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Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness

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 (30 November 2018) | Viewed by 95342

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Anna Visvizi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Institute of International Studies (ISM), SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Al. Niepodległości 162, 02-554 Warsaw, Poland
2. Effat College of Business, Effat University, Jeddah 21551, Saudi Arabia
Interests: smart cities; smart villages; international political economy (IPE); information and communication technology (ICT)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Miltiadis D. Lytras

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Computer Science Department, College of Engineering, Effat University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Interests: cognitive computing; artificial intelligence; data science; bioinformatics; innovation; big data research; data mining; emerging technologies; information systems; technology driven innovation; knowledge management; semantic web
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It was a pleasure to have delivered a special issue on smart cities and smart villages research this Spring 2018 https://0-www-mdpi-com.brum.beds.ac.uk/journal/sustainability/special_issues/Smart_Cities. Building on our earlier work, drawing from our field research, and driven by a genuine concern about the process and the implications of the rapid depopulation of rural areas, in Summer 2017 we introduced the concept of smart village in the academic debate. At the time of the launch of this Special Issue, we were convinced that through the adoption of comprehensive integrative strategies geared toward socio-economic development and employing recent advances in information and communication technology, ways of navigating the challenge of rapid depopulation of urban areas will be identified. Indeed, papers included in this Special Issue not only contributed to the opening of new avenues of research but also triggered a lively debate on diverse aspects of well-being in urban and rural areas as they evolve. The excellent contributions from all over the world included in that Special Issue allowed us to disseminate the latest high quality, interdisciplinary research in the domains of urban computing, smart cities, and – most importantly – smart villages. Thanks to the Special Issue, the concept of smart villages has been firmly established in the academic and practitioners’ debate. As significant streamlining of research focus and delineation of the subject matter took place as well, a major break-through was attained in the nascent field of smart villages research. To capitalize on that work, today, the imperative is to move to the next stage of the debate.

To this end, the Guest Editors of this Special Issue seek papers that address, but are not limited to, the following issues and aspects related to the diverse aspects of socio-economic processes as they unfold in rural and urban areas and have a bearing on individuals’ security, safety, well-being, and happiness:

  • policy-design and policymaking for sustainable development in urban and rural areas
  • public-private partnerships and the development of strategies for sustainable rural and urban development
  • the role of multilateral forums, international organizations, and other in streamlining the debate
  • the role of the European Union (EU) in the debate on smart villages
  • comparative aspects of smart village and smart city research
  • comparative approaches
  • regional strategies
  • smart city technologies
  • smart village technologies
  • smart services’ provision in rural and urban areas
  • revitalization of rural areas through digital and social innovation
  • case-studies
  • conceptual approaches
  • micro-, mezzo-, and macro-strategies, incl. applications, tools, and systems
  • innovation networks in the context of smart village research
  • clusters in the context of smart village research
  • smart specialization in the context of smart village research

Prof. Dr. Anna Visvizi
Prof. Dr. Miltiadis D. Lytras
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

  • Smart Cities
  • Smart Villages
  • Smart urban applications
  • Data Mining
  • Analytics
  • Cloud computing and open source technologies
  • Sustainability
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Economic Growth
  • International migration
  • Forced migration
  • Smart Technologies
  • ICTs
  • Open Democracy
  • Open Government
  • Smart Education
  • Smart Innovation

Published Papers (16 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 185 KiB  
Editorial
Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being, and Happiness
by Anna Visvizi and Miltiadis D. Lytras
Sustainability 2020, 12(1), 215; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12010215 - 26 Dec 2019
Cited by 42 | Viewed by 4430
Abstract
This Special Issue of Sustainability was devoted to the topic of “Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being, and Happiness”. It attracted significant attention of scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers from all over the world. Locating themselves at the expanding [...] Read more.
This Special Issue of Sustainability was devoted to the topic of “Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being, and Happiness”. It attracted significant attention of scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers from all over the world. Locating themselves at the expanding cross-section of the information systems and policy making research, all papers included in this Special Issue contribute to the debate on the exploitation of advanced information and communication technologies (ICT) for smart applications and computing for smart cities and rural areas research. By promoting a thorough scientific debate on multi-faceted challenges that our villages, cities, urban and rural areas are exposed to today, this Special Issue offers a very useful overview of the most recent developments in the multifaceted and, frequently overlapping, fields of smart cities and smart villages research. A variety of topics including well-being, happiness, security, Open Democracy, Open Government, Smart Education, Smart Innovation, and Migration have been addressed in this Special Issue. In this way they define the direction for future research in both domains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

19 pages, 3031 KiB  
Article
Clustering Smart City Services: Perceptions, Expectations, Responses
by Miltiadis D. Lytras, Anna Visvizi and Akila Sarirete
Sustainability 2019, 11(6), 1669; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11061669 - 19 Mar 2019
Cited by 91 | Viewed by 7385
Abstract
Smart cities research evolved into one of the most vibrant fields of research and policy-making with sustainability and well-being becoming the bons mots of the debate. The business sector, i.e., the developers and the vendors, form an equally important group of stakeholders in [...] Read more.
Smart cities research evolved into one of the most vibrant fields of research and policy-making with sustainability and well-being becoming the bons mots of the debate. The business sector, i.e., the developers and the vendors, form an equally important group of stakeholders in this context. The question is to what extent that debate yields the kind of output that the end-users would expect and would consider useful and usable. A plethora of smart city services exists. Literature suggests that a myriad of new ICT-enhanced tools could find application in urban space. Methodologically speaking, the question is how to link these two meaningfully. The objective of this paper is to address this issue. To this end, smart city services are mapped and clusters of services are identified; end users’ perceptions and expectations are identified and observations are drawn. The value added of this paper is threefold: (i) at the conceptual level, it adds new insights in the ‘normative bias of smart cities research’ thesis, (ii) at the empirical level, it typifies smart city services and clusters them, and (iii) it introduces a practical toolkit that policymakers, regulators, and the business sector might employ to query end-users’ perceptions and expectations to effectively respond to citizens’ needs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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17 pages, 378 KiB  
Article
Smart City Development and Residents’ Well-Being
by Chunpei Lin, Guanxi Zhao, Chuanpeng Yu and Yenchun Jim Wu
Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 676; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11030676 - 28 Jan 2019
Cited by 39 | Viewed by 7684
Abstract
The development of smart cities has greatly improved the living and working environment of urban residents, but whether it can enhance the happiness of urban residents is a controversial topic. In this study, we investigate residents’ experiences of obtaining information, services and networks [...] Read more.
The development of smart cities has greatly improved the living and working environment of urban residents, but whether it can enhance the happiness of urban residents is a controversial topic. In this study, we investigate residents’ experiences of obtaining information, services and networks in smart cities from the aspects of safety, usefulness and convenience, and empirically explore their relationship with residents’ subjective well-being (SWB). The results show that residents’ safety, usefulness and convenience experiences of obtaining information, services and networks in smart cities all have positive impacts on their SWB, and the relationship between residents’ safety experience and SWB is, to a certain extent, mediated by their usefulness and convenience experiences. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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20 pages, 4597 KiB  
Article
A Study on the Public Landscape Order of Xinye Village
by Li Xu and Shang-chia Chiou
Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 586; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11030586 - 23 Jan 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3354
Abstract
In the modernization process since China’s reform and liberalization, urban and village space design is reflected in the characteristics of Western cultures. The idea of Western space design has a profound influence on China, but the piecemeal individuation of art design, the disorderly [...] Read more.
In the modernization process since China’s reform and liberalization, urban and village space design is reflected in the characteristics of Western cultures. The idea of Western space design has a profound influence on China, but the piecemeal individuation of art design, the disorderly public art modeling and concept, not only interferes with the aesthetic sense of urban and village public space itself, but also seriously affected the landscape order of public space. In fact, Chinese traditional settlement landscape excels in abundant landscape design and spatial sequence. This paper, using the methods of literature discussion, field research and spatial analysis, takes the typical traditional landscape settlement “Xinye Village” (新葉村) in the south of the Yangtze River as an example, and explores its public landscape order as a whole, and finds its spatial structure based on the “Five Elements and Nine Divisions (五行九宮)” cultural schemata. In the process of development, it has experienced the competition of public space, thus forming a stable and sustainable spatial order form. The purpose is to explore the cultural schema of the public landscape from the traditional Chinese settlement, and to put forward the possibility of “constructing the public landscape order based on culture” in future urban and village landscape design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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13 pages, 1235 KiB  
Article
Detection and Localization of Water Leaks in Water Nets Supported by an ICT System with Artificial Intelligence Methods as a Way Forward for Smart Cities
by Izabela Rojek and Jan Studzinski
Sustainability 2019, 11(2), 518; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11020518 - 19 Jan 2019
Cited by 58 | Viewed by 5417
Abstract
The last decade has seen the development of complex IT systems to support city management, i.e., the creation of so-called intelligent cities. These systems include modules dedicated to particular branches of municipal economy, such as urban transport, heating systems, energy systems, telecommunications, and [...] Read more.
The last decade has seen the development of complex IT systems to support city management, i.e., the creation of so-called intelligent cities. These systems include modules dedicated to particular branches of municipal economy, such as urban transport, heating systems, energy systems, telecommunications, and finally water and sewage management. In turn, with regard to the latter branch, IT systems supporting the management of water supply and sewage networks and sewage treatment plants are being developed. This paper deals with the system concerning the urban water supply network, and in particular, with the subsystem for detecting and locating leakages on the water supply network, including so-called hidden leakages. These leaks cause the greatest water losses in networks, especially in old ones, with a very diverse age and material structure. In the proposed concept of the subsystem consisting of a GIS (Geographical Information System), SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system and hydraulic model of the water supply network, an algorithm of leak detection and location based on the neural networks’ MLP (multi-layer perceptron) and Kohonen was developed. The algorithm has been tested on the hydraulic models of several municipal water supply networks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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22 pages, 1877 KiB  
Article
Performance Analysis of a Polling-Based Access Control Combining with the Sleeping Schema in V2I VANETs for Smart Cities
by Min He, Zheng Guan, Liyong Bao, Zhaoxu Zhou, Marco Anisetti, Ernesto Damiani and Gwanggil Jeon
Sustainability 2019, 11(2), 503; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11020503 - 18 Jan 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3193
Abstract
In vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), one of the important challenges is the lack of precise mathematical modeling taking into account the passive vacation triggered by the zero-arrival state of nodes. Therefore, a polling-based access control is proposed in this paper using a [...] Read more.
In vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), one of the important challenges is the lack of precise mathematical modeling taking into account the passive vacation triggered by the zero-arrival state of nodes. Therefore, a polling-based access control is proposed in this paper using a sleeping schema to meet the challenge of quality of service (QoS) and energy-efficient transport in VANET environments for smart cities. Based on IEEE 802.11p, it was developed in an attempt to improve the energy efficiency of the hybrid coordination function of controlled channel access (HCCA) through a self-managing sleeping mechanism for both the roadside unit (RSU) and on-board units (OBUs) or sensor nodes according to the traffic load in vehicle -to-infrastructure (V2I) scenarios. Additionally, a Markov chain was developed for analyzing the proposed mechanism, and the exact mathematical model is provided with regard to the passive vacation. Then, the performance characteristics—including the mean cyclic period, delay, and queue length—were accurately obtained. In addition, the closed-form expression of the quantitative relationship among sleeping time, performance characteristics, and service parameters was obtained, which can easily evaluate the energy efficiency. It was proven that theoretical calculations were completely consistent with simulation results. The simulation results demonstrate that the suggested method had much lower energy consumption than the standard strategy at the expense of rarely access delay. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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33 pages, 1050 KiB  
Article
Towards a Smart and Sustainable City with the Involvement of Public Participation—The Case of Wroclaw
by Dorota Bednarska-Olejniczak, Jarosław Olejniczak and Libuše Svobodová
Sustainability 2019, 11(2), 332; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11020332 - 10 Jan 2019
Cited by 50 | Viewed by 9282
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to identify the directions and scope of inclusion of the residents’ participation into the concept of city’s sustainable development and the smart city concept, taking into account national and international conditions, on the basis of Wroclaw’s practices [...] Read more.
The purpose of this article is to identify the directions and scope of inclusion of the residents’ participation into the concept of city’s sustainable development and the smart city concept, taking into account national and international conditions, on the basis of Wroclaw’s practices in 1998–2018. Many researchers have emphasized the necessity of including residents’ participation in both the smart city concept and the sustainable city development concept, but they do not focus on a coherent linking of these activities during evolution toward a sustainable smart city (SSC). The in-depth case study analysis considered, i.e., three subsequent Wroclaw development strategies (1998–2018) and implementation of the smart city concept in Wroclaw (2015–2018) with particular emphasis on the issue of public participation and sustainable development of the city. The results of study show that in the case of the developments in the activities of smart city and sustainable city development carried out by Wroclaw, it is possible to identify two different approaches to residents’ participation in city activities. In Wroclaw, ‘residents’ participation’ in the framework of the sustainable city development activities currently covers all theoretical levels of participation, while within the smart city activities it focuses mainly on the participatory budget and the limited use of ICT. The conducted research indicates that for the implementation of the SSC concept it would be important to integrate these approaches in order to ensure the full range of residents’ participation in accordance with theoretical postulates. The conducted analysis therefore covers mostly unexplored area of research, which is important from the point of view of a city’s evolution toward becoming a sustainable smart city. The conclusions from the research are also an empirical contribution to the analysis of the changes of cities towards SSC and indicate the need for further, extended research on the undertaken problem. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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19 pages, 2401 KiB  
Article
Spatio-Temporal Changes and Dependencies of Land Prices: A Case Study of the City of Olomouc
by Jaroslav Burian, Karel Macků, Jarmila Zimmermannová and Barbora Kočvarová
Sustainability 2018, 10(12), 4831; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10124831 - 18 Dec 2018
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3286
Abstract
Land price sustainability issues have been addressed by many authors in the past. Most of these researchers used land prices (from land price maps) as the primary data source in their studies. Only a few papers analysed official land price maps, which are [...] Read more.
Land price sustainability issues have been addressed by many authors in the past. Most of these researchers used land prices (from land price maps) as the primary data source in their studies. Only a few papers analysed official land price maps, which are available very rarely. For this reason, we studied the spatial and temporal changes of land prices in the city of Olomouc based in an analysis of official land price maps from 1993 to 2017. We proposed several research hypotheses to confirm some general statements about land price changes. We concluded that some economic indicators had a significant impact on changes in land prices. In the residential and commercial areas and historical centre, land prices are significantly higher than in other monitored aspects (land-use types). We also concluded that no link existed between land-use stability and land price stability. Surprisingly, no long-term stable areas were found in the area of interest. The analysis also confirmed that land price and its change over time varied in different spatial aspects. Unexpectedly, the smallest influence was reflected in the economic aspect. Regarding natural events in recent decades, we observed a significant drop in land prices in the vicinity of watercourses threatened by flooding. These findings can assist in better understanding local development and changes in land price. The results of this study can help in gaining better understanding of economic, social, and environmental aspects of sustainability of land price changes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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19 pages, 7988 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Social Networking Service Data for Smart Urban Planning
by Higinio Mora, Raquel Pérez-delHoyo, José F. Paredes-Pérez and Rafael A. Mollá-Sirvent
Sustainability 2018, 10(12), 4732; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10124732 - 12 Dec 2018
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 5847
Abstract
New technologies are changing the channels of communication between people, creating an interconnected society in which information flows. Social networks are a good example of the evolution of citizens’ communication habits. The user-generated data that these networks collect can be analyzed to generate [...] Read more.
New technologies are changing the channels of communication between people, creating an interconnected society in which information flows. Social networks are a good example of the evolution of citizens’ communication habits. The user-generated data that these networks collect can be analyzed to generate new useful information for developing citizen-centered smart services and policy making. The aim of this paper is to investigate the possibilities offered by social networks in the field of sport to aid city management. As the novelty of this research, a systematic method is described to know the popular areas for sport and how the management of this knowledge enables the decision-making process of urban planning. Some case studies of useful actions to make inclusive cities for sport are described and the benefits of making sustainable cities are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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18 pages, 1884 KiB  
Article
Future Development of Taiwan’s Smart Cities from an Information Security Perspective
by Shiann Ming Wu, Dongqiang Guo, Yenchun Jim Wu and Yung Chang Wu
Sustainability 2018, 10(12), 4520; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10124520 - 30 Nov 2018
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3857
Abstract
Smart cities are primarily based on information and communications technology development and applications across various academic subjects and domains. Integrating new-generation information and communications technologies, including the Internet of Things data collection, cloud computation, big data applications, and mobile network, smart cities organize [...] Read more.
Smart cities are primarily based on information and communications technology development and applications across various academic subjects and domains. Integrating new-generation information and communications technologies, including the Internet of Things data collection, cloud computation, big data applications, and mobile network, smart cities organize the people and things of a city according to application needs to perform real-time computation and processing. Information transmission must be rapid and reliable to protect personal privacy and to secure data. All types of information security problems can lead to disastrous consequences; in particular, they pose great challenges to traditional information security systems. To explore possible solutions to the challenges that Taiwan’s smart city information security faces, this study used the enterprise architecture method and discussed the emphasis and investment capacity of the government and enterprises on information security. Moreover, this study reviewed correct methods of using a smart information security collaborative system to protect not only privacy, however also networks with a large attack surface; the purpose was to establish a reliable data sharing practice and alleviate the cascading effect of failures of smart networks. Finally, this paper provides future research directions for building smart cities and encouraging further explorations in this domain. It is hoped that smart cities can conduct overall planning for information security during the process of construction. Future researchers will be able to propose more effective solutions for smart city information security while developing information and communication technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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27 pages, 5557 KiB  
Article
Analyzing the Level of Accessibility of Public Urban Green Spaces to Different Socially Vulnerable Groups of People
by K M Atikur Rahman and Dunfu Zhang
Sustainability 2018, 10(11), 3917; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10113917 - 28 Oct 2018
Cited by 60 | Viewed by 16056
Abstract
This study estimates the factors affecting socially vulnerable groups’ demand for and accessibility levels to green public spaces in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Dhaka is a high-density city with one of the lowest levels of green space per capita in the world. Dhaka has [...] Read more.
This study estimates the factors affecting socially vulnerable groups’ demand for and accessibility levels to green public spaces in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Dhaka is a high-density city with one of the lowest levels of green space per capita in the world. Dhaka has just 8.5% of tree-covered lands, while an ideal city requires at least 20% of green space. Urban public green space provides a healthy environment to city dwellers as well as ecological soundness. This study aims to examine the effects of population density and size of a community area (Thana) on the social demand for and accessibility to green parks. To determine the socially vulnerable group demand index, this study used demographic data from the National Population and Housing Census 2011 conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. This study used geographical data extracted from Google Earth Pro to measure accessibility levels, and additionally analyzed geographical data with ArcGIS 10.0 and Google Earth Pro. We drew radius circles using Free Map Tools to measure time-distance weighted scores from community areas to urban green spaces. The results show that the large population size of socially vulnerable groups creates very high demand at the score of 0.61 for urban green public parks and small-sized, high-density community areas generate very good accessibility at 2.01% to green public spaces. These findings are highly useful to policymakers, urban planners, landscape engineers, and city governments to make a compact city sustainable, inclusive, and resilient. Moreover, the notion of a “smart city” might be a smart solution in order to manage Dhaka Megacity sustainably in this modern technological age. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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24 pages, 10669 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Tourism: A Hidden Theory of the Cinematic Image? A Theoretical and Visual Analysis of the Way of St. James
by Lucrezia Lopez, Enrico Nicosia and Rubén Camilo Lois González
Sustainability 2018, 10(10), 3649; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10103649 - 11 Oct 2018
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4867
Abstract
The attractiveness of a tourist destination is derived from multiple material and immaterial elements. Cinema is both a tourist communication channel and provides a target market for a destination. Many regions offer a great variety of potential locations desirable for their scenic beauty [...] Read more.
The attractiveness of a tourist destination is derived from multiple material and immaterial elements. Cinema is both a tourist communication channel and provides a target market for a destination. Many regions offer a great variety of potential locations desirable for their scenic beauty and artistic and monumental heritage. The main aim of this paper is to analyze the concept of sustainable tourism as a pillar of the contemporary cinematic discourse on pilgrimage routes, combining theoretical and empirical methodologies. It begins by analyzing how, given their power, images are narrative instruments that assume a true performative value of geographical reality. The research then focuses on the cinematographic space and visual cinematographic discourse. The case study is sustainable tourism along the Way of St. James (Spain). The material is a corpus of two documentary films. Their moviescapes highlight the presence of a sustainable filmic theorem within a potential cinematic genre—pilgrimage movies. Thus, this study contributes to the investigation of how sustainable pilgrimage tourism practices are used in cinematic production as a possible movie theorem. It presents a conclusive critical evaluation of the role and message of these moviescapes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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13 pages, 1378 KiB  
Article
Consumers’ Preference and Factors Influencing Offal Consumption in Amathole District Eastern Cape, South Africa
by Babatunde Oluwasegun Alao, Andrew Bamidele Falowo, Amanda Chulayo and Voster Muchenje
Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 3323; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10093323 - 17 Sep 2018
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4771
Abstract
This study was conducted to determine the consumers’ perceptions and factors influencing offal meat consumption in Amathole District in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. A total of 202 consumers from Amathole District were randomly sampled from three municipalities. The study revealed [...] Read more.
This study was conducted to determine the consumers’ perceptions and factors influencing offal meat consumption in Amathole District in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. A total of 202 consumers from Amathole District were randomly sampled from three municipalities. The study revealed that consumers were more influenced by the freshness, price, and availability of the product and these factors determine the point of purchase. The most preferred purchase-point for offal meat in this study was butchery. However, sheep offal was more preferred to cattle offal. The point of purchase, however, remains a prominent factor among other factors that could influence decision making for any consumer. When it comes to offal meat, the results showed that the majority of consumers purchased more liver, intestine, and tripe, which is because they are often sold in a combo at the butchery. Furthermore, it was revealed that consumers have nutritional knowledge of the offal meat products before making their purchase but health reasons emerged as a factor that the consumers considered the least at the point of purchase. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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23 pages, 3628 KiB  
Article
Geographical Assessment of Low-Carbon Transportation Modes: A Case Study from a Commuter University
by Selima Sultana, Hyojin Kim, Nastaran Pourebrahim and Firoozeh Karimi
Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2696; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10082696 - 01 Aug 2018
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3235
Abstract
This case study examines the geographic variation in students’ low-carbon transportation (LCT) modes to a commuter university campus. Three major goals are accomplished from this research: (1) identifying commuting zones for the bicycling, walking, and transit mode choice for UNCG students; (2) understanding [...] Read more.
This case study examines the geographic variation in students’ low-carbon transportation (LCT) modes to a commuter university campus. Three major goals are accomplished from this research: (1) identifying commuting zones for the bicycling, walking, and transit mode choice for UNCG students; (2) understanding whether the real vs. perception of space can be predictive to mode choice; and (3) understanding the relative importance of demographic, psychological, and logistic factors on students’ mode choice, using a suite of variables developed in multiple fields. Our analyses support the assertion that various physical, demographic, and psychological dimensions influence LCT mode choice. While the presence of sidewalks is conducive to walking, the distance, either perceived or actual, within 1.61 km from UNCG is the most important factor for walking mode share. The bicycling commute is not associated with either the distance or presence of bicycle lanes, while transit ridership most likely increases if students live >8 km from the UNCG campus with the nearest bus stop within 1 km from home. Given the limited bicycle lanes in Greensboro, students who commute to campus by bicycle are resilient to unfavorable bicycle conditions by sharing the road with cars and adjusting their travel routes. Our findings also concur with previous studies showing that bicycle commuters are disproportionately represented by self-identified whites while bus riders are disproportionately comprised of self-identified non-whites. Our analyses support Greensboro’s current planning and policy emphasis on low-carbon travel behaviors via equitable and safe transit-oriented multi-modal infrastructures, and suggest that UNCG should utilize its influence to advocate and further facilitate these ongoing efforts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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21 pages, 836 KiB  
Article
The Impact of the Comprehensive Rural Village Development Program on Rural Sustainability in Korea
by Jaehee Hwang, Jonghoon Park and Seongwoo Lee
Sustainability 2018, 10(7), 2436; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10072436 - 12 Jul 2018
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4774
Abstract
An imperative challenge emerges from the demand to apply the scientific method in the assessment of recent agricultural and rural policies throughout the world. The objective of the present study was to conduct an ex-post quantitative evaluation of the Comprehensive Rural Village Development [...] Read more.
An imperative challenge emerges from the demand to apply the scientific method in the assessment of recent agricultural and rural policies throughout the world. The objective of the present study was to conduct an ex-post quantitative evaluation of the Comprehensive Rural Village Development Program (CRVDP), a representative rural development policy operated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, a central government agency in South Korea. The primary purpose of this program is to ensure sustainable rural society. This study found a moderate but significant positive impact of the policy in enhancing the standard of living in rural areas. The present paper concludes with suggesting some policy implications, limitations and future directions of policy evaluation studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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27 pages, 6695 KiB  
Article
Exploring a Stakeholder Based Urban Densification and Greening Agenda for Rotterdam Inner City—Accelerating the Transition to a Liveable Low Carbon City
by Nico Tillie, Judith Borsboom-van Beurden, Duzan Doepel and Martin Aarts
Sustainability 2018, 10(6), 1927; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10061927 - 08 Jun 2018
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5964
Abstract
Work on a liveable low carbon city has often been approached in a technocratic way, not linking to other disciplines and urban practices at a large scale. This paper explores a stakeholder based urban agenda for a more liveable low carbon city by [...] Read more.
Work on a liveable low carbon city has often been approached in a technocratic way, not linking to other disciplines and urban practices at a large scale. This paper explores a stakeholder based urban agenda for a more liveable low carbon city by densifying and greening with the case study of Rotterdam inner city. Rotterdam presents a unique European case with a modernistic inner city. Like many North American cities, the inner city for a long time mainly served as a business or shopping district with few inhabitants and few synergetic links between flows, urban functions, and areas. In line with other cities, Rotterdam aims to reduce carbon emissions and provide a high quality of life. To address this, the hypothesis ‘densifying and greening leads to a more sustainable inner city’, was tested and applied with stakeholders using transition management combined with urban data, modelling, and design. With sustainability indicators, geographic information system (GIS) mapping, and urban models, a baseline study was completed and expected outcomes were described and, where possible, validated in reality. The outcomes confirmed the stated hypothesis and showed that linking design, GIS mapping, and city data to transition management proved successful. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking Security, Safety, Well-being and Happiness)
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