Reviews and Perspectives on Smart and Sustainable Metropolitan and Regional Cities

The notion of smart and sustainable cities offers an integrated and holistic approach to urbanism by aiming to achieve the long-term goals of urban sustainability and resilience. In essence, a smart and sustainable city is an urban locality that functions as a robust system of systems with sustainable practices to generate desired outcomes and futures for all humans and non-humans. This book contributes to improving research and practice in smart and sustainable metropolitan as well as regional cities and urbanism by bringing together literature reviews and scholarly perspective pieces, forming an open access knowledge warehouse. It contains contributions that offer insights into research and practice in smart and sustainable metropolitan and regional cities by producing in-depth conceptual debates and perspectives, insights from the literature and best practice, and thoroughly identified research themes and development trends. This book serves as a repository of relevant information, material, and knowledge to support research, policymaking, practice, and the transferability of experiences to address challenges in establishing smart and sustainable metropolitan as well as regional cities and urbanism in the era of climate change, biodiversity collapse, natural disasters, pandemics, and socioeconomic inequalities

Evaluation of Leanness, Agility and Leagility Extent in Industrial Supply Chain

The focus of Lean Manufacturing (LM) is the cost reduction by eliminating non value added activities (waste i.e. muda) and enabling continuous improvement; whereas, Agile Manufacturing (AM) is an approach which is mainly focused on satisfying the needs of customers while maintaining high standards of quality and controlling the overall costs involved in the production of a particular product. This approach has geared towards companies working in a highly turbulent as well as competitive business environment, where small variations in performance and product delivery can make a huge difference in the long term to a company’s survival and reputation amongst the customers. Leagility is basically the aggregation of lean and agile principles within a total supply chain strategy by effectively positioning the decoupling point, consequently to best suit the need for quick responding to a volatile demand downstream yet providing a level scheduling upstream from the marketplace. A leagile system adapts the characteristics of both lean and agile systems, acting together in order to exploit market opportunities in a cost-efficient way. The present research aims to highlight how these lean, agile as well as leagile paradigms may be adapted according to particular marketplace requirements. Obviously, these strategies are distinctly different, since in the first case, the market winner is cost; whereas, in the second case, the market winner is the availability. Agile supply chains are required to be market sensitive and hence nimble. This means that the definition of waste is different from that appropriate to lean supply. The proper location of decoupling point for material flow and information flow enables a hybrid supply chain to be better engineered. This encourages lean (efficient) supply upstream and agile (effective) supply downstream, thus bringing together the best of both paradigms. While implementing leanness/agility/leagility philosophy in industrial supply chain in appropriate situations, estimation of a unique quantitative performance metric (evaluation index) is felt indeed necessary. Such an index can help the industries to examine existing performance level of leanness/agility/leagility driven supply chain; to compare ongoing performance extent to thedesired/expected one and to benchmark best practices of lean/agile/leagile manufacturing/supply chain, wherever applicable. The present research attempts to assess the extent of leanness, agility as well as leagility, respectively, for an organizational supply chain using fuzzy/grey based Multi- Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approaches. During this research, different

An overview of fuzzy techniques in supply chain management: bibliometrics, methodologies, applications and future directions

Every practice in supply chain management (SCM) requires decision making. However, due to the complexity of evaluated objects and the cognitive limitations of individuals, the decision information given by experts is often fuzzy, which may make it difficult to make decisions. In this regard, many scholars applied fuzzy techniques to solve decision making problems in SCM. Although there were review papers about either fuzzy methods or SCM, most of them did not use bibliometrics methods or did not consider fuzzy sets theory-based techniques comprehensively in SCM. In this paper, for the purpose of analyzing the advances of fuzzy techniques in SCM, we review 301 relevant papers from 1998 to 2020. By the analyses in terms of bibliometrics, methodologies and applications, publication trends, popular methods such as fuzzy MCDM methods, and hot applications such as supplier selection, are found. Finally, we propose future directions regarding fuzzy techniques in SCM. It is hoped that this paper would be helpful for scholars and practitioners in the field of fuzzy decision making and SCM

Open Data and Models for Energy and Environment

This Special Issue aims at providing recent advancements on open data and models. Energy and environment are the fields of application.For all the aforementioned reasons, we encourage researchers and professionals to share their original works. Topics of primary interest include, but are not limited to:Open data and models for energy sustainability;Open data science and environment applications;Open science and open governance for Sustainable Development Goals;Key performance indicators of data-aware energy modelling, planning and policy;Energy, water and sustainability database for building, district and regional systems; andBest practices and case studies

Optimal distributed generation and load shedding scheme using artificial bee colony- hill climbing algorithm considering voltage stability and losses indices

Around the world, the demand is increasing due to industrial activity and advances in both developing and developed countries. This situation has pushed many power system operators to operate their system closer to the voltage stability limits. Increase in power consumption can cause serious problems in electric power systems, such as voltage instability, frequency instability, line overloading, and power system blackouts.Voltage stability index (VSI) is a tool for detecting voltage stability related problems. This work proposes an index of the line voltage stability limits based on Thevenin’s Theorem, which is referred to as the Maximum Line Stability Index (MLSI). The function of MLSI is to estimate the voltage stability condition and determine sensitive lines in power system. To increase voltage stability and improve other aspects of power quality, many power system operators are considering the idea of integrating distributed energy resources into the existing power system. Another part of this work focuses on enhancing the stability of the power system using distributed generator (DG). The proposed solution is based on the optimization method developed from a combination of the Artificial Bee Colony and Hill Climbing algorithms (ABC-HC) to give the optimal placement and sizing of DG units to be deployed in the system. Under severe contingency conditions, such as increase in demand and loss of transmission lines, frequently the problem cannot be solved by just using the DG, the possible solution is to consider load shedding as to reduce the congestion in order to maintain voltage stability in the system. To solve this problem, an optimal load shedding approach, integrated with optimal DG sizing is proposed using the ABC-HC algorithm. This technique can find the load location to be shed, as well as the size of DG. The performance and effectiveness of each proposed solution was tested on IEEE test systems. The simulation results showed that the MLSI index has strong sensitivity to detect the overloaded line in the system and as reliable as other voltage stability indices. Meanwhile, the proposed ABC-HC optimization technique shows its ability to identify the bus location and the optimal active energy injection from the DG with a substantial power loss reduction. Finally, under severe contingency condition, the optimization of DGs and load shedding shows the system able to maintain its voltage stability

Mapping the connections : An integrated approach to mapping Nature’s contributions to people in a Nordic biosphere reserve

Naturen og hennes økosystemer gir flere bidrag til mennesker som gagner vår velvære. Disse økosystemtjenestene er truet på grunn av omfattende menneskelige aktiviteter som har resultert i omfattende arealbruksendringer, raske klimaendringer og destruktiv overhøsting. Å anerkjenne og verdsette økosystemtjenester er en måte å gjøre rede for dem i politiske handlinger for å forvalte økosystemer bærekraftig for mennesker og natur. Imidlertid er det forskjellige måter som økosystemtjenester kan verdsettes på tvers av biofysiske, sosiokulturelle og monetære verdidomener, og disse verdiene samhandler innenfor og på tvers av domener. For å verdsette økosystemtjenester fullt ut er det behov for ikke bare å utvikle verdsettingsmetoder på tvers av alle tre domenene, men også måter å integrere på tvers av dem. Økosystemtjenester er ikke jevnt fordelt, og deres verdier er forskjellige i rom på grunn av ulike sosiale og økologiske faktorer. For å administrere økosystemtjenester må vi derfor også se hvordan og hvorfor verdiene deres varierer på tvers av landskap. og vi må gjøre rede for det dynamiske forholdet mellom økosystemtjenester på tvers av verdidomener og sosial-økologiske kontekster. I denne oppgaven presenterer jeg fire artikler som tar for seg noen av disse utfordringene med økosystemtjenester innenfor konteksten av et UNESCO-biosfærereservat på Vestlandet. Først kartla vi sosiokulturelle verdier for økosystemtjenester ved hjelp av en undersøkelse av geografiske informasjonssystemer (PPGIS) for offentlig deltakelse. Vi undersøkte hvordan sosiokulturelle verdier for økosystemtjenesteverdier varierer på tvers av et biosfærereservat, hvilke verdier som vanligvis forekommer sammen i bunter, og hvilke sosial-økologiske egenskaper som bestemmer fordelingen av disse buntene. Folk kartla hovedsakelig steder for friluftsliv, biologisk mangfold, landbruksprodukter og kulturarv, hovedsakelig i områder med høyere menneskelig befolkning. Vi identifiserte fem bunter som representerer koblede biokulturelle verdier for landbruk og kulturarv, friluftsliv og biologisk mangfold, og vill mat og mental velvære. Generelt var tilgjengelighet den viktigste faktoren som avgjorde fordelingen av buntene. For det andre integrerte vi biofysiske verdier med sosiokulturelle verdier og kartla økosystemtjenester i biosfærereservatet. Vi undersøkte fordelingen av disse integrerte økosystemtjenesteverdiene over biosfærereservatsonene og deres bunter over to romlige skalaer. Økosystemtjenestene samlet inn i tre distinkte sosial-økologiske systemarketyper som var like i distribusjon og relative økosystemtjenesteverdier på begge romlige skalaer. Buntene var også godt tilpasset relative økosystemtjenesteverdier i biosfærereservatsonene (kjerne, buffer og overgang), noe som indikerer at buntene fanger opp de sosialøkologiske systemene i sonene. Disse resultatene viser at det er viktig å vurdere sonenes sosialøkologiske kontekst for å gi tilstrekkelig kunnskap til å informere ledelsen. For det tredje brukte vi en ny kombinasjon av PPGIS og sosiale nettverksdata for å kartlegge økosystemets samproduksjonsnettverk i biosfærereservatet. Vi identifiserte fire komponenter i økosystemets samproduksjonsnettverk som sosiokulturelle verdier, direkte ledelse, styring og forskning/kunnskapsproduksjon. Først kartla vi den relative oppmerksomheten ulike økosystemtjenester mottok fra disse samproduksjonskomponentene. Deretter kartla vi det sosiale nettverket for kommunikasjon om ulike økosystemtjenester blant samproduksjonskomponentene. Vi fant misforhold mellom ulike komponenter i samproduksjonsnettverket. Viktigere, vi identifiserte at kulturelle økosystemer ble høyt verdsatt, men får relativt mindre styring og særlig forskningsoppmerksomhet. Videre var de primære forvalterne av kulturelle økosystemtjenester også dårlig koblet i økosystemtjenestens samproduksjonssosiale nettverk. Resultatene viser viktigheten av å tenke på samproduksjon av økosystemtjenester som et relasjonelt nettverk og av å kartlegge hva som diskuteres av hvem. Til slutt integrerte vi økologiske feltundersøkelser og PPGIS for å utforske (mis)matchen i biofysiske og sosiokulturelle verdier for økosystemtjenester i sammenheng med landforlatelse og skogplanting. Biofysiske verdier for økosystemtjenester var mer like på tvers av vegetasjonstyper, mens sosiokulturelle verdier generelt var høyest i åpen vegetasjon og uplantede skogtyper. Økosystemtjenesten med størst forskjell i biofysiske og sosiokulturelle verdier global klimaregulering, mens biologisk mangfold og landbruksprodukter var like på tvers av verdidomenene. Sosiokulturelle verdier var ikke jevnt fordelt på studiedeltakerne. Det var to distinkte grupper som representerte eldre bønder bosatt i regionen med høye verdier for å levere økosystemtjenester på den ene siden, og yngre kvinner som ikke er innbyggere som verdsetter regulering og vedlikehold av økosystemtjenester. Denne studien viser viktigheten av å vurdere ulike både ulike verdidomener og faktorene som påvirker disse verdiene i beslutninger om endring av arealbruk.Nature and her ecosystems make multiple contributions to people that benefit our wellbeing. These ecosystem services are under threat due to extensive human activities that have resulted in widespread land-use change, rapid climate change and destructive overharvesting. Acknowledging and valuing ecosystem services is a way to account for them in policy actions to manage ecosystems sustainably for people and nature. However, there are different ways in which ecosystem services can be valued across biophysical, socio-cultural, and monetary value-domains and these values interact within and across domains. To fully value ecosystem services there is a need to not only develop valuation methods across all three domains, but also ways of integrating across them. Ecosystem services are not evenly distributed, and their values differ in space due to various social and ecological factors. Therefore, to manage ecosystem services we also need to know how and why their values vary across landscapes, and we need to account for the dynamic relationship between ecosystem services across the value-domains and social-ecological contexts. In this thesis I present four papers that addresses some of these challenges with ecosystem services within the context of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in western Norway. First, we mapped socio-cultural values for ecosystem services using a public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) survey. We explored how socio-cultural values for ecosystem service values vary across a biosphere reserve, which values commonly co-occur in bundles, and what social-ecological characteristics determine the distribution of those bundles. People mapped predominantly places for outdoor recreation, biodiversity, agricultural products, and cultural heritage predominantly in areas with higher human populations. We identified five bundles representing linked biocultural values for agriculture and cultural heritage, outdoor recreation and biodiversity, and wild food and mental wellbeing. In general accessibility was the most important factor that determined the distribution of the bundles. Second, we integrated biophysical values with socio-cultural values and mapped ecosystem services in the biosphere reserve. We explored the distribution of these integrated ecosystem services values across the biosphere reserve zones and their bundles across two spatial scales. The ecosystem services bundled into three distinct social-ecological system archetypes that were similar in their distribution and relative ecosystem service values at both spatial scales. The bundles were also well matched to relative ecosystem services values of the Biosphere Reserve zones (core, buffer and transition) indicating that the bundles capture the social-ecological systems of the zones. These results show that it is important to consider the social-ecological context of the zones to provide sufficient knowledge to inform management. Third, we used a novel combination of PPGIS and social network data to map the ecosystem co-production network in the biosphere reserve. We identified four components of the ecosystem co-production network as socio-cultural values, direct management, governance, and research/knowledge production. First, we mapped the relative attention different ecosystem services received from those co-production components. Then we mapped the social network of communication about different ecosystem services among the co-production components. We found mismatches between different components of the co-production network. Importantly, we identified that cultural ecosystems were highly valued but receive comparatively less governance and particularly research attention. Furthermore, the primary managers of cultural ecosystem services were also poorly connected in the ecosystem service co-production social-network. The results show the importance of thinking of ecosystem service co-production as a relational network and of mapping what is being discussed by whom. Finally, we integrated ecological field surveys and PPGIS to explore the (mis)match in biophysical and socio-cultural values for ecosystem services in the context of land abandonment and afforestation. Biophysical values for ecosystem services were more similar across vegetation types while socio-cultural values were generally highest in open vegetation and unplanted forest types. The ecosystem service with the largest difference in biophysical and socio-cultural values global climate regulation, while biodiversity and agricultural products were similar across the value-domains. Socio-cultural values were not evenly spread across the study participants. There were two distinct groups representing older farmers resident in the region with high values for provisioning ecosystem services on the one hand, and non-resident younger females valuing regulating and maintenance ecosystem services. This study shows the importance of considering different value-domains and the factors that influence those values in land-use change decisions.Doktorgradsavhandlin

State of the Art and Future Perspectives in Smart and Sustainable Urban Development

This book contributes to the conceptual and practical knowledge pools in order to improve the research and practice on smart and sustainable urban development by presenting an informed understanding of the subject to scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. This book presents contributions—in the form of research articles, literature reviews, case reports, and short communications—offering insights into the smart and sustainable urban development by conducting in-depth conceptual debates, detailed case study descriptions, thorough empirical investigations, systematic literature reviews, or forecasting analyses. This way, the book forms a repository of relevant information, material, and knowledge to support research, policymaking, practice, and the transferability of experiences to address urbanization and other planetary challenges

Data quality issues in electronic health records for large-scale databases

Data Quality (DQ) in Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is one of the core functions that play a decisive role to improve the healthcare service quality. The DQ issues in EHRs are a noticeable trend to improve the introduction of an adaptive framework for interoperability and standards in Large-Scale Databases (LSDB) management systems. Therefore, large data communications are challenging in the traditional approaches to satisfy the needs of the consumers, as data is often not capture directly into the Database Management Systems (DBMS) in a seasonably enough fashion to enable their subsequent uses. In addition, large data plays a vital role in containing plenty of treasures for all the fields in the DBMS. EHRs technology provides portfolio management systems that allow HealthCare Organisations (HCOs) to deliver a higher quality of care to their patients than that which is possible with paper-based records. EHRs are in high demand for HCOs to run their daily services as increasing numbers of huge datasets occur every day. Efficient EHR systems reduce the data redundancy as well as the system application failure and increase the possibility to draw all necessary reports. However, one of the main challenges in developing efficient EHR systems is the inherent difficulty to coherently manage data from diverse heterogeneous sources. It is practically challenging to integrate diverse data into a global schema, which satisfies the need of users. The efficient management of EHR systems using an existing DBMS present challenges because of incompatibility and sometimes inconsistency of data structures. As a result, no common methodological approach is currently in existence to effectively solve every data integration problem. The challenges of the DQ issue raised the need to find an efficient way to integrate large EHRs from diverse heterogeneous sources. To handle and align a large dataset efficiently, the hybrid algorithm method with the logical combination of Fuzzy-Ontology along with a large-scale EHRs analysis platform has shown the results in term of improved accuracy. This study investigated and addressed the raised DQ issues to interventions to overcome these barriers and challenges, including the provision of EHRs as they pertain to DQ and has combined features to search, extract, filter, clean and integrate data to ensure that users can coherently create new consistent data sets. The study researched the design of a hybrid method based on Fuzzy-Ontology with performed mathematical simulations based on the Markov Chain Probability Model. The similarity measurement based on dynamic Hungarian algorithm was followed by the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, which will increase the quality of service over HCOs in adaptive frameworks

Reference electric distribution network modelling and integration of electric vehicle charging stations

Smartcities,withprosumersatthecentre,areatthefrontlineoftheenergytransition. The national and international policies should encourage then this transition by promoting, among many aspects, energy digitalization, massive penetration of renewable energies and electrification of the transport sector. To embrace all these changes, a holistic view, covering not only the distribution system, is necessary to plan, design and reorganize in particular urban areas. The radical distribution networks transformation is monitored and presented, both considering technical and non-technical aspects, which aims at encouraging potential directions that distribution system operators can pursue. The thesis work has three main objectives. From the distribution system operator (DSO) perspective, the main objective is to investigate how the technical and non-technical features vary among distribution system networks in Europe. From the modelling perspective, the second main objective is firstly to define a method which incorporates the previous findings to properly design a tool able to reproduce representative urban networks and secondly to validate the results through a statistical methodology. From the electric vehicle’s infrastructure perspective, the thirdmainobjectiveisfirstlytounderstandtheelectricvehiclesdemandbehaviour and develop models capable of reproducing them, and secondly to assess, through a dedicated methodology, the electric vehicles charging infrastructure features and performance. Theresultsfromthisthesisindicatesthattheincreasingattentiontowardthedistribution sector should not be underestimated by the main actor, distribution system operator, which appears to have different approaches in smartening and digitalizing their network especially concerning electric mobility, demand response and data management between distribution and transmission system operators (TSO). It is urgent for policy makers and stakeholders involved to align distribution system operators to a common strategy to tackle the introduction in the distribution network grids of new players. Tools like DiNeMo platform applied in this thesis may be used to perform preliminary research studies concerning the installation of newcharginginfrastructure, renewableenergygeneratorsornetworkreinforcement analysis. Indeed, it is crucial for regulators to take into account the physical layer of distribution grids when designing new policies and incentives in order to address challenges of tomorrow’s cities