly, become longer-lived and moved preferably to urban areas. Migration of populations to cities has a special focus because it not only generates socio-economic development, but also causes different economic, social, and environmental issues. How to assess the sustainable development of cities and identify the most representative aspects of sustainability dimensions has become an essential challenge for effective planning and government policies. However, the selection of indicators has scarcely been addressed when Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has been used for sustainability assessment. This paper aims to identify the key indicators to determine the eco-efficient performance towards a sustainable development of a set of cities. For this purpose, the joint use of a variable selection method and a DEA model is proposed and applied to a set of 31 Spanish cities. The results obtained identified five social (population percentage at risk of poverty, number of registered gender violence cases, population density), five economic (average household income, average rental price per m2, gross domestic product per capita, public/private vehicle ratio, indebtedness), and three environmental (ozone, NO2, PM10) indicators for the assessment. Moreover, 14 Spanish cities were considered non-eco-efficient, and targets to achieve eco-efficient levels were proposed. Policy makers could focus primarily on the social and economic aspects of non-eco-efficient cities, paying attention, for example, to the risk of poverty of the population, indebtedness of local governments, average rental price and NO2 emissions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:33:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c62530d20ae44dad99417daf79cab838 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-7916 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:33:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cleaner Production Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-c62530d20ae44dad99417daf79cab8382023-12-09T06:08:19ZengElsevierCleaner Production Letters2666-79162023-12-015100046Determining key indicators for the assessment of sustainable development in Spanish cities under a multi-criteria approachRicardo Rebolledo-Leiva0Leonardo Vásquez-Ibarra1Gumersindo Feijoo2María Teresa Moreira3Sara González-García4CRETUS. Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, SpainDoctoral Program in Engineering Systems, Faculty of Engineering, Campus Curicó. Universidad de Talca, Camino a Los Niches, km 1, Curicó, Chile; Corresponding author.CRETUS. Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, SpainCRETUS. Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, SpainCRETUS. Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, SpainIn the second half of the 20th century, the behaviour of the world's population has undergone drastic changes: it has grown very rapidly, become longer-lived and moved preferably to urban areas. Migration of populations to cities has a special focus because it not only generates socio-economic development, but also causes different economic, social, and environmental issues. How to assess the sustainable development of cities and identify the most representative aspects of sustainability dimensions has become an essential challenge for effective planning and government policies. However, the selection of indicators has scarcely been addressed when Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has been used for sustainability assessment. This paper aims to identify the key indicators to determine the eco-efficient performance towards a sustainable development of a set of cities. For this purpose, the joint use of a variable selection method and a DEA model is proposed and applied to a set of 31 Spanish cities. The results obtained identified five social (population percentage at risk of poverty, number of registered gender violence cases, population density), five economic (average household income, average rental price per m2, gross domestic product per capita, public/private vehicle ratio, indebtedness), and three environmental (ozone, NO2, PM10) indicators for the assessment. Moreover, 14 Spanish cities were considered non-eco-efficient, and targets to achieve eco-efficient levels were proposed. Policy makers could focus primarily on the social and economic aspects of non-eco-efficient cities, paying attention, for example, to the risk of poverty of the population, indebtedness of local governments, average rental price and NO2 emissions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666791623000192Sustainable citiesVariable selection methodData envelopment analysisSustainability indicators |
| spellingShingle | Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva Leonardo Vásquez-Ibarra Gumersindo Feijoo María Teresa Moreira Sara González-García Determining key indicators for the assessment of sustainable development in Spanish cities under a multi-criteria approach Cleaner Production Letters Sustainable cities Variable selection method Data envelopment analysis Sustainability indicators |
| title | Determining key indicators for the assessment of sustainable development in Spanish cities under a multi-criteria approach |
| title_full | Determining key indicators for the assessment of sustainable development in Spanish cities under a multi-criteria approach |
| title_fullStr | Determining key indicators for the assessment of sustainable development in Spanish cities under a multi-criteria approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Determining key indicators for the assessment of sustainable development in Spanish cities under a multi-criteria approach |
| title_short | Determining key indicators for the assessment of sustainable development in Spanish cities under a multi-criteria approach |
| title_sort | determining key indicators for the assessment of sustainable development in spanish cities under a multi criteria approach |
| topic | Sustainable cities Variable selection method Data envelopment analysis Sustainability indicators |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666791623000192 |
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