Linkages of development and environment : in search of an integrated approach through sustainable development

Least developed countries (LDCs) are the primary victims of environmental changes, including present and future impacts of climate change. Environmental degradation poses a serious threat to the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, thus hindering development in LDCs. Simultaneously, poverty is itself both a major cause and effect of global environmental problems. Against this backdrop, this essay argues that without recognition and protection of a collective right to development, genuine environmental protection will remain unachievable. Further, this essay submits that, particularly in the context of LDCs, the right to environment and the right to development are inseparable. Finally, this essay argues that the relationship between the right to environment and the right to development must fall within the paradigm of sustainable development if the promotion and protection of those rights are to be justified.

Integrated coastal zone management and sustainable development of coastal area : a short overview of international legal framework

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction ICZM and sustainable development of coastal zone International legal framework for ICZM Implementation of international legal obligations in domestic arena Concluding remarks References

Sustainable knowledge community precincts : lessons from global best practices

In the era of global knowledge economy, urban regions—seeking to increase their competitive edge, become destinations for talent and investment, and provide prosperity and quality of life to their inhabitants—have little chance achieving their development goals without forming effective knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) strategies. KBUD paradigm suggests that the economic future of cities increasingly depends on the capacity to attract, generate, retain and foster creativity, knowledge and innovation—and make space and place for knowledge generation and knowledge communities. Thus, the paper aims to shed light on the planning and development processes of the KBUD phenomenon with respect to the construction of sustainable knowledge community precincts (KCPs) aimed at making space for knowledge generation and place for knowledge communities—and provide useful lessons for the developing country cities seeking such sustainable and KBUD.

The use of artificial neural networks for identifying sustainable biodiesel feedstocks

Over the past few decades, biodiesel produced from oilseed crops and animal fat is receiving much attention as a renewable and sustainable alternative for automobile engine fuels, and particularly petroleum diesel. However, current biodiesel production is heavily dependent on edible oil feedstocks which are unlikely to be sustainable in the longer term due to the rising food prices and the concerns about automobile engine durability. Therefore, there is an urgent need for researchers to identify and develop sustainable biodiesel feedstocks which overcome the disadvantages of current ones. On the other hand, artificial neural network (ANN) modeling has been successfully used in recent years to gain new knowledge in various disciplines. The main goal of this article is to review recent literatures and assess the state of the art on the use of ANN as a modeling tool for future generation biodiesel feedstocks. Biodiesel feedstocks, production processes, chemical compositions, standards, physio-chemical properties and in-use performance are discussed. Limitations of current biodiesel feedstocks over future generation biodiesel feedstock have been identified. The application of ANN in modeling key biodiesel quality parameters and combustion performance in automobile engines is also discussed. This review has determined that ANN modeling has a high potential to contribute to the development of renewable energy systems by accelerating biodiesel research.

Sustainable and affordable housing : a myth or reality

The Australian government has released a draft National Building Framework that will likely tighten the building standard for new houses to meet higher sustainability requirements. There are uncertainties about the impact this could have on the cost of housing and the supply of affordable housing. This paper aims to provide evidence-based conclusions on the possibility of delivering sustainable and affordable housing for low income people. The case studies are gathered from Brisbane and Gold Coast. Case studies are analysed by unpacking the features that were included to meet sustainability and affordability goals for housing. This paper outlines the key factors for their success and also challenges for replication of the projects. The study shows that the key success drivers for delivering sustainable and affordable housing are providing planning incentives, subsidies for increased energy efficiency, supportive regulatory frameworks and appropriate allocation of infrastructure charges. It shows that government can prioritise their resources to support affordable and sustainable housing for low income people.

Integration of Saudi Arabia’s conservative Islamic culture in sustainable housing design

The cities of Saudi Arabia have perhaps the largest growth rates of cities in the Middle East, such that it has become a cause in shortage of housing for mid and low-income families, as is the case in other developing countries. Even when housing is found, it is not sustainable nor is it providing the cultural needs of those families. The aim of this paper is to integrate the unique conservative Islamic Saudi culture into the design of sustainable housing. This paper is part of a preliminary study of an on-going PhD thesis, which utilises a semistructured interview of a panel of nine experts in collecting the data. The interviews consisted of ten questions ranging from general questions such as stating their expertise and work position to more specific question such as listing the critical success factors and/or barriers for applying sustainability to housing in Saudi Arabia. Since the participants were selected according to their experience, the answers to the interview questions were satisfactory where the generation of the survey questions for the second stage in the PhD thesis took place after analysing the participant’s answers to the interview questions. This paper recommends design requirements for accommodating the conservative Islamic Saudi Culture in low cost sustainable houses. Such requirements include achieving privacy through the use of various types of traditional Saudi architectural elements, such as the method of decorative screening of windows, called Mashrabiya, and having an inner courtyard where the house looks inward rather than outward. Other requirements include educating firms on how to design sustainable housing, educating the public on the advantages of sustainable housing and implementing new laws that enforce the utilisation of sustainable methods to housing construction. This paper contributes towards the body of knowledge by proposing initial findings on how to integrate the conservative Islamic culture of Saudi Arabia into the design of a sustainable house specifically for mid and low-income families. This contribution can be implemented on developing countries in the region that are faced with housing shortage for mid and low-income families.

A micro-level indexing model for the assessment of sustainable urban ecosystems

During the last several decades, the quality of natural resources and their services have been exposed to significant degradation from increased urban populations combined with the sprawl of settlements, development of transportation networks and industrial activities (Dorsey, 2003; Pauleit et al., 2005). As a result of this environmental degradation, a sustainable framework for urban development is required to provide the resilience of natural resources and ecosystems. Sustainable urban development refers to the management of cities with adequate infrastructure to support the needs of its population for the present and future generations as well as maintain the sustainability of its ecosystems (UNEP/IETC, 2002; Yigitcanlar, 2010). One of the important strategic approaches for planning sustainable cities is „ecological planning‟. Ecological planning is a multi-dimensional concept that aims to preserve biodiversity richness and ecosystem productivity through the sustainable management of natural resources (Barnes et al., 2005). As stated by Baldwin (1985, p.4), ecological planning is the initiation and operation of activities to direct and control the acquisition, transformation, disruption and disposal of resources in a manner capable of sustaining human activities with a minimum disruption of ecosystem processes. Therefore, ecological planning is a powerful method for creating sustainable urban ecosystems. In order to explore the city as an ecosystem and investigate the interaction between the urban ecosystem and human activities, a holistic urban ecosystem sustainability assessment approach is required. Urban ecosystem sustainability assessment serves as a tool that helps policy and decision-makers in improving their actions towards sustainable urban development. There are several methods used in urban ecosystem sustainability assessment among which sustainability indicators and composite indices are the most commonly used tools for assessing the progress towards sustainable land use and urban management. Currently, a variety of composite indices are available to measure the sustainability at the local, national and international levels. However, the main conclusion drawn from the literature review is that they are too broad to be applied to assess local and micro level sustainability and no benchmark value for most of the indicators exists due to limited data availability and non-comparable data across countries. Mayer (2008, p. 280) advocates that by stating "as different as the indices may seem, many of them incorporate the same underlying data because of the small number of available sustainability datasets". Mori and Christodoulou (2011) also argue that this relative evaluation and comparison brings along biased assessments, as data only exists for some entities, which also means excluding many nations from evaluation and comparison. Thus, there is a need for developing an accurate and comprehensive micro-level urban ecosystem sustainability assessment method. In order to develop such a model, it is practical to adopt an approach that uses a method to utilise indicators for collecting data, designate certain threshold values or ranges, perform a comparative sustainability assessment via indices at the micro-level, and aggregate these assessment findings to the local level. Hereby, through this approach and model, it is possible to produce sufficient and reliable data to enable comparison at the local level, and provide useful results to inform the local planning, conservation and development decision-making process to secure sustainable ecosystems and urban futures. To advance research in this area, this study investigated the environmental impacts of an existing urban context by using a composite index with an aim to identify the interaction between urban ecosystems and human activities in the context of environmental sustainability. In this respect, this study developed a new comprehensive urban ecosystem sustainability assessment tool entitled the „Micro-level Urban-ecosystem Sustainability IndeX‟ (MUSIX). The MUSIX model is an indicator-based indexing model that investigates the factors affecting urban sustainability in a local context. The model outputs provide local and micro-level sustainability reporting guidance to help policy-making concerning environmental issues. A multi-method research approach, which is based on both quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis, was employed in the construction of the MUSIX model. First, a qualitative research was conducted through an interpretive and critical literature review in developing a theoretical framework and indicator selection. Afterwards, a quantitative research was conducted through statistical and spatial analyses in data collection, processing and model application. The MUSIX model was tested in four pilot study sites selected from the Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia. The model results detected the sustainability performance of current urban settings referring to six main issues of urban development: (1) hydrology, (2) ecology, (3) pollution, (4) location, (5) design, and; (6) efficiency. For each category, a set of core indicators was assigned which are intended to: (1) benchmark the current situation, strengths and weaknesses, (2) evaluate the efficiency of implemented plans, and; (3) measure the progress towards sustainable development. While the indicator set of the model provided specific information about the environmental impacts in the area at the parcel scale, the composite index score provided general information about the sustainability of the area at the neighbourhood scale. Finally, in light of the model findings, integrated ecological planning strategies were developed to guide the preparation and assessment of development and local area plans in conjunction with the Gold Coast Planning Scheme, which establishes regulatory provisions to achieve ecological sustainability through the formulation of place codes, development codes, constraint codes and other assessment criteria that provide guidance for best practice development solutions. These relevant strategies can be summarised as follows: • Establishing hydrological conservation through sustainable stormwater management in order to preserve the Earth’s water cycle and aquatic ecosystems; • Providing ecological conservation through sustainable ecosystem management in order to protect biological diversity and maintain the integrity of natural ecosystems; • Improving environmental quality through developing pollution prevention regulations and policies in order to promote high quality water resources, clean air and enhanced ecosystem health; • Creating sustainable mobility and accessibility through designing better local services and walkable neighbourhoods in order to promote safe environments and healthy communities; • Sustainable design of urban environment through climate responsive design in order to increase the efficient use of solar energy to provide thermal comfort, and; • Use of renewable resources through creating efficient communities in order to provide long-term management of natural resources for the sustainability of future generations.

Korean ubiquitous-eco-city : a smart-sustainable urban form or a branding hoax?

The buzzwords of zero-carbon, low-carbon, carbon-neutral, smart-eco and ubiquitous-eco have become common brands for the sustainable eco-cities of the 21st century. This paper focuses on one of these city types ‘ubiquitous-eco-city’ (u-eco-city). The principal premise of a u-eco-city is to provide a high quality of life and place to residents, workers and visitors with low-to-no negative impacts on the natural environment by using state-of-the-art technologies in the planning, development and management stages. The paper aims to put this premise into a test and address whether u-eco-city is a dazzling smart and sustainable urban form that constitutes an ideal 21st century city model or just a branding hoax. This paper explores recent developments and trends in the ubiquitous technologies, infrastructures, services and management systems, and their utilisation and implications for the development of u-eco-cities. The paper places Korean u-eco-city initiatives under microscope, and critically discusses their prospects in forming a smart and sustainable urban form and become an ideal city model.

Phosphorus as a limiting factor on sustainable greywater irrigation

Water reuse through greywater irrigation has been adopted worldwide and has been proposed as a potential sustainable solution to increased water demands. Despite widespread adoption there is limited domestic knowledge of greywater reuse, there is no pressure to produce lowlevel phosphorus products and current guidelines and legislation, such as those in Australia, may be inadequate due to the lack of long-term data to provide a sound scientific basis. Research has clearly identified phosphorus as a potential environmental risk to waterways from many forms of irrigation. To assess the sustainability of greywater irrigation, this study compared four residential lots that had been irrigated with greywater for four years and adjacent non-irrigated lots that acted as controls. Each lot was monitored for the volume of greywater applied and selected physic-chemical water quality parameters and soil chemistry profiles were analysed. The non-irrigated soil profiles showed low levels of phosphorus and were used as controls. The Mechlich3 Phosphorus ratio (M3PSR) and Phosphate Environmental Risk Index (PERI) were used to determine the environmental risk of phosphorus leaching from the irrigated soils. Soil phosphorus concentrations were compared to theoretical greywater irrigation loadings. The measured phosphorus soil concentrations and the estimated greywater loadings were of similar magnitude. Sustainable greywater reuse is possible; however incorrect use and/or a lack of understanding of how household products affect greywater can result in phosphorus posing a significant risk to the environment.

Management issues in developing a sustainable model for supporting entrepreneurs in Africa

Small and micro-enterprises play a significant part in economic growth and poverty alleviation in developing African countries. There are, however, a range of management issues that arise when looking at the support required for local enterprise development, the role and management style of the local support agency and the role and style of the, usually Western, funding body. This paper explores the management philosophy required to establish and resource micro-enterprise development and compares the local management processes with those expected by a Western funding body.

Migrating to a sustainable energy system : distributed generation and storage, fuel cells and hypercars

This paper examines a number of issues in sustainable energy generation and distribution, and explores avenues that are available for integration of our society’s energy supplies. In particular, the paper presents a way in which transport vehicle energy supplies could be integrated with distributed generation schemes to achieve synergistic and beneficial outcomes. The worldwide energy system contains fundamental problems that result directly from the use of unsustainable fuels and a lack of energy system integration. There is a need to adopt an integrated, sustainable energy system for our society. The adoption of distributed generation could result in beneficial restructuring of the energy trade, and a change in the role of energy providers. Inherent benefits in distributed generation schemes would directly combat barriers to installation of renewable generation facilities, which might prove distributed renewable energy sources to be more feasible. The presence of fuel cells, batteries, power electronic inverters and intelligent controls in vehicles of the future provides many opportunities for the integration of vehicle energy supplies into a distributed generation scheme. In such a system, vehicles could play a major role in power generation and storage.

Migrating to a sustainable energy system : distributed generation and storage, fuel cells and hypercars

This paper examines a number of issues in sustainable energy generation and distribution, and explores avenues that are available for integration of our society’s energy supplies. In particular, the paper presents a way in which transport vehicle energy supplies could be integrated with distributed generation schemes to achieve synergistic and beneficial outcomes. The worldwide energy system contains fundamental problems that result directly from the use of unsustainable fuels and a lack of energy system integration. There is a need to adopt an integrated, sustainable energy system for our society. The adoption of distributed generation could result in beneficial restructuring of the energy trade, and a change in the role of energy providers. Inherent benefits in distributed generation schemes would directly combat barriers to installation of renewable generation facilities, which might prove distributed renewable energy sources to be more feasible. The presence of fuel cells, batteries, power electronic inverters and intelligent controls in vehicles of the future provides many opportunities for the integration of vehicle energy supplies into a distributed generation scheme. In such a system, vehicles could play a major role in power generation and storage.

Decision making guidelines for sustainable construction of industrialised building systems

The construction industry has an obligation to respond to sustainability expectations of our society. Solutions that integrate innovative, intelligent and sustainability deliverables are vital for us to meet new and emerging challenges. Industrialised Building Systems (IBS), or known otherwise as prefabrication, employs a combination of ready-made components in the construction of buildings. They promote quality of production, enhance simplification of construction processes and minimise waste. The unique characteristics of this construction method respond well to sustainability. Despite the promises however, IBS has yet to be effectively implemented in Malaysia. There are often misconceptions among key stakeholders about IBS applications. The existing rating schemes fail to assess IBS against sustainability measures. To ensure the capture of full sustainability potential in buildings developed, the critical factors and action plans agreeable to all participants in the development processes need to be identified. Through questionnaire survey, eighteen critical factors relevant to IBS sustainability were identified and encapsulated into a conceptual framework to coordinate a systematic IBS decision making approach. Five categories were used to separate the critical factors into: ecological performance; economic value; social equity and culture; technical quality; and implementation and enforcement. This categorisation extends the "Triple Bottom Lines" to include social, economic, environmental and institutional dimensions. Semi-structured interviews help identify strategies of actions and solutions of potential problems through a SWOT analysis framework. These tools help the decision-makers maximise the opportunities by using available strengths, avoid weaknesses, and diagnose possible threats in the examined issues. The recommendations formed an integrated action plan to present information on what and how to improve sustainability through tackling each critical factor during IBS development. It can be used as part of the project briefing documents for IBS designers. For validation and finalisation the research deliverables, three case studies were conducted. The research fills a current gap by responding to IBS project scenarios in developing countries. It also provides a balanced view for designers to better understand sustainability potential and prioritize attentions to manage sustainability issues in IBS applications.

Sensemaking and sustainable practicing: Functional affordances of information systems in green transformations

This paper explores how a world-wide operating software solutions provider implemented environmentally sustainable business practices in response to emerging environmental concerns. Through an interpretive case study, we develop a theoretical framework that identifies four important functional affordances originating in information systems, which are required in environmental sustainability transformations as they create an actionable context in which (1) organizations can engage in a sensemaking process related to understanding emerging environmental requirements, and (2) individuals can implement environmentally sustainable work practices. Through our work, we provide several contributions, including a better understanding of IS-enabled organizational change and the types of functional affordances of information systems that are required in sustainability transformations. We describe implications relating to (1) how information systems can contribute to the creation of environmentally sustainable organizations, (2) the design of information systems to create required functional affordances, (3) the management of sustainability transformations, and (4) the further development of the concept of functional affordances in IS research.

Critical factors for sustainable reconstruction of post natural disasters

While scientists are still debating the level of climate change impact to new weather patterns, there have been some devastating natural disasters worldwide in the last decade. From cyclones to earthquakes and from Tsunamis to landslides, these disasters occur with formidable forces and crushing effects. As one of the most important arrangements to erase the negative influence of natural disasters and help with the recovery and redevelopment of the hit area, reconstruction is of utmost importance in light of sustainable objectives. However, current reconstruction practice confronts quite a lot of criticisms for focusing on providing short-term necessities. How to conduct the post disaster reconstruction in a long-term perspective and achieve sustainable development is thereby a highlight for industry practice and research. This paper introduced an on-going research project which is aimed at establishing an operational framework for improving sustainability performance of post disaster reconstruction by identifying critical sustainable factors and exploring their internal relationships. The research reported in this paper is part of the project. After a comprehensive literature review, 17 potential critical sustainability factors for post disaster reconstruction were identified. Preliminary examination and discussion of the factors was conducted.