Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Review

Towards modern sustainable cities: Review of sustainability principles

and trends
Ahmed Sodiq a, *, Ahmer A.B. Baloch a, Shoukat Alim Khan a, c, Nurettin Sezer a,
Seif Mahmoud b, Mohamoud Jama a, Ali Abdelaal a
a
College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar
b
Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
c
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Topi, Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 23640,
Pakistan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Human capital development, attractions of sustainable living standards and renewed concerns for the
Received 14 November 2018 planet have redirected city planners to a new frontier: the creation of sustainable cities. This is evident in
Received in revised form some initiatives taken to create cities with low to zero carbon emissions, build sustainable structures and
7 March 2019
create higher institutions of learning where sustainability practices are entrenched in their curricula.
Accepted 9 April 2019
Available online 10 April 2019
Examples of the forerunners of sustainable cities are abound; from the Middle East (Education City in
Qatar and Masdar City in Abu Dhabi) to Far East (Dongtan Institute in China and New Songdo City in
South Korea), new cities imbued with sustainability practices are springing forth. There are 400 big cities
Keywords:
Human capital development
and 23 mega cities presently occupying the world urban spaces, with estimates of about one and 10
Sustainability million inhabitants, respectively. Ironically cities occupy about 2% of the earth surface, they however
Circular economy consume 60e80% of global energy. The global urban population rose from 220 million to about 2.8 billion
Sustainable city in the 20th century, and it is projected that by 2050, this will increase to 6.9 billion, which is about 70% of
Smart city the world population. Therefore, sustainability campaigns, when directed at cities, would have intended
Zero-emission impacts due to a number of factors associated with cities: large population, hub of intellectual and social
Zero waste integration, high consumption, etc. In creating modern sustainable cities however, the attention of cities'
planners and policymakers alike should be on those goals that come under the banner of sustainability,
especially when designing new or retrofitting existing human settlements (the cities); such as human
capital development, energy conservation and energy efficiency, water security, efficient use of earth-
abundant resources, transportation, building standards, social and economic equity, and food wastes
management. Although there are few review articles in the literature that separately deal with individual
sustainability fundamentals, there is a dearth of publication consolidating key sustainability principles
required for modern cities. This paper reviewed each element needed to make a functional sustainable
city. We adopted a simple approach; we explained each sustainability principle, highlighted its core
values and gave reasons why it is an important candidate to be considered in making a working city. We
critiqued the current sustainable cities by stating reasons for their strengths and explanations for their
deficiencies. We engaged the future sustainable cities’ planners to learn from the failures of some of the
earlier hurriedly executed sustainable cities in order to have the most important elements of sustain-
ability present in their future project execution.
© 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973
2. Materials and methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 975

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: ahmsodiq@mail.hbku.edu.qa, ahmedsodiq0@gmail.com (A. Sodiq).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.106
0959-6526/© 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001 973

3. Sustainable education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 975

3.1. Education cities and sustainable development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 976
3.2. Economies of sustainable education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977
3.3. Concluding remarks on sustainable education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977
4. Renewable energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977
4.1. Renewable energy for sustainable cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978
4.1.1. Renewable energy policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978
4.1.2. Case studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978
4.1.3. Social impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979
4.2. Concluding remarks on renewable energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979
5. Energy efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979
5.1. Energy efficiency policy and economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979
5.2. Industrial energy efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 981
5.3. Mitigation actions on the environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 982
5.4. Concluding remarks on energy efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 982
6. Sustainable buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 982
6.1. Circular economy in the construction industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 983
6.2. Sustainable sequences, patterns and material recovery orders during deconstruction of buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 984
6.3. Concluding remarks on sustainable buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 984
7. Sustainable transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 984
7.1. Urban transportation and sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 985
7.2. Transportation and the environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 985
7.3. Social effect of sustainable transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 985
7.4. Mitigation actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 986
7.5. Technological effects of sustainable transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 986
7.6. Concluding remarks on sustainable transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 986
8. Food wastes and sustainability issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987
8.1. Food wastes management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987
8.2. Behavioral solution to the scourge of food wastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 988
8.3. Economic values of food wastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 988
8.4. Concluding remarks on food waste and sustainability issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 988
9. Accommodating population growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 988
9.1. Food & water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989
9.2. Product service systems & waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989
9.3. Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 990
9.4. Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 990
9.5. Other strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 990
9.6. Concluding remarks on accommodating population growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991
10. Environmental management of natural resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991
10.1. Sustainable management of natural resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991
10.2. Managing ecological footprint of sustainable cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 993
10.3. Concluding remarks on environmental management of natural resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 993
11. Water security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 993
11.1. Water & sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 994
11.2. Case studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 994
11.3. Mitigation actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 995
11.4. Concluding remarks on water security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 995
12. Future cities built on sustainability principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 995
12.1. Sustainable education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 995
12.2. Renewable energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 995
12.3. Energy efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996
12.4. Sustainable buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996
12.5. Sustainable transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996
12.6. Food wastes and sustainability issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 997
12.7. Accommodating population growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 997
12.8. Environmental management of natural resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 997
12.9. Water security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 997
13. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 997
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 998

1. Introduction living standards and concerns for the environment (Aquilani et al.,
2018; Szopik-Depczyn
ska et al., 2018a, 2018b). For a city to be
Many countries around the world are adopting sustainability considered sustainable however, certain important elements must
practices. This is evident in new sustainable cities that are springing be present. These elements (sustainable education, renewable en-
up. The reason for this new frontier in city planning may be linked ergy, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, sustainable
to renewed appreciation of human capital development, healthy buildings, waste management, etc.), when combined with
974 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
informed and willing inhabitants, dividends of sustainability may
be realized.
Who are the “informed” city dwellers? What qualities distin-
guish informed and active city dwellers from ordinary city
dwellers? Answers to these questions are broad in scope, a succinct
approach to answer them may be sought in social benefits of hu-
man capital development. Social capital (networks and assets that
facilitate the education, coordination and cooperation of citizens
for mutual benefit) is one aspect of a sustainable city. One notable
aspect of social capital is the development of higher educational
institutions because a highly-educated population is central to
achieving sustainability. A highly-educated population contributes
to local productivity conceivably through knowledge spillover
(Lucas Jr, 1988). Although it has been reported elsewhere (Shapiro,
2006) that a 10% increase in college graduates in a city only leads to
about 0.8% in the city's employment growth, the agreement of the
majority (Acemoglu, 1996; Moretti, 2004; Rauch, 1993; Simon and
Nardinelli, 2002) is in favor of human capital concentration in the
city. Concentration of highly-educated individuals may reduce
criminal activities, increase the city's participation in politics which
may in turn influence desirable political outcomes for the city. Not
only these, highly-educated city dwellers also contribute to the
city's commerce through their tastes in consumption of
commodities.
A sustainable city utilizes renewable resources lower than their
rates of generation, and utilizes non-renewable resources lower
than the rate of development of renewable alternatives while
reducing the impact on the environment (Goldman and Gorham,
2006a). In the future, one of the core challenges of societies will
be the transformation of cities into sustainable settlements
(Petersen, 2016). Cities are the hubs of energy consumption, but
have great potentials for integration of renewable energy due to
their infrastructure and existing resources (Byrne et al., 2015). The
feasibility of a certain renewable source varies from place to place.
However, the prioritization of a specific renewable energy resource
is itself an important topic (Ribeiro et al., 2016). An example of a
renewable energy-based city is Masdar City in Abu Dhabi; one of
the earliest structures in the city was the solar field where 10
Megawatts of electricity were generated (Al-Maamary et al., 2017).
Although the benefits of renewable energy are appealing, it needs
supportive policies due to its relatively high cost, small segment to
market, and weak industry in comparison to the existing energy
sources (Aguirre and Ibikunle, 2014).
Since sustainable city is a knowledge-based city, every aspect of
the city must show efficiency; energy efficiency is an important
sustainability principle that must be enshrined in a sustainable city
in order to prevent needless energy wastes. Energy efficiency is
defined as using less energy by enhancing the efficiency of the
system to offer the same product output. For example, from light-
bulbs to HVAC units, energy expended should be in manifolds less
than inefficient alternatives, but with the same or much better
outputs. This concept enables us to improve the existing systems
for better performance on both technical and economic fronts
while addressing environmental concerns. Improving energy effi-
ciency also reduces external dependence and vulnerabilities in the
energy sector.
Another important criterion used to measure the readiness of
cities in adopting sustainability practices is efficient, emission-free,
affordable and accessible city-wide transportation system. To be
effective, sustainable transportation must stay away from the
conventional urban transportation system in which transportation
is restricted to means of mobility in the urban settings, a condition
that prevents innovation in transportation services. A sustainable
transportation strategy must recognize the four emerging areas of
innovation in city transportation: Mobility, City Logistics,
Intelligent System Management, and Livability. Sustainable trans-
portation is one in which transportation does not endanger public
health or ecosystems and meets the needs for access consistent
with (a) utilization of renewable resources below their regenera-
tion rates, and (b) utilization of non-renewable resources below the
rates of development of renewable substitutes (Goldman and
Gorham, 2006b).
The primary challenges facing water security in the world are;
climate change, population growth, and our unbridled living
standards. Since industrial revolution, humans have had serious
impacts on global water system with little knowledge on the
impending consequences. Some regions of the world currently
suffer from water scarcity, and this condition is projected to in-
crease in the future. More than one billion people lack access to safe
drinking water and nearly two billion people live in conditions with
no basic sanitation (Bogardi et al., 2012). There is a big challenge in
sustainable urban water management since more than half of the
world's population live in urban areas (Howard, 2015). Meeting all
the needs required to establish a sustainable city is difficult; some
of these needs are location-specific, which are based on available
resources (such as potable water), for example, Qatar Foundation
Knowledge City is situated in a water-stressed arid environment.
Since energy and water have a direct relationship (to produce water
energy is needed, and to produce energy water is mostly needed),
sustainability conscious city planners, in most cases, use renewable
energy to provide clean and potable water to serve the city's
dwellers from sources that are considered unsustainable (e.g.
desalination), while limiting the net footprint. In order to address
city-wide water challenges, advanced technologies (such as
wastewater treatment through; microbial actions, membrane
bioreactor, nanomaterials, etc.) that are energy-efficient and envi-
ronmentally friendly can be adopted (Hanifzadeh et al., 2017;
Sepehri and Sarrafzadeh, 2018; Azami et al., 2012; Bavar et al., 2018;
Rezvani et al., 2019).
The argument in sustainable building field is not only about the
true definition of what constitutes a sustainable building (Cole,
2004; Fowke and Prasad, 1996), it is also about the difference be-
tween a sustainable building and a green building. If a building can
limit its environmental impacts to acceptable standards, then the
building may be said to be green, whereas a sustainable building
needs to fulfil more; a sustainable building has many standards to
meet; human & environmental health, cultural heritage, social
equity, and social infrastructure are few of them (Berardi, 2013),
and these are what distinguish a sustainable building from a green
building. The significant impacts of building on the environment,
society and economy have been well reported (Hwang et al., 2015;
Ravindu et al., 2015; Roetzel et al., 2014). Reducing energy use in
buildings is one of the major objectives of sustainability (Chenari
et al., 2016). Many countries that consider the importance of sus-
tainability in the building sector are playing essential roles, espe-
cially in energy reduction. In Europe for example, Germany wants
to achieve 60 kWh/m2 year or less HVAC plus lighting energy de-
mand, through Research for Energy-Optimized Building (EnOB)
program. In the United States, National Renewable Energy Labo-
ratory (NREL) is contributing significantly to building sustainability
with the implementation of key energy related parameters. NREL
wants to further reduce the energy use by 41% as compared to the
ASHRAE 90.1e2004 standard (Harvey, 2013). Another objective of
NREL is to reduce on-site energy use. This is important because
materials used in construction are a major player in environmental
sustainability due to their effects on the environment during their
lifecycle phase. The conventional linear production concept, that
which is termed “take-make-dispose” is unsustainable; it brings
about great environmental cost, resource scarcity, and endangers
human and other lifeforms (Cong et al., 2017). To embrace
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
sustainability and its attractions, especially in the built industry, a
new circular economy is required (Lacy and Rutqvist, 2016). Other
principles of sustainability in sustainable cities are waste and food
management, control of earth-abundant resources and lastly, ac-
commodating population growth.
2. Materials and methods
In selecting articles for this work, we placed emphasis on sus-
tainability principles necessary to be present in a modern sus-
tainable city. The selection criteria of the articles for review were
based on: (i) strong correlation with the topic of the review article
(sustainable cities), (ii) strong connection with sub-topics of the
review article (i.e. sustainability principles featured in sustainable
cities), (iii) environmental protection (especially those that address
climate change challenges), (iv) human capital development (eco-
nomic condition that is important in ensuring a sustainable city),
(v) publication period (not older than 1995, so as to address issues
from the onset of new millennium to date) and (vi) challenges and
problems (to enable critical reviews to be conducted). This work
reviewed a total number of 192 different articles on sustainability
principles. Sustainable education (with 14 articles), renewable en-
ergy (with 22 articles), energy efficiency (with 24 articles), sus-
tainable buildings (with 30 articles), sustainable transportation (14
articles), food wastes & sustainability issues (11 articles), accom-
modating population growth (23 articles), environmental man-
agement of natural resources (23 articles) and lastly water security
(with 23 articles) are the sustainability principles highlighted in
this work for creating a modern sustainability city. On the number
of articles to be featured in this work, an agreement was reached
among the authors to limit the number of publications on each
sustainability principle to 25, except in “sustainable buildings” due
to the nature of the field; this is to discourage too many articles that
would eventually lead to a voluminous review paper. The article
search was conducted majorly through “Google Scholar” search
engine, using keywords such as sustainable cities and principles of
sustainability. In most cases we got redirected to different web-
pages of various journals featured in this article, and on few occa-
sions, we used Qatar National Library (QNL) online platform to
retrieve the articles, especially those published by Elsevier. After
the collation of the articles, duplicates were discarded to make
room for unique pieces. The materials were divided among the
authors to summarize, critically evaluate and review each section,
based on individual expertise and preference on each sustainability
principle highlighted. From the literature search to final compila-
tion, this review work took two years to accomplish. Fig. 1 shows
the schematic representation of each sustainability principle out-
lined for making a modern sustainable city, the number of articles
and references in each section. In the same figure (Fig. 1), the
structure of this paper is shown; how each section and sub-section
are linked together for easy navigation.
The following sections delineate principles of sustainability
(though not in order of their importance), their core values and
their importance in making strong sustainable cities. We decided to
abridge some of these principles (because each element is a field in
itself) in a manner that would be easy for the readers to grasp
without losing their relevance in sustainability parlance.
3. Sustainable education
Communities are changing towards sustainability, and educa-
tion in such communities should be abreast with the change
mantra (McKeown et al., 2002). As communities develop sustain-
ability goals, local educational systems can modify existing
curricula to reinforce those goals (McKeown et al., 2002). The
975
United States engineering, business and architectural schools are at
the forefront of sustainable education. This is evident in the regis-
tration of some NGO's such as Engineers without Borders and En-
gineers for a Sustainable World. Sustainable education involves a
basic process of designing education and communication programs
that range from needs assessment, formative research, pre-testing,
and evaluation. For effective implementation of strong and virile
sustainable education in any community: training, policy initia-
tives, awards schemes, curriculum development and multi-faceted
communication campaigns are the watchwords that must be
constantly present in their developmental activities (Day and
Monroe, 2000).
As illustrated in Fig. 2, the change in the mind-set of people
towards sustainability is necessary to achieve the inherent de-
liverables of a sustainable future (Cortese, 2003). And this can only
be achieved through the transformation of education curricula at
all levels. This is because the relationships between human popu-
lation, the environment, activities, technologies, strategies, and
policies for a just, secure, and an environmentally sustainable world
are complex societal issues. This is why higher education should
divest from the traditional approach (the current real world
context) in which education is seen as a dogma, following strictly
highly specialized areas of knowledge. Sustainable education re-
quires a shift from this traditional approach, and embrace a con-
dition where emphasis is placed on ideas that engage students and
other education's stakeholders to develop interest in critical
thinking that ensures that the present generations meet their
needs, and sustainably think of the generations to come. For a
sustainable education taught in higher school of learning to be seen
as effective, the curriculum must challenge the following human
reasoning (Cortese, 2003); man dominates and is detached from
the rest of natural world, natural resources are inexhaustible, earth
is resilient and can accommodate all anthropogenic impacts, the
prevailing technologies can solve all societal problems, material
means can satisfy man's wants and needs, individual achievement
is independent of the well-being and health of cultures, commu-
nities, and life support systems.
The anthropogenic duties to other lifeforms on earth in terms of
their protections cannot be overemphasized, Sauve
(1996) rede-
fined environmental education for sustainable development as
“environmental education for responsible societies” in order to
shift the core of environmental preservation duties to humans.
Kopnina (2012) looked at the repercussions that may arise as a
result of changing environmental education (EE) to education for
sustainable development (ESD) in the framework of environmental
principles. The paper studied the multiple viewpoints on ESD that
is regarded by both the researchers and practitioners of EE, and
warned of the danger of the viewpoints as they may sustain pre-
vailing corporate powers and political ideologies which would in
the end limit environmental concerns. The paper presented two
objectives; to establish the importance of environmental principles
for ESD in particular and EE in general, and to argue that the current
environmental problems can be solved by education of environ-
mentally minded students. In the context, Kopnina (2012) posited
that liberal, emancipatory or pluralistic approach to education en-
courages an intellectual departures from the blatant problems
associated with environmental degradation. An approach that may
damage future acquisition of skills and knowledge that would
enable generations to come to confront urgent ecological problems.
Pluralistic approaches to ESD create confusion for students on the
problems of sustainable development. While upholding environ-
mental justice that requires the allocation of environmental bur-
dens and benefits to humans, ESD undermines environmental
equality and justice between other inhabitants of the natural world
and humans. Without the inclusion of eco-centric approach to the
976 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
Fig. 1. Structure of the review paper and classification of the reviewed papers on sustainability principles in creating modern sustainable cities.
Fig. 2. Basic ingredients of what constitutes sustainable education, the key players and
derived outcomes of implemented sustainable education.
study of EE, the welfare of humans and the rest of the natural world
may not be protected. The primary concerns of EE that emphasize
the protection of natural world should not be lost in ESD that seems
to put forward a concept in which humans and profit are placed
before the planet (Kopnina, 2012).
Day and Monroe (2000) put together a handbook on environ-
mental education for international practitioners. The book explored
the importance of using communication to create synergism
among development activities. The book also explored the activ-
ities of USAID global support program in environmental education
and communication known as GreenCOM. The organization has
demonstrated how a better understanding of human behavior can
be a catalyst for change that not only protects the environment but
creates economic opportunities and builds strong democratic
governance.
3.1. Education cities and sustainable development
Governing sustainable cities is a long-term endeavor which in-
volves the creation of a new social attitude of shared responsibility
for the public welfare through integration from the local govern-
ment (Evans et al., 2013). The primary focus of many eco-cities is
the creation of universities (e.g. Dongtan Institute for Sustainability
in China, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in the UAE,
Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, etc.) within the city that
would offer masters and doctoral degrees in sustainable develop-
ment. It is important to highlight a number of sustainable cities
around the world. Qatar foundation education city was initiated in
1997 in Al Rayyan municipality, the city is located on 3456 acres of
land, and by 2019 it houses 9 different universities, and construc-
tion activities still ongoing. New Songdo city, 40 miles from Seoul,
was initiated in 2001, the anticipated cost of the city was $35
billion, it is located on 1500 acres of land and as at 2014 the city was
still under construction. Masdar city, 10.5 miles from city of Abu
Dhabi, was initiated in 2007, the city is located on 1730 acres of
land, the estimated cost of the city was $19 billion and as at 2019,
construction activities still ongoing, however Masdar Institute of
Technology (a graduate based university) is completed and func-
tioning. Other eco-cities include, Tianji eco-city, PlanIT Valley,
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
Meixi Lake District, Low2No and Nanjing Eco-city. Some of them
are still under construction whereas a few of them (such as
Dongtan) are stalled or abandoned.
Russo and Tatjer (2007) asserted that student communities are
the most active agents in the transformation of European cities. The
reasons for the assertion are centered on the flourishing interna-
tional student mobility, the university residence patterns and
acknowledgment of knowledge assets and creativity for sustainable
urban development. (Russo and Tatjer (2007)) argued that while
student setting is determined majorly by the arrangement of the
city and university settlement, they experience some dynamism
which leads to a decoupling of education spaces and the habitats
where students spend most of their time. Students and academic
communities as urban agents dictate the pace of social interaction,
animation and cultural change. Policymakers who intend to create
a sustainable city must recognize these attributes that they bring to
a new city. Policymakers must, therefore, provide the right mix of
services and urban conditions to host, attract and retain these
agents. Research universities play a dominant role in the growth of
knowledge cities (KC) by training and educating the inhabitants on
the required professions and workforce that would ensure eco-
nomic growth (Yigitcanlar et al., 2008). The industries rely on them
to develop, create, and maintain new technologies, and they also
play an essential role in the creation of social strata in the city
which lead to improved culture and quality of life (Yigitcanlar et al.,
2008).
As civilizations become progressively knowledge-based, devel-
opmental activities rapidly change because the knowledge sector is
dominated by environments and conditions that are markedly
different from those that are governed by commodity-based
(Yigitcanlar et al., 2008). The elements that must be present in
knowledge-based economy include but not limited to;
 Knowledge: higher institutions of learning that place emphasis on
research and development (R&D) activities;
 Industries: dictate the initial structure and planning of a KC;
 Urban amenities and quality of life: ensures that a KC is imbued
with the required elements to sustain and maintain a modern city
in a manner that gives dignity to the inhabitants;
 Cultural mix and diversity: core instrument of creativity and so-
cial integration;
 Accessibility: facilitates and encourages the movement and
transfer of knowledge;
 Inclusion and social equity: creates enabling environment for
social equity and reduces negative tensions;
 Size of a city: tends to determine the size, scale of business, workers
and knowledge pool to KC.
3.2. Economies of sustainable education
In American cities, Portney and Berry (2010) explored the rela-
tionship between political and civil participation and pursuit of
sustainability and discovered that cities with extensive sustain-
ability programs tend to be more participatory with respect to
taking part in demonstrations, signing petitions, joining neigh-
borhood associations and taking part in local reform groups.
Considerable progress have been made on sustainable cities, such
as smart growth, growth management, climate protection and
environmental justice. The common question is “why are some
cities taking sustainability as a serious issue and others do not
bother?” The question can readily be answered based on the edu-
cation level of the cities. Residents that are more serious about
sustainability are more likely to have higher education levels
coupled with political liberal ideology. From their findings, Portney
977
and Berry (2010) eventually concluded that educational levels and
income are the two major determinants that influence the sus-
tainability of cities. As reported in China (Liu, 2007), a one-year
increase in a city average education could increase individual in-
come by between 11 and 13%.
In the United States alone, there are more than 4100 higher
institutes of learning, the institutions themselves are large eco-
nomic engines (Cortese, 2003). Their annual operation budget as at
the year 2000 was more than $200 billion. This is more than the
GDP of 25 countries in the world combined. Imagine the economic
influence these universities would have on the prevailing sustain-
ability issues if they purchase and patronize sustainably preferable
services and how much more value they would add to sustain-
ability if they carry out their purchases in conjunction with local
communities (Cortese, 2003). The platform for education or
learning cities is aimed to create a global network in which cities
are mobilized to use their resources effectively for personal growth,
development of equality and social justice and creation of sus-
tainable prosperity. The concept of learning or education city is
becoming a global phenomenon; more than 1000 cities in the
world have already become or in the process of building education
cities (Osborne et al., 2013).
Alusi et al. (2011) reviewed the goals, business models, and
partnerships involved in eight early “ecocity” projects. The creation
of ecological-friendly city is a way of mitigating threats to the
natural environment while creating urban living capacity, by
combining low carbon and resource-efficient development with
the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to
better manage complex urban systems (Alusi et al., 2011). For
example, the main goal for the University of Luxembourg relating to
sustainable development is to define and convey to students, staff
and interested civil society basic knowledge on principles and
practices of sustainable development, and the capacity to create
solutions to reduce environmental impacts and improve social
cohesion by drawing on different disciplines (Ko €nig, 2013). The
associated learning processes are conceived as being situated in a
community. The single most important element that recorded
success in the creation of a sustainable education in the University
of Luxembourg was the effective connection of local action and
international networking (Ko € nig, 2013).
3.3. Concluding remarks on sustainable education
In conclusion, some needless approaches of teaching students
should be completely expunged from textbooks; such as “endless
growth”, “inexhaustible natural resources” and “man conquers
nature”. Making sustainability a requirement for all undergraduate
programs as suggested by Business Sector Team of the U.S. Part-
nership would go a long way in entrenching sustainable education
in the universities. The purchasing power of the academic institu-
tion as they demand for more environmentally and socially
responsible products and processes would change the outlook of
sustainability progressively. Sustainability audits and reporting and
sustainability living and campaign in the halls of residence and staff
quarters would shift the psychics of individuals to a sustainable
orientation.
4. Renewable energy
The implementation of renewable energy is one of the safest
and easiest core requirements in achieving sustainability goals. The
trend towards finding sustainable solutions to renewable energy
integration and implementation in the cities can be studied in both
developed and developing countries. Renewable energy is also a
good tool for sustainable development and electrification in rural
978 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
and remote areas. The power demand in these remote areas that
are off grid can be fulfilled with hybrid of renewable energy sources
(Hossain et al., 2015).
4.1. Renewable energy for sustainable cities
This section includes the introduction of renewable energy
policies, their importance, different examples towards the
achievement of modern sustainable cities, state-of-the-art cases
and renewable energy impact on lifeforms and the environment.
4.1.1. Renewable energy policies
Government policies and state intervention are needed in
scaling renewable energy technologies from laboratories to mass
markets (Jamil et al., 2016). Kilinc-Ata (2016) argued that integra-
tion of renewable energy is a welcome development, but does not
strongly depend on government policies, rather it depends on the
type of policies and their modes of implementation. The increasing
challenges of energy demand, national security, environmental
protection and dynamics of fossil fuel prices in the international
community make this argument important. Renewable energy
needs supportive policies due to its relatively high cost, small
segment to market, and weak industry in comparison to the
existing energy sources (Aguirre and Ibikunle, 2014). Currently,
renewable and sustainable energy pathways are being redefined
across the world as a result of government interventions. For
example, the European environmental policies are more renewable
energy based and the Union has taken renewable energy as a
workable solution to environmental problems (Carrio
n et al., 2008).
As at 2005, about 55 countries showed commitment to achieving
different renewable energy targets by implementing the relevant
policies. By 2013, the number of countries with this commitment
had risen to 144 (Hua et al., 2016). For example, Spain is targeting to
obtain its electrical energy from 100% renewable energy by 2030,
and reduce its greenhouse gas emission by 80% (compared to 1990)
by 2050 (Girard et al., 2016). European strategic energy plan (SET-
plan) aims at changing at least 50% of the existing buildings in 25
demonstrated cities into nearly zero energy building (ZEB) and
reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission by 40% by 2020 (Kylili and
Fokaides, 2015).
Abdmouleh et al. (2015) analyzed different policies and cases for
the implementation of renewable energy in order to better un-
derstand the driving forces and mechanisms behind their success
stories. The study classified the support for renewable energy ini-
tiatives as financial, fiscal, legislative, political, technological and
environmental. It is clear from different examples that financial
incentives like loan, grant and subsidies are more effective in off-
grid renewable energy system implementations and the policies
also have more impact on grid-connected systems.
Kilinc-Ata (2016) used four well known and commonly
employed renewable energy policy instruments i.e. feed-in tariffs
(FIT), quota, tax and tender, in a model to study their effectiveness.
FIT and quota-based are renewable energy generation-based in-
centives policies while tax and tender are investment based. The
study was carried out on the basis of available data for a wide range
of time from 1990 to 2008. The results showed that FIT, tax and
tender incentives are more effective as compare to quota policy
instrument for fostering renewable energy technology. Similar
studies have been reported to understand the effectiveness of these
policy instruments in several locations (Haas et al., 2011; Held et al.,
2006; Smith and Urpelainen, 2014).
Based on human development index (HDI), taking Australia and
China as a developed and developing countries with HDI of 0.933
and 0.719 respectively, Hua et al. (2016) carried out the comparison
of renewable energy technologies, policies and status of both
countries. The comparative studies were done with respect to
governance and management mechanism, followed by renewable
energy development. Both countries have high renewable energy
potentials and have set targets for achieving their implementation.
However, higher commitment can be seen in the behavior of China
with a significant incentive to renewable energy industries in
comparison to Australia.
Petersen (2016) studied whether or not the renewable energy-
self-sufficient community is possible in real life without special
financial support. The case study was carried out for Krückau-
Vormstegen, Germany. It was concluded that with proper energy
planning, renewable energy-self-sufficient community is possible
in a cost-efficient way. After the promulgation of renewable energy
law in 2005, the Chinese government applied a series of renewable
energy policies. Among these policies, subsidy is one of the main
tools for the development of renewable energy sources across
China (Shen and Luo, 2015). Subsidy policies resulted in fostering
the development of the technology but led to problems like over-
capacity, excessive competition, lack of funds etc. (Shen and Luo,
2015) studied the effect of these policies, identified the core
problems and proposed possible workable solutions.
4.1.2. Case studies
The study of implemented methodologies of different cases is a
good source of understanding the potential of renewable energy in
a community (Petersen, 2016). Solar, wind, biomass, bio-fuel and
hydraulic are main sources of renewable energy. The feasibility of a
particular renewable source varies from place to place. However,
the prioritization of specific renewable energy resource is itself an
important topic (Ribeiro et al., 2016). Spain's goal is to obtain 100%
of its electricity from renewable energy resources by 2030 and to
reduce its greenhouse gas emission by 80% (compared to 1990) by
2050 (Girard et al., 2016). The country has been playing its role in
the implementation and development of solar systems, however,
the recent economic crises in the country have impacted the
growth of the sector. Girard et al. (2016) studied the present status
of renewable energy and emphasized the availability and imple-
mentation of solar systems (Photovoltaic and thermal) in Spain. The
study equally showed the economic feasibility of solar energy with
respect to existing combined power plant technology. The study
reported Spain as one of the main solar energy sources in Europe.
The country can harness its solar energy efficiently by exporting
solar-generated electricity to other parts of Europe.
The urbanization of Singapore has increased its mandate to
study all the available options of renewable energy. Karthikeya et al.
(2016) discussed the important study embarked upon for wind
energy resources and examined the challenges associated with
wind. Stationary rooftop and mobile Light Detection and Ranging
(LiDAR) profiler measurement system were employed for this
purpose. The southern shore of Singapore was found to be ideal for
the installation of wind turbines with wind power densities up to
45 W/m2. The payback period of less than 20 years was reported.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a rich country with respect to its
fossil fuel energy resources, the country is among the most energy
consuming countries in the world (Jamil et al., 2016). Increasing
energy demand, limited nature of fossil fuels and their effects on
the environment have brought UAE towards the adoption of
renewable energy. Jamil et al. (2016) studied the available renew-
able energy resources such as wind, solar photovoltaics and
concentrated solar power, bio-fuel, fuel cell technology etc. and
their present state of use in the UAE. The study reported UAE to be
equally rich in renewable energy sources and capable of meeting its
energy demands from them. The country is playing a major role in
its power generation from renewable energy among the GCC
countries. Efficient management systems, planning and policies
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
have been suggested to help UAE stay on the path of sustainable
energy so as to meet the country 2030 target of having a substantial
percentage of renewables in its energy mix.
European Union (EU) envisioned the concept of zero energy
building (ZEB) as a significant step towards smart cities (Kylili and
Fokaides, 2015). ZEB are buildings with zero carbon emission
through proper management and use of renewable energy sources.
Kylili and Fokaides (2015) studied the contribution of ZEB to Europe
in the achievement of smart cities’ goals. European strategic energy
plan (SET-plan) aims at changing at least 50% of the existing
buildings in 25 demonstrated cities into nearly ZEB and reduce
GHG emission by 40% by 2020. ZEB is a key player in making the
cities sustainable as it helps to cover their energy aspect i.e. energy
management, efficiency and generation from renewable energy
resources. Byrne et al. (2015) reviewed already made efforts to
define “solar city” concept and made an assessment method for the
potential of roof-top solar energy for a city. To study the green
energy potential of rapidly urbanizing cities of the world, the
assessment technique has been applied to the city of Seoul in South
Korea. The results showed a great potential for roof-top solar en-
ergy i.e. its contribution to the main electricity grid and equivalent
production of up to 30% of the city electricity use.
Although there is much clamor for smart cities due to the cur-
rent unsustainable energy use, rural electrification is an important
concept that makes the use of renewable energy sources easy and
affordable. Hossain et al. (2015) reviewed the literature on elec-
tricity generation and transmission through hybrid renewable en-
ergy systems with economic and environmental implications. The
study concluded that renewable energy resources like wind,
biomass solar and their hybrid have potentials to play a significant
role in the electrification and sustainable development of rural
areas of Malaysia. Malaysia has a goal to reduce carbon emission by
20% (from 2005 level) in 2020 and making significant contribution
especially in research towards the development of its renewable
energy sector.
4.1.3. Social impact
Hast et al. (2015) studied the factors that affect people's re-
actions to green energy. The survey was carried out on 232 par-
ticipants in Shanghai, China to know the response of potential
consumers to pay for a specific renewable energy system. The study
reported that the decision of consumers depends on age, income,
the nature of the technology and the need of the product as seen by
the consumers etc. The study concluded that energy security and
cost savings are the factors that motivate consumer towards
renewable energy, however, high initial cost and equipment
maintenance may act as barriers in the adoption of new renewable
energy technology. The study showed that consumers were less
sensitive towards environmental issues in their decision to adopt a
new renewable energy technology. More awareness regarding the
benefits of renewable and sustainable energy, lower prices and
government support and intervention are needed to scale future
energy from its present niche to wider audiences in order to save
the environment and lifeforms.
4.2. Concluding remarks on renewable energy
Many articles that describe the role of renewable energies in
salvaging the planet from catastrophic effects of climate change
have been written. Initial efforts (in term of research by scientists
and in terms of incentives by policymakers) around the world were
geared towards cutting down the cost of renewable energies in
order to be competitive enough to rival fossil fuels. Today, after cost
factors have been addressed and still being addressed, renewed
efforts are channeled towards improving renewable energy
979
efficiencies and penetrations. From available literature on the cur-
rent state of renewable energies, the success of renewable energy
efficiency and penetration is still directly or indirectly linked to
policy drives from many policymakers around the world. The
progress recorded by most member states of the EU and China in
less than two decades, especially in the reduction of capital cost and
scalability of renewable energy for different end uses, has made
penetration of renewable energies easy. The easy penetration and
affordability of renewable energy technologies, especially for
integration into the grids, do not come without tradeoffs and
challenges. There have been outcries on how to reduce the effects
of variable generation (VG) on power grids due to integrations of
wind and solar energies. A renewed effort is currently on different
energy storage technologies to address these challenges (Denholm
and Mai, 2019).
5. Energy efficiency
In order to reduce the environmental impact caused by the
energy sector, especially with respect to climate change, one major
factor that must be considered is energy efficiency. The efficiency of
energy is seen as an important feature of sustainability worldwide.
This section discusses the factors that impact energy efficiency,
necessary decisions to prevent or allow them, and policies in-
struments. Case studies covering industries, technical aspects and
business models are included in order to explain the role and
possible implementation of different scenarios.
5.1. Energy efficiency policy and economics
Increasing energy efficiency is taken to be an important aspect
of making energy systems sustainable, facilitating procedures with
less emissions, increasing energy security and competitiveness at
the regional level. To implement these measures, information is
needed for the current situation of regional energy efficiency and
its progress (Viholainen et al., 2016). Energy efficiency (EE) policies
pose a significant impact on a country in terms of its economic
competitiveness, human livelihood, pollution, climatic change and
energy security (Lo, 2014). Fig. 3 shows the benefits of imple-
menting energy measures in the society and possible sectors for the
application. By adopting energy efficient technologies in sectors,
energy security can increase the environmental sustainability with
sustainable resource management. The contribution paid by Energy
Conservation and Efficiency (ECE) policies to achieve environ-
mental and socio-economic goals should be taken as means to an
end, not as an end in themselves. For example, priorities should be
set for different objectives, if the goal is to reduce environmental
impacts, then policies concerning the reduction of environmental
impacts should be used, like environmental taxes and quotas
(Linares and Labandeira, 2010). European Union (EU) countries
under Energy Efficiency Obligation (EEO) scheme requires energy
firms to accomplish annual energy savings of 1.5% of yearly sales to
customers (Directive, 2012). Another detailed example is the case of
China and its progressing (Renewable Energy and Energy Effi-
ciency) REEE policies. After an extensive review of the REEE policies
being followed in China, it was concluded that major developments
have been made in these policies for the betterment of the country.
In order to facilitate energy planning and management at the
regional level, a comprehensive approach has to be introduced that
would help increase energy efficiency. The tools that are already
present to evaluate energy efficiency and sustainability are quite
complicated and the information required for them is difficult to
attain for regional energy systems. Hence, a new approach is
required to solve these EE related problems. The approach should
consider information on how operator roles and interests should be
980 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001

Energy security
•Supports regi onal or na tional ene rgy se curi ty by a voiding a ddi tional
e ne rgy i mports a nd associated i nfrastructure.

Environmental sustainability
Energy Efficiency Benefits
•Re duces GHG e missions, both di re ct emissions from fossil fuel combus tion
or consumption, and indi re ct emissions reductions from electri ci ty
ge ne ration.

Health and well-being

•Crea tes heal thy indoor li vi ng envi ronments wi th healthy ai r tempe ra tures ,
humi dity l evels, noise levels, and improved a ir quality.

Energy prices
•Re duces the need to add e xpensi ve ne w powe r gene ra tion or
tra ns mission ca pacity a nd by re ducing pressure on e nergy re sources.

Energy access
• Increases the a vailable bandwidth in e xis ting ge ne ra tion, tra nsmission
a nd distribution networks.

Macroeconomic Development
•Re duces the amount of ene rgy neede d to deli ve r se rvi ces , such as
mobi lity, l ighting, heating a nd cooling l eading to e conomic benefits

Industrial productivity
•De cre ases energy us es, e nhances productivi ty and delivers cost savings.

Fig. 3. Benefits of adopting energy efficiency measures along with important energy efficiency sectors.

taken into account and how they are linked with the regional en-
ergy system, which has not been considered in the traditional en-
ergy models before (Viholainen et al., 2016). Energy flows are
studied in the system and sustainability aspects are observed with
the chosen indicators. This approach assumes that the energy ef-
ficiency analysis is a part of the local decision-making process and
that it is linked with energy services and sustainable development
targets considered at the regional level. Hence, relevant data was
collected to make the energy service providers and decision makers
analyze the effects of new energy solutions on energy efficiency, its
storage, flexibility of demand and load shifting, keeping in mind the
technological aspects and urban planning (Viholainen et al., 2016).
Ayres et al. (2007) discussed the role of energy efficiency in
economic development. The study further explained the impor-
tance of reducing GHG emissions for long-term global sustain-
ability. A new economic theory, which is endogenous and
quantitative, incorporates factors like energy supply or energy
services' demand which were not considered in the conventional
theories. An implication of this theory which was not seen in the
standard theory is the assumption that the future economic growth
would depend on the continued decline in energy services' cost
that was seen in the past. This cannot be the case in the long run;
the decline was witnessed in the past because of discoveries such as
oil and gas, and progress in technology. An example of such is the
generation of electric power and energy services' production,
which cannot continue at a historical rate. In fact, the costs of en-
ergy and its carriers (e.g. electric power) are expected to fall. The
economic growth is expected to decrease or become negative if the
cost of energy services increases by a considerable amount as a
fraction of GDP. Thus, to increase economic growth, increasing the
cost of energy by imposing carbon taxes to reduce consumption for
environmental reasons would not work, rather encouraging con-
servation of energy at negative cost by exploitation of opportunities
for ‘double dividends’ would work. The second point, on the other
hand, portends that GHG emissions can be reduced while the
economic growth that is technology driven increases. To get this
done, we do not need new technologies, rather regulation or
deregulation of the electric power sector can work (Ayres et al.,
2007).
The current sustainability solutions are disruptive in nature. As a
result, their implementation is somewhat difficult. To solve this
problem, proper business models (BMs) must be devised. The im-
plications of climate change and energy for both the logistics and
supply chain management should be studied (Gauthier and
Gilomen, 2016). Halldo
rsson and Kov
acs (2010) formulated the
framework that reflects on tangible effects that are sustainable on
supply chain management and logistics. It was found that the
concept of energy efficiency was not taken into much consideration
in supply chain management and logistics. In order to consider
efficiency of energy, a huge amount of rethinking has to be done on
both operational and conceptual levels. On an operational level, it
has to be done from transportation emissions to the cold chain.
Moreover, the agenda for energy requires further development of
theory of logistics and practice. This can be done in the way of
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
corporate reporting of sustainability. These measurable variables
may include emission of harmful greenhouse gases, use of water,
use of resource, management of solid waste and air emissions that
are relevant to corporate social responsibility (Boyd and Golden,
2015).
5.2. Industrial energy efficiency
Industries contribute about 37% of the emission of global
greenhouse gases. 80% of this value comes from energy use, which
is obviously a huge amount. Total emissions that were energy-
related were found to be 9.9 Gt CO2 in 2004. The emissions have
risen by 65% since 1971 (Worrell et al., 2009). Industries are
continuously working on and have been successful in improving
their energy efficiency over the previous decades. Even then, en-
ergy efficiency remains the most cost-effective and efficient way of
mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases in industries in the near
future. Hence, this subsection deals with the possible contribution
by industrial technologies that are energy efficient that can help
reduce the use of energy and lead to a lesser emission of green-
house gases till 2030 (Worrell et al., 2009). Plans to improve in-
dustrial energy efficiency can be achieved by employing energy
efficiency devices and process to reduce the wasted heat and ma-
terials (O'Rielly and Jeswiet, 2014). In general, mitigation options
have not been fully utilized by both industrialized and developing
nations. This is because of barriers, such as lack of access to capital,
limited attention given to management, lack of knowledge, or un-
qualified service providers. Estimating the potential of improving
energy efficiency on a global scale has proven to be tough and only
a few studies have taken up this issue. Projecting the potential of
mitigation and cost in 2030 has a few uncertainties associated with
it, which include the rate at which technology is developed and
diffused, future technology's cost, prices for carbon and future
energy, industrial activities, and climatic and non-climatic energy
drivers. The knowledge gaps include baseline intensity of energy
for some industries, specifically in transition economies, the po-
tential for energy efficiency improvement in non-energy intensive
industries, quantifying the co-benefits, development implications
associated with mitigation options, and consumer preference
impact. Hence, further research needs to be done to improve the
knowledge base and our understanding when it comes to the
mechanisms that are needed to realize opportunities for energy
efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions (Worrell et al., 2009).
Low energy and carbon systems that have their focus on maxi-
mizing efficiency of fuel/energy cycle and minimizing embodied
energy or the carbon in products and materials by recycling and
reusing should be promoted (Hammond, 2004). Decentralized
cogeneration (DCHP systems) can be used which can prove to be
economically beneficial in terms of energy conservation, reduction
of GHG emissions and increased grid stability. They are also more
cost-effective than central steam-electric plants. Conventional
centralized capacity should not be eliminated, DCHP can be used to
meet increase in demand forecasted for the next 20 years (Ayres
et al., 2007). The development in technology has a major role to
play in making energy efficiency at regional level better. China has
been implementing the import of energy and using foreign direct
investments to promote its economic growth since the start of re-
form and opening up in 1978. Simultaneously, an increase in the
input technology and R&D is seen in the country which can help
promote reformation technologically and absorption of imported
technology. Results show that the tactics of importing technology
and foreign direct investment can be a source of improving effi-
ciency in “modern industrialization” initial stages. Unfortunately,
this cannot be sustained in all the stages. When we talk about
“modern industrialization” more advanced stages, energy
981
efficiency relies on increased R&D along with optimization of R&D
investment structure and independent technological innovation
(Wei et al., 2016).
Poschl et al. evaluated the energy efficiency for various biogas
plants, their utilization pathways and strategies for waste-steam
management. The diverse biogas technologies include single and
co-digestion of multiple feedstocks. The energy balance was eval-
uated with the help of the Primary Energy Input to Output (PEIO)
ratio which helped in evaluating the energy efficiency and even-
tually the potential for sustainability. In case of single feedstock,
PEIO ratio was found to be between 10.5% and 64% conditional to
the demand for energy for feedstock supply logistics. The energy
balances proved to be negative for the conditions analyzed. When
considering co-digestion for multiple feedstocks, PEIO was found to
be between 45.6 and 48.6% for small biogas systems and
34.1e55.0% for large-scale ones, which basically suggests more
stable processes in co-digestion energy balance changed with the
yield of biogas, efficiency of utilization and substitute fossil fuel's
energy value. Upgrade of biogas to biomethane that was injected
into natural gas system made the energy supply for biogas con-
sumption increase by 100%. The efficiency of energy of biogas
system became better by 65% by employing natural gas instead of
electrical energy (Po€schl et al., 2010).
The energy inefficiency of the oil sands industry has been
argued upon. Large amounts of energy inputs per unit of the output
of energy are required from oil sands operations. In this work by
Brandt et al. (2013), the energy return ratios (ERRs) are computed
for this industry using new dataset and technology. Data for the
input and output of oil sands energy were collected from 1970 to
2010. The net energy returns (NERs) from the present oil sands
operations showed an output of 6 GJ for every GJ of energy
consumed. The point of energy use was found to be 3 GJ/GJ. The
point of use (net energy return) NER increased from 1970 to 2010 is
1 GJ/GJ to 3 GJ/GJ, showing an increase in efficiency of oil sands
operations. These energy returns are lower when compared with
historical conventional oil operations. NER for oil sands operations
is decreasing with time because of the shift from mining and
advancement to in-situ extraction. Huge external energy returns
imply that oil sands can be a provider of energy in the future
(Brandt et al., 2013).
Thollander et al. (2013) discussed the driving forces required to
improve energy efficiency and energy management practices in
some founding industries in Europe that are energy-intensive.
Sixty-five founding industries were taken into account in the case
study conducted between 2010 and 2011; situated in Finland,
France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden. The research
performed showed that the most important driving forces are
financial and organizational in nature. The main financial drivers
include low costs generated because of less energy use and the
threat of increasing prices. Organizational driving forces include
making investments for improving efficiency of energy a priority in
the company management agenda and ensuring that the com-
pany's top management and workers take this seriously. In the
Dutch industry, the main drivers were found to be the cost reduc-
tion seen due to less use of energy along with investment subsidies
and fiscal arrangements, while in Swedish foundries and industries
that are not energy intensive, drivers like lack of ambition among
people and energy strategy seemed to be more significant. Along
with this, the paper revealed the important factors that need to be
kept in mind while forming policies to improve energy efficiency.
The firm's size was found to be an important factor. The networks
within a sector, information and support through the sectors and
investment subsidies were found to be important in smaller en-
terprises. While forming energy policies, it is very important to
carry out energy audits and long-term agreements (LTAs) and
982 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
formulating energy management strategies to improve energy ef-
ficiency which is lacking in various places. LTAs are considered
better than energy audits as they, unlike audits, also cover man-
agement components in their design. Energy management can be
done by making energy strategies, securing top management and
monitoring how energy is used. There is a gap in energy service
which needs to be filled. The current instruments can be used to
improve energy management and efficiency within the industrial
sector. External factors have to be considered, which include the
incentives offered, the intervention of local government or indus-
trial associations, taxes, information campaigns and regulatory is-
sues (Thollander et al., 2013).
For modeling industrial EE, two approaches can be adopted. One
focuses on thermodynamics principle, which is directed at tech-
nical aspects of the equipment and the second is directed at sys-
tem's approach for holistic energy flow in industries. Energy
conservation and better resource use have to be promoted by
making use of fossil fuels fall and considering renewable energy
sources. A market approach that is consumer oriented would have
to be involved along with actions that can help tackle deficiencies of
the market; regulation of the environment, economic instruments
and land use planning procedures (Hammond, 2004). To analyze
systems and gauge the potential of improvement in them, ther-
modynamic methods can be used. Even though these methods are
very useful, they tend to elevate the analysis of energy to a pivotal
position in the array of methods used for the assessment of tech-
nology. Energy is the maximum theoretical work obtained from a
thermal system which is at equilibrium with the environment and
this might not be the criteria for any given situation. Therefore, it is
suggested that the analysis of energy should be considered along
with other quantitative approaches to evaluate energy systems.
Both the laws of thermodynamics (first and second) should be
considered while understanding energy systems. These prescrip-
tive thermodynamic methods help evaluate the potential for saving
energy of different sectors of the economy and thermal plant types.
Therefore, understanding thermodynamic limits are important to
achieve sustainability.
5.3. Mitigation actions on the environment
For a country to be sustainably developed, it is important to
consider energy efficiency (EE) and energy security. Energy security
improves as the efficiency of energy gets better. Selvakkumaran and
Limmeechokchai (2013) evaluates energy security of Sri Lanka,
Thailand and Vietnam as a measure of the following three param-
eters: oil security, gas security and sustainability. Modeling of en-
ergy systems of the three countries was done using integer
programming based optimization model, known as ‘‘Model for
Energy Supply Strategy Alternatives and their General Environ-
mental Impacts’’. The modeling of every nation is done via two
setups; the reference and EE setup. Results showed improvement in
the above stated three parameters, and the co-benefits included
reduction of CO2, fall in energy consumption and air contaminants
like SO2 and NOx. The analysis showed that energy security rose
significantly with EE measures in Sri Lanka, the country also
showed co-benefits of mitigation of CO2 and local air pollution and
a reduction in conventional primary energy use. Energy security
rose to a smaller extent in Thailand and Vietnam, showing that
energy efficiency alone here would not enhance energy security
(Selvakkumaran and Limmeechokchai, 2013).
Emerging energy efficiency technologies have the potential to
perform the intended task with low energy consumption. This can
be achieved by the implementation of high-efficiency heat pumps,
smart meters, microgrids, building performance systems to regu-
late air-conditioning, low power lightning using LEDs and thin
insulation materials. Building performance simulation (BPS) is an
emerging EE method that covers analyzing the link between a
building's energy demand in terms of HVAC and the availability of
supply of sustainable and renewable energy sources to make the
building's status zero energy. Advances in BPS have been reviewed
to make settlements energy efficient for various renewable energy
sources (RES), keeping in mind a lot of other factors (Todorovi
c,
2012). Different software and co-simulation (CS) methods and
programs have been developed that can be used, along with the
BPS method for designing new, and redesigning existing buildings
to become cost and energy efficient using RES integrated with
mixed energy sources co- and tri-generation to make buildings,
villages and settlements, etc. sustainable zero-energy areas.
In the field of computing, data centers that run the internet,
commercial, financial and business applications have become quite
complex in recent times. This is because of the increase in demand
for good networking, computation and storage. One data center can
have several servers and its energy consumption can be compared
to that of a small city. Thus, a huge amount of computation power is
needed to run these centers. Due to this massive power con-
sumption, challenges like the emission of harmful greenhouse
gases, high operating costs, huge energy consumption, backup and
recovery have to be dealt with. The current contribution of IT in-
frastructures to the total CO2 footprints is 2%. This value is expected
to rise if relevant preventive measures are not taken. Green IT
framework can help make data center power and energy efficient.
This framework would help save energy consumption and lead to a
reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases which would
eventually reduce global warming. The techniques include cloud
computing, virtualization and green metrics (Uddin and Rahman,
2012). Microgrid and smart grid are another emerging technolo-
gies that may reduce the energy losses. The EE design microgrid
project shows that delivery of electric power to consumers is
possible the way the consumers want it without fear of failure and
increased costs (Shahidehpour and Clair, 2012). This basically tar-
gets three service areas that include efficiency, reliability and
sustainability.
5.4. Concluding remarks on energy efficiency
Different scenarios have been proposed to increase energy ef-
ficiencies in the households, in commercial buildings, in trans-
portation, in the industries and etc. Recent research works by
Fowlie et al. (2018) and Shove (2018) into energy efficiencies still
cited “rebound effect” to have much influence than previously re-
ported. This is not to downplay the successes that have been
recorded in energy conservation and environmental preservation
through efficient use of energy, especially with innovations in
technologies that reduce energy inputs to offer better outputs.
However, much efforts is needed in the households on behavioral
dispositions of city dwellers. In commercial buildings, the same
“human factors” have been reported to influence the simulation of
actual energy usage, because people have different work lifestyles;
whereas some workers follow strict office-hour time frames, others
prefer to work at their own time frames that may either be too early
or too late. These staccato work-hour related scenarios have pre-
vented building and energy experts from determining actual en-
ergy performances of buildings. Any success that may be
anticipated in energy efficiency cannot be achieved without prof-
fering technological solutions to “human factors” that currently
plague the field (D'Oca et al., 2018).
6. Sustainable buildings
The significant impacts of building on the environment, society
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
and economy have been well demonstrated (Hwang et al., 2015;
Ravindu et al., 2015; Roetzel et al., 2014). Reducing energy use in
buildings is one of the major objectives of sustainability (Chenari
et al., 2016). Many countries now consider the importance of sus-
tainability in the building sector, and are playing essential roles
especially in energy reduction. In Europe for example, Germany is
plays an important role through Research for Energy-Optimized
Building (EnOB) program to achieve 60 kWh/m2 year or less
HVAC plus lighting energy demand. This value is 50% less than that
of 2007's standard. The United Kingdoms also plans to reduce the
cooling load in a normal office building by 4 times (Harvey, 2013).
In the United States, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
contributes significantly to building sustainability with the imple-
mentation of key energy related parameters. NREL tries to further
reduce the energy use by 41% as compared to the ASHRAE
90.1e2004 standard (Harvey, 2013). Another objective of NREL is to
significantly reduce on-site energy use.
With high growth rate in urbanization and increase in urban
population, China reached 28% of the global greenhouse gas
emissions (GHG) in 2011 (Chen et al., 2015). Although urbanization
enhanced the economic and social development of China, it comes
with high energy consumption. There is a vast array of literature
regarding building sustainability, here we summarized some of the
important and recent studies in this field.
Materials used in construction are a major player in environ-
mental sustainability due to their effects on the environment dur-
ing their production phase. Ingrao et al. (2016) performed energy
and environmental assessments of four external-wall samples
characterized by different rates of complexity in terms of assembly
technologies and component materials. Two standard wall com-
positions and two ventilated façades were considered, using rock-
wool and recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (R-PET) as insu-
lating materials. The study reported that considering the energy
and environmental impacts, ventilated façade perform better than
the standard wall compositions, especially when it is equipped
with R-PET. It was also confirmed that both solutions are easy to be
disassembled and recycled. Materials of construction are key
design options for environmentally sustainable and low energy
demanding buildings. Life cycle and impact assessments of mate-
rials, with material flow and urban metabolism studies, improve
the understanding of resources use and inform the desires for
future infrastructure design, construction, and management
(Baccini, 1996; Boyle et al., 2010; Engel-Yan et al., 2005; Junnila
et al., 2006).
Currently, there is a shift in the built industry to rehabilitate
buildings. Bullen (2007) examined the consequence of adaptive
reuse of commercial buildings on sustainability. The paper
concluded that buildings’ adaptation retains cultural heritage and is
more cost-effective than demolition and rebuilding. On the other
hand, many barriers appeared to oppose the refurbishment of old
buildings which is mainly associated with cost (Bullen, 2007).
However, some of these barriers present no economic benefit to the
owners; old buildings require more maintenance, renovation pro-
cess might be extensively costly and inability to meet the required
performance standards.
Environmental impacts associated with buildings focus on
measuring the operational impact and harmful emissions to the
environment, whereas cradle-to-gate impacts are those from ma-
terial extraction, manufacturing, transport to site and onsite con-
struction, and are often ignored and accumulated over time
(Russell-Smith and Lepech, 2015). Russell-Smith and Lepech (2015)
highlighted a method to measure and manage the cradle-to-gate
life cycle environmental impacts by linking environmental targets
with modern construction management methods, in order to
enable buildings to meet sustainable target values. In their study, a
983
construction activity-based computational framework was devel-
oped to enable stakeholders reliably and efficiently construct
cradle-to-gate life cycle models, capturing environmental impacts,
including carbon and energy associated with material extraction,
manufacture, transport to site, and construction. These models let
stakeholders measure and manage impact accumulations. It was
stated that without this framework, construction managers and
other building stakeholders do not have adequate environmental
management tools to deliver projects consistently at the predefined
sustainable target values.
Kang (2015) established a framework for assessment of sus-
tainable buildings based on outcomes from analyzing the conven-
tional performance assessment tools for sustainable buildings.
Analyzing the current frameworks was done by a comparative
assessment of some selected tools like BREEAM (Building Research
Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), CASBEE
(Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Effi-
ciency) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
with the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) framework. The
results of the comparative study resulted in deriving the main
guidelines and core elements for the assessment tools for sus-
tainable buildings, which include: dimension of performance,
methods of assessments, scope of assessment and presentation of
results. The systematic model was implemented for sustainable
buildings and a case study of multi-residential building with 100
households was used as a reference to validate this model.
There are different rating tools i.e. Green Building Council of
Australia (GBCA) (Australia), LEED (US), and BREEAM (UK) that help
ensure the development of green building. The construction in-
dustries, on the other hand, are also facing challenges to implement
these sustainability's demand. Shi et al. (2016)reported the lack of
studies regarding the conflicts within green building development
system. They developed a theoretical framework to investigate and
identify the conflicts among several objectives. Empirical data was
collected through interviews and was used for testing the devel-
oped framework. They stated the conflict within the objectives of
the whole project life cycle of green building development. To
resolve these conflicts, at the end of the study, several recom-
mendations were made.
Jalaei and Jrade (2015) developed a model that integrates
building information modeling (BMI) with the data base of LEED in
such a way that it automates BIM to calculate LEED credits, type of
certification and its related cost on the design stage. The model
used only LEED credit plug in and did not include all the LEED
products. However, the model was reported as an initial step and
plans are underway to improve it for future research work. This is
beneficial for architecture, engineering and construction industry
in general. The integrated tool will help construction industry to-
wards its sustainability and will decrease the cost, related docu-
mentation, users’ time and effort. The design phase is an important
phase for sustainable buildings, the following are some of the
important steps needed to consider at this stage:
 Building orientation, its thermal losses and surface to volume
ratio.
 Maximize the use of passive and efficient energy sources
 Select high-performance envelope.
 Select high efficient, multi-purpose energy devices with prop-
erly controlled system.
6.1. Circular economy in the construction industry
Circular economy (CE), as defined by Geissdoerfer et al. (2017), is
a system that closes and slows down resource input, emission,
984 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
waste and energy leakages by narrowing energy and material loops.
Application of CE to construction industry is one of the concepts
that can innovatively transform extractive industry sustainability,
because large proportion of materials ever extracted for capital
projects are found in the built industry. For example in Europe,
construction takes about 40% of energy and material consumption
(Merrild, 2016). Pomponi and Moncaster (2017) argued that the
built environment exerts the most pressure on the natural envi-
ronment. These are indications that the current open-ended and
linear economic model in the construction industry has reached its
peak. The conventional linear production concept, that which is
termed “take-make-dispose” is unsustainable; it brings about great
environmental cost, resource scarcity, and endangers human and
other lifeforms (Cong et al., 2017). To embrace sustainability and its
attractions, especially in the built industry, a new circular economy
is required (Lacy and Rutqvist, 2016). Pomponi and Moncaster
(2017) acclaimed that there have been little emphasis on “build-
ings” when CE is being discussed, they believe that most research
efforts have been focused on construction materials around the
cities and neighborhoods. They further advised that interdisci-
plinary research works should be directed at CE in relation to
buildings. They cautioned that the interventions they seek for CE in
buildings are not on further proliferation of technological in-
novations, but on the defined roles of people. D'Oca et al. (2018)
highlighted the circular economic principles that must become
the integral part of built industry in order to achieve sustainability.
The principles include; design for disassembly, product recovery
management, life cycle assessment, deconstruction, adaptability,
dematerialization and closed materials loops. Merrild (2016) be-
lieves that the introduction of CE to the built environment would
open new economic pathways, because new businesses that
currently do not exist (such as deconstruction experts, digital ma-
terial managers, material exchanges etc.) would spring forth.
6.2. Sustainable sequences, patterns and material recovery orders
during deconstruction of buildings
Recently, great attention has been paid to the End-of-Life phase
of buildings. The major reason is due to the significant impacts of
buildings on the environment, economy and society as a whole. For
sustainability, structural steel reuse is a potential environmentally
friendlier substitute to steel recycling in the construction industry.
The current practice that is widely employed in the industry is to
recycle about 90% of scrap steel for building purposes. Despite the
great benefits in structural steel reuse, the adoption of this practice
is not widely observed. Yeung et al. (2017) explained why the
adoption of steel reuse practice is very low as compared to recy-
cling; most policymakers and stakeholders in built industry are
unaware of the life cycle and structural integrity of reuse steels
(Gorgolewski, 2008). presented two case studies to examine the
prospects for building parts reuse in Canada. The purpose of the
studies is to show the implications of building parts reuse mostly
on the procurement and design process of a building. The objec-
tives of the studies also include the development of a concept to
determine how such a strategy impacts on design process, team
and the effects on the client in terms of time, risk and process. The
author thus concluded that the major factors that affect building
with recovery plan in mind are; the associated risk, willingness by
the clients to accept a specific design pattern (that which recovery
or disassembly is easier) offered by the architect and the trust
associated with reused structural materials.
Material reuse is one thing, finding an ideal disassembly paths
and patterns for recovering specific materials from buildings is
challenging and difficult due to a number of factors, such as: eco-
nomic constraints, environmental conditions and physical
situations of buildings. Sanchez and Haas (2017, 2018) recently
worked on the validation and development of a user-friendly
disassembly method to retrieve targeted components from build-
ings. The method is based on Disassembly Sequence Structure
Graph (DSSG) model commonly employed in the manufactured
product industry. This novel approach is developed by using rule-
based analysis, building cost and environmental-impact analysis.
Akbarnezhad et al. (2014) proposed a method for comparing and
evaluating the effects of different alternative deconstruction con-
cepts on carbon footprint, energy use and cost of construction, by
making use of the information given by a conventional building
information modeling (BIM). To test the proposed method,
Akbarnezhad et al. (2014) carried out a case study to evaluate three
deconstruction strategies (which comprise of landfilling, design for
disassembly and recycling) usually employed in construction in-
dustry and the results obtained show the potential application of
the suggested method. Luscuere (2016) explained the concept of
“materials passports” as an innovative tool to track and document
the full circular prospect of materials, systems and products by
furnishing stakeholders with correct information on different fea-
tures associated with products’ circular design with their compo-
sition. For example, Volk et al. (2018) applied ResourceApp (a
combined system software and hardware sensor modules) for
building information acquisition. It comprises of object detection,
3D reconstruction, optimized project planning and building in-
ventory generation. The device allows planners, decision makers or
experts to inspect a building, and at an instance analyze, record,
reconstruct and store the building in a digital format. The obtained
building reconstruction data is used to optimize project design with
a solution algorithm of the multi-mode resource-constrained
project scheduling problem (MRCPSP) readily available. As against
conventional practices, this system enables mobile building
recording during building sightseeing, object detection and real-
time reconstruction. And, based on the information acquired,
with available resources, the building deconstruction and the
necessary deconstruction and decontamination activities are made
possible.
6.3. Concluding remarks on sustainable buildings
The Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015 was seen by
many, especially in the built industry, as herald of good things to
come in limiting the anthropogenic footprints on the natural
environment. The challenges (such as yearly 3% GDP growth rate
and reduction of yearly national carbon intensity by 6.5% till the
year 2100) in the agreement make the threshold (~2 warming)
very hard to accomplish (Dixon et al., 2018). In order to achieve the
above highlighted goals required to solving the perennial climate
change challenges, more energy-efficient, greener buildings and
retrofitting of the existing facilities with environmentally friendly
alternatives, and the substantial policy drives for renewable energy
purchases and operations would have enduring impacts. A new
frontier in sustainable building landscape is emerging; circular
economy in the built industry. As argued in the above literature, the
current linear economic model in the built industry needs complete
overhauling for a new circular economic model; that which en-
courages material reuse rather than material recycling, plans for
future disassembly of buildings while conceiving the buildings’
plans, and lastly that which narrows waste and energy leakages by
closing resource inputs and emissions in a loop.
7. Sustainable transportation
Transportation issues are among the most important issues in
many urban areas around the world (Fedra, 2004). New
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
methodologies for sustainable transportation need balanced mea-
sures with effects on improved land-use, planning, administration,
and utilization of transport foundations and offices. It also should
incorporate genuine expenses of infrastructure, integrate environ-
ment in asset policies and policy-making as well as in end-user
expenses. It should also work on improving public transportation
competitiveness with other contending urban transportation sys-
tems. Improvements in the vehicles, fuels efficiencies and in-
centives for less-polluting fuel options are among the central
themes in sustainable transportation. For example, Center for
Sustainable Transport (CST) in Toronto, perceives sustainable
transportation as a system that: allows the basic access and
developmental needs of individuals, companies and societies to be
met safely in a manner consistent with human and ecosystem
health, and promises equity within and between successive gen-
erations, be affordable, operates fairly and efficiently, offers choice
of transportation mode, and supports a competitive economy, as
well as balanced regional development, limits emissions and waste
within the planet's ability to absorb them, uses renewable re-
sources at or below their rates of generation, and, uses non-
renewable resources at or below the rates of development of
renewable substitutes while minimizing the impact on land
(Goldman and Gorham, 2006b).
7.1. Urban transportation and sustainability
The global urban population rose from 220 million to about 2.8
billion over the twentieth century (May, 2013). By 2050 it is
anticipated that the global urban population would rise to 6.9
billion, which is about 70% of the world population (May, 2013).
Throughout the world, figures have shown a continuous increase in
car ownership per capita. From Chinese cities, there is a proof of
yearly increase in vehicle ownership. The blend of increase in car
ownership and increase in population produces an increase in
estimated distance travelled. Goldman and Gorham (2006b)
dwelled on the idea of sustainable transportation in the urban
settings and divided the urban transportation concept into two
categories; transportation as a policy pathway, and as a policy end-
point. They contended that to be effective, sustainable trans-
portation arrangement must stay away from the conventional ur-
ban transportation system in which transportation is restricted to
means of mobility in the urban settings, a condition that prevents
innovation in transportation system. A sustainable transportation
strategy must recognize the four emerging areas of innovation in
city transportation: Mobility, City Logistics, Intelligent System
Management, and Livability. Sustainable transportation is one in
which transportation does not endanger public health or ecosys-
tems and meets the needs for access consistent with (a) use of
renewable resources below their regeneration rates, and (b) use of
non-renewable resources below the rates of development of
renewable substitutes. For example, two eco-cities (Qatar Foun-
dation Education City in Qatar and Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, UEA)
in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have incorporated sustain-
ability in their city-wide urban transportation system. Qatar
Foundation Education City employs hybrid tram system and Mas-
dar City uses magnetic personal rapid transport (PRT) pods, both
with zero emissions. These two transportation systems use the four
areas of innovation in city transportation (mobility, city logistics,
intelligent system management and livability).
7.2. Transportation and the environment
In the year 2000, the global NOx and particulate matters emis-
sions from road transportation were 22.5% and 21.2%, respectively.
Due to a number of factors (the surge of renewable energy
985
included), emissions from automobiles are expected to reduce by
53% in the year 2050. Ecological footprint, an essential indicator for
measuring sustainable land use, has proven unsuitable due largely
to insufficient impact data on the subject at the local level of
counties and cities. To correct the problem, Chi and Stone Jr (2005)
presented a workable approach to measure and quantify the
ecological footprint of transportation network at national level for
the current and projected periods. Using vehicular travel patterns
obtained from a number of agencies, the authors estimated the
required size of land for highway construction and the prevailing
yearly greenhouse gas emissions through forest carbon capture in
the years 2001, 2011, and 2021. The results obtained showed that,
despite a projected increase in average vehicle fuel efficiency in the
successive decades highlighted, the ecological footprint would in-
crease due to the projected upsurge in total annual vehicle kilo-
meters of travel along the network. In conclusion, the authors
argued that an ecological footprint is a practical tool in land-use
planning for transportation (Chi and Stone Jr, 2005). Traveling by
sea is adjudged the most fuel-efficient mode of transportation, and
by and large, is viewed as cost-effective mode of transportation.
However, around 70% of the emissions from sea transportation
happen within 400 km from the coasts. For air transportation, its
effect can be separated into the impacts of airplane emissions and
air contamination that happens as a result of the operation of air
terminals and their auxiliary administrations.
The process of moving towards a more sustainable trans-
portation system is not yet clear, mostly due to many vested in-
terests involved in the complicated arrangement of basic leadership
in urban areas (Kennedy et al., 2005). More than half a million in-
dividuals in developing countries die annually from emissions due
to transportation, with a sizeable percentage from vehicle collisions
(Kennedy et al., 2005). Given how unsustainable the present
transportation frameworks are, it is important that significant base
speculations must be made to do justice to this. Whether the
arrangement is a more prominent utilization of less earth harming
methods of transport or an adjustment in vehicles innovation,
whichever way is adopted, it must include noteworthy long-term
infrastructural ventures (Kennedy et al., 2005). Sustainable trans-
portation pillars are; governance, financing, infrastructure, and
neighborhoods. Each of the four pillars is important: all must be
entrenched in a feasible manner to serve community interests.
7.3. Social effect of sustainable transportation
Social effects of sustainable transportation are less cited in the
literature, this is because social sustainability is hard to quantify
and any conceivable indicators are regularizing in nature
(Boschmann and Kwan, 2008). Transportation is socially deficient
when the absence of advantages or out of line conveyance prompts
the social prohibition of people or groups among societies. There
are numerous ways transportation may set social boundaries,
especially with concern to race and class. Inequality in terms of
access to occupation exists in minority American communities
where low-skilled and low-wage laborers are regularly prone to
face issues of deficient transportation. Socially sustainable trans-
portation should be sufficient, productive, compelling, and critical
to mitigating neediness by giving access to business sectors, voca-
tion, instruction, and essential administrations (Boschmann and
Kwan, 2008).
The impact of transportation on quality of life (QoL) is an
additional perspective in the literature on social sustainability.
Quality of life can be defined as the degree to which people's
important values are satisfied. QoL indicators inspect the condi-
tions of joy seeking and needs satisfaction. In transportation
exploration, these indicators assess the degree to which a
986 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
transportation system adds to or lessens personal satisfaction. So-
cial measurements of sustainable urban transportation are for the
most part not an unequivocal variable while planning for urban
transportation systems in the American society but instead are
inferred through other sustainability indicators.
WHO characterizes Quality of Life as people's view of their sit-
uation in life with regards to the way of life and value system in
which they live and in connection to their objectives, desires,
principles and concerns (Lee and Sener, 2016). It is an expansive
phenomenon, influenced intricately by the individual's health,
mental state, level of independence, social relations, beliefs and
relationship to the environment (Lee and Sener, 2016). The four
dimensions of QoL in relation to transportation are summarized
below;
1. Physical wellbeing: Transportation can adversely affect one's
physical well-being; the number of passing due to vehicular
movements may be directly proportional to vehicle collision and
vehicle-related air contamination.
2. Mental wellbeing: Despite the fact that the relationships be-
tween transportation and mental wellbeing are not adequately
reported as compared to those for physical wellbeing, they are
not less important.
3. Social wellbeing: Mobility and accessibility are the essential
components through which the transportation system impacts
social prosperity; the more troublesome it is to travel, the harder
it would be to create social connections.
4. Economic wellbeing: Expanded mobility can enhance access to
livelihood and other essential social fulfilments that eventually
add values to personal QoL.
Transportation expends more than half of the universe liquid
fuels (Samaras and Vouitsis, 2013). Transportation is responsible for
about 80% of developing countries air pollution (Samaras and
Vouitsis, 2013). Two scales are usually employed to measure the
socioeconomic problems related to pollution from transportation;
the local scale (which involves the air pollution resulting from ve-
hicles’ exhausts) and the global scale (that which deals with
greenhouse gas emissions) (Samaras and Vouitsis, 2013).
7.4. Mitigation actions
The solution recommendations should focus on lessening
greenhouse emission, enhancing air quality, promoting transport
safety, improving road access, and creating wealth. The solution
portfolios must also include innovation, better land-use, green
infrastructure, accurate data collection, affordable pricing and
improved policy instrumentations (May, 2013). Mitigation actions
occur on three levels; political/social, science/technological, and
legislation (Samaras and Vouitsis, 2013). A number of mitigation
actions against climate change challenges in transportation
include, but not limited to; car sharing, park-and-ride offices,
parking money out, Smart cards, low-speed modes, telecommuting,
smart development and road valuing strategies etc. (Shaheen and
Lipman, 2007). In order to achieve sustainable transportation,
behavioral changes of commuters are also important. Different
behavioral changes can be employed to help in achieving sustain-
able transportation. To begin with, individuals may adopt more
energy-saving driving techniques, use cars for the right reasons,
change the current fossil-based vehicles to energy-saving alterna-
tives or live close to their workplaces in order to reduce mileage
(Steg, 2007). Steg and Gifford (2007) acclaimed that the present
transportation framework is not sustainable, and stressed the need
to assess the distinction between behavioral changes and techno-
logical improvements with regards to sustainable transportation.
Behavioral changes deal with a reduction in the level of car use,
while technological improvements focus on how to decrease the
negative effect per car per kilometer. However, individuals are
more inclined towards technological improvements (such as
increasing the energy efficiency of cars or developing new forms of
road pavement that reduces friction) on the grounds that behav-
ioral changes (such as car sharing, changing destination choices,
combining trips, shifting to less-polluting alternatives or traveling
less) require extra efforts that may be hard to adjust to.
More extensive organization of individual transportation ac-
tions may be required to increase beneficial effects by providing the
traveling public with a wider range of decisions and constant data.
In the end, the best travel time and energy advantages are possible
to come from travelers' data. These would influence travelers to
utilize public transportation systems or other accessible options or
to defer their trip until traffic has cleared (Shaheen and Lipman,
2007). Lund and Clark (2008) believe that no single innovative
solution can remedy the steadily increasing CO2 emissions from
transportation, rather different single solutions must be coordi-
nated with parallel efforts in the energy generation and trans-
portation sectors. In order to accomplish a sustainable framework
that does not hurt the earth, takes care of individual energy de-
mands and provides an efficient mode of transportation, renewable
energies must be incorporated into every country's energy mix
with a sizeable percentage allocated to transportation sector (Lund
and Clark, 2008).
7.5. Technological effects of sustainable transportation
The technological frameworks to combat climate change chal-
lenges in the transportation sector are developing. These include
advancement in car manufacturing coupled with fuel efficiency,
impactful transportation networks, and easy mobility systems that
can lessen the interest for private vehicles (Shaheen and Lipman,
2007). One of the best approaches to reduce GHG emission from
motor vehicles is to mandate noteworthy vehicle mileage (Shaheen
and Lipman, 2007). Intelligent transportation system with a
smooth plan can have significant effects on emission reduction and
fuel efficiency; by following ideal routes, smoothing and increasing
velocities/decelerations, and decreasing traffics etc.
Greene and Wegener (1997) exerted that modern transportation
system is a serious consumer of two basic ‘exhaustible’ assets: oil
and land. On account of oil, transport is both the dominating and
quickest growing consumer. In conclusion, the authors proposed
global collaborative research in sustainable transportation, with
seriousness like that witnessed in global climate change challenges.
The proposed sustainable transport research topics are; applying
technology to the existing transport system with sustainability in
mind, sustainable transport financing and pricing methodologies,
and planning the integration of land use and transport for sus-
tainable transportation. In effects, three primary approaches that
can be utilized for effective research are; transport technologies,
transport supply, and transport demand.
7.6. Concluding remarks on sustainable transportation
Heretofore, most economists are of the opinion that increased in
mobility through transportation system brings about net economic
profits, with little or no recourse to environmental and social ef-
fects of such increased in transportation. However, new findings
have shown that beyond a certain limit, increased in vehicular
distance travelled can have net undesirable economic effects
because the marginal productivity of such increase reduces, since
using a vehicle brings about additional costs that can offset direct
economic benefits. Sustainable transportation development does
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
not provide tradeoffs between economic, environmental and social
goals, rather it finds a balance that can help accomplish all of these
goals in the long run by increasing the efficiency of transportation
systems. Conventional thinking believes that transportation ser-
vices ought to be direct, involving faster, newer modes that displace
slower, older modes (such as a walk-bicycle-train-bus-automobile-
improved automobile). For effective sustainable transportation
services, each mode is accepted as useful and relevant, and effort is
directed at continuous improvement in order to serve its purpose in
urban transportation scheme. There should be an improved
walking condition, improved cycling condition, improved public
transit services and improved automobile travel condition. There
are three indicators to use to measure how sustainable a trans-
portation scheme is; conventional transport indicator, simple sus-
tainable transport indicator and comprehensive sustainable
transport indicator.
For conventional transport indicator, the followings are usually
checked;
 A high rating of roadway level of service is considered good
 A high average traffic speed is considered better
 Low parking rate and high level of parking convenience
 A low crash rate per vehicle mile is considered better
For simple sustainable transport indicator, the followings are
usually checked;
 Less CO2 emissions and fossil fuel consumption
 Less vehicle pollution emissions
 Less per capita motor vehicle mileage is consider better
 High transit ridership mode split is considered better
 Less traffic crash injuries and deaths
 Less transport land consumption
For comprehensive sustainable transport indicator, all the levels
of sustainability (economic, environment and equity) are usually
checked before the transportation services can be adjudged
comprehensively sustainable.
The major transportation development strategies of the past five
decades have provided substantial economic growth, benefits,
increased mobility and job creation. However, the adverse effects of
these strategies are as well substantial. These effects include severe
water and air pollution; increasing land consumption; worsening
traffic congestion; record expenditures of public funds for road
projects and far-flung development; isolation of senior citizens and
others who cannot drive; lack of access to jobs for low-income
individuals; deteriorating older suburban and urban areas. New
standards are evolving to address these problems. Changes to
transportation policies have started to move towards a more sus-
tainable approach that reduces subsidies for driving, offers a
broader range of transportation choices, and addresses the links
between transportation, land use development, environmental
quality, and community livability. Furthermore, local and regional
initiatives are springing up to provide alternatives to excessive
motor vehicle use. These initiatives are often termed “smart
growth".
8. Food wastes and sustainability issues
Food waste is a global problem and not limited to a specific
region, although the methods adopt in treating food may be
different across the world. Food waste is a major problem in
achieving the objectives of sustainable development. Food waste
presents significant environmental and sanitary risks especially in
developing countries where food waste management systems may
987
not be as effective as those in the developed economies. The dif-
ferences in food waste management systems between developing
and developed countries may be linked to income, population
growth, and public participation in food waste management ac-
tivities or initiatives (Thi et al., 2015). Estimate of food waste per
capita in developed countries is 107 kg/year, whereas it is 56 kg/
year for developing countries, which amounts to 50e55% of
municipal solid waste in developing countries. Most of this waste is
generated at the consumption stage (Mena et al., 2014).
Agricultural waste is another area where tons of food waste are
generated. For example, Saudi Arabia has more than 22 million
trees of date palm that generate a huge amount of date palm wastes
(Usman et al., 2015). In Spain, more than 4 million tons of tomato
are produced and the daily production of waste from its processing
is equally very high (Sabio et al., 2016). Mostly, waste generation
starts from farms where many factors may prevent the produce
from getting to the marketplace. In the marketplace however,
another round of wastes are generated, these are also due to a
number of factors; from overstocking of the produce to catch
consumers’ attention, to deliberately discarding the produce to
make room for fresher alternatives. At home, behavioral principles
set in; home is where individual actions on food wastes are mostly
displayed.
Waste characterization study was carried out on campus of the
Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC). The objective of
this study was to lay the foundations for a 3Rs waste management
program in the university. The results obtained showed that the
campus produces 1 ton of solid wastes per day. More than half of
these wastes have the potential to be recycled if waste segregation
and recycling are available in the university. The authors concluded
that there is a seasonal variability in the composition and the
amount of municipal solid waste generated, and an increase in
generation was witnessed in the summer (de Vega et al., 2008).
8.1. Food wastes management
Mena et al. (2014) carried out a study to determine the causes of
waste across multi-tier supply networks in the UK. Supply net-
works of 15 food commodities in the UK were studied. Wastes and
causes of such waste were investigated. The study discovered that
some of the significant causes (such as weather changes, variations
in supply and demand and the natural variability of food products)
of food waste cannot be controlled by managers across the supply
network. Analyzing the management related causes of food waste
led the authors to develop a classification of factors affecting waste.
The first classification is related to supply which includes fore-
casting and planning, promotions, and inventory management. The
second classification includes issues related to product and process
quality. According to the findings of this study, supply chains in the
UK food industry are still facing difficulties at the “pollution pre-
vention” stage and only a few companies have moved towards
sustainable development stages and product stewardship (Mena
et al., 2014).
Currently, food waste management system in developing
countries is mainly focused on dumping/landfilling (90% of FW
treatment) and composting (1e6%). Anaerobic digestion (less than
0.6%) and other less common treatments like incineration and an-
imal feeding (Thi et al., 2015; Trois and Simelane, 2010).
Managing food waste can be achieved through waste disposal/
discharge to sewers (Kim et al., 2015). Using food waste disposers
can significantly divert food waste from landfills. This method is
widely used in the US with a 50% penetration rate. On the other
hand, some European countries do not favor this method as it may
have adverse effects on the sewage system and wastewater treat-
ment plants (Kim et al., 2015). To demonstrate how effective waste
988 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001

to sewer could help in food waste reduction, Kim et al. (2015)
carried out a research by preparing food wastes according to the
typical US diet adapted from the US Department of Agriculture. The
food waste was diluted with tap water: 440 g of food waste was
mixed with 58 L of water in order to achieve 1:132 (g/g) mass ratio.
Aeration was provided at the rate of 20 L/min for a complete mixing
of the food waste and grinding fluid, which is water in this case.
Fifty samples were collected for analysis to explore the relationship
between different parameters like:
 Chemical oxygen demand (COD);
 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5);
 Total suspended solids (TSS);
 Volatile suspended solids (VSS);
 Total nitrogen (TN);
 Dissolved nitrogen (SN);
 Ammonia-N (NH4eN);
 Phosphorus concentrations in different fractionations i.e., total
(TP); colloidal, and soluble (SP) forms.
8.3. Economic values of food wastes
Carbohydrates, lipids and carbon are some of the materials
present in food waste that have economic values. These materials
can be converted to bioethanol, biodiesel, and other biofuels. Lipid
extracted from food waste can be converted to biodiesel with a
95e97% yield. Moreover, 92e96% bioethanol yield could be ob-
tained by fermentation of food waste. In addition, pyrolysis is
performed to obtain bio-oil and biochar (Karmee, 2016; Kim et al.,
2011). Food waste is a non-renewable resource. Improving food
production and management would minimize the generation of
food waste. Basing large industries on recycling the food waste will
need a continuous supply of large quantities of food waste which
might seem unsustainable. For this reason, small and medium
biofuel production plants should be targeting restaurants and food
parks and be located nearby to reduce food waste transportation
cost (Karmee, 2016).
8.4. Concluding remarks on food waste and sustainability issues

The results obtained suggest that the lower experimentally-
measured COD indicates a reduced impact on wastewater treat-
ment plants in comparison to what was previously thought. The
major concern regarding disposing of food waste to sewers is linked
to the formation of H2S gas generated from sulfur in both animal
and plant food protein components. It is a corrosive gas that could
damage the sewers. However, food waste has a lower sulfur content
that makes the possibility of generating H2S lower compared to
municipal wastewater (Kim et al., 2015).
Food waste has a high potential for energy production, yet it
faces a number of challenges which are related to the nature of food
waste (variable composition, high moisture, low calorific value).
Food-waste-to-energy conversion technologies include but not
limited to biological (i.e. anaerobic digestion and fermentation),
thermal and thermochemical technologies (i.e. incineration, py-
rolysis, gasification and hydrothermal oxidation).
Food waste reduction can be achieved through waste disposal/
discharge to sewers. Using food waste disposers can significantly
divert food wastes from landfills. Although incineration signifi-
cantly reduces the volume of solid wastes that would be taken to
landfills by 80e85%, a comprehensive sustainable solution is
needed to deal with fly ash and slag that are products of inciner-
ation. Behavioral solution to the scourge of food wastes is to pre-
vent food wastes from getting to landfills by employing home
composting. This method is one example of using food waste to
enrich the earth rather than damaging it. However, the best prac-
tice that takes care of environmental, social and economic sides of
sustainability is attained by preventing food from being wasted or
lost in the first place. Through this behavioral solution, resources
used in planting, harvesting, processing, transporting and mar-
keting foods are saved.
9. Accommodating population growth

As posited by the Population Reference Bureau, by the year

8.2. Behavioral solution to the scourge of food wastes 2050, the world population is projected to reach 9.8 billion. This is
2.5 billion more than the current population figure (PRB, 2015). A
In the UK, a major contributor to food waste comes from homes, similar study conducted by the United Nations predicted the world
costing consumers about 12 billion GBP per year (Quested et al., population to reach 9.6 billion by the year 2050 and up to 10.9
2011). Waste and Resources Action Program (WRAP) and other billion by the end of the century (McMichael et al., 2007). In Table 1,
programs tried to understand the reasons behind this wastage and top ten countries on earth by population are displayed with present
what types of food waste is the most common. With a major focus reality and projections into the future (years 2050 and 2100) based
on consumer engagement and approaching retailers and food on the current population growth rates, fertility rates and life ex-
manufacturers to aid consumers to buy the right amount, store pectancies across the world.
what they buy at its best and consume what they buy, food waste For a sustainable welfare, based on the size of fertile lands, a
was successfully reduced (Quested et al., 2011). Behavioral changes recent study put an estimate on the optimum world population to
are difficult. The reason is that most people are hardwired to lean
towards a particular way of doing things. Changes are harder when
they are due to food consumptions. Woon and Lo (2016) carried out Table 1
research to ensure a reduction in the number of behavioral changes The top ten most populated countries on earth (2015e2100) in millions (Nations,
2015).
people need to go through for a better and more engagement with a
new food waste management system. Their work outlined sus- Country 2015 Country 2050 Country 2100
tainable food waste collection and recycling to produce renewable China 1376 India 1705 India 1660
biogas fuel. For an effective separation and collection system, optic India 1311 China 1348 China 1004
bags (i.e. green bag) are used to pack the food waste separately, USA 322 Nigeria 399 Nigeria 752
Indonesia 258 USA 389 USA 450
while the remaining MSW is packed in a common plastic bag. These
Brazil 208 Indonesia 321 DRC 389
bags can be detected and sorted using an optical sorting system Pakistan 189 Pakistan 310 Pakistan 364
without a need for major changes in people's interaction with Nigeria 182 Brazil 238 Indonesia 314
waste management system already implemented. The method is Bangladesh 161 Bangladesh 202 Tanzania 299
implemented already in Sweden and it is proposed to solve the Russia 143 DRC 195 Ethiopia 243
Mexico 127 Ethiopia 188 Niger 209
issue of food waste in Hong Kong (Woon and Lo, 2016).
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
be 3.1 billion in order for every human on the planet to live ac-
cording to the standards of a citizen of European Union. From the
study, only six countries (USA, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Canada, Russia
and Argentina) are considered underpopulated. Two countries
(Sudan and Ghana) are very close to their optimum population (i.e.
within 10 million of the optimum) while the rest of the 44 countries
studied were grouped as overpopulated. The paper thus concluded
that; if population decisions are left to the families, the current
surge in population will not decline and the predicted figures at the
middle of this century would likely be reached (Lianos and
Pseiridis, 2016).
9.1. Food & water
A study carried out by Verain et al. (2015) evaluated two sus-
tainable consumption behaviors in order to lay emphasis on food
sustainability. The first being sustainable product choices and the
second is termed “curtailment”. For sustainable product choices,
the study considered the implementation of organic, free-range
and sustainability-labeled products. While for curtailment
behavior, the study considered portion/size reduction and reduc-
tion in the frequency of unsustainable food consumption.
Another study de-Magistris and Gracia (2016) conducted a real
choice experiment (RCE) to determine the willingness to pay for
sustainable food products. For the study, 100 g of almonds were
tested, seeing that Spain is a large producer of almonds in the
world. The sample size included 171 almond consumers from
different social and educational backgrounds. The almonds were
given different attributes; the first being the price, the second was
distance because the transportation of food products contributes to
the emission of greenhouse gases. The last attribute was the
method of production; the almonds were either labeled “organi-
cally produced under the EU regulations” or they were unlabeled to
indicate that they were conventional almonds. The results were
categorized into three groups; the first group showed that they
prefer purchasing unlabeled and conventional almonds and were
willing to pay the lowest price for organic almonds manufactured
within 100 km. On the contrary, the second and third group showed
some similarities in the attraction to locally and organically made
almonds. However, the third group showed the highest willingness
to pay (WTP value) a premium price for both locally and organically
manufactured almonds.
There are three categories of meat consumers: full-time meat
eaters, flexitarians and vegetarians (De Backer and Hudders, 2015).
de Bakker and Dagevos (2012) investigates the protein needs of
consumers and the potential solutions for achieving sustainable
food consumption. In the Netherlands over the last five decades,
per capita meat consumption has risen from 20 kg to 43 kg. The
study was conducted on 800 people which included 26.5% daily
meat consumers, 4% vegetarians and 69.5% were consumers who
reduced their meat intake with at least a meatless meal once a
week. The writers examined different attitudes towards meat
consumption and suggested possible sustainable solutions. The
first method is called “Sustainability by Stealth”: this method tar-
gets consumers who are not concerned about their food choices,
hybrid food products that contain both meat and plant-based in-
gredients can be introduced into their diets. This could be done by
promoting healthier food products to win the consumer's satis-
faction. However, this method would require special technology to
find suitable replacements for meat products. The second method
is called “Moderate Involvement” and it is directed at consumers
who have more sustainable awareness. This method aims at
reducing meat consumption by increasing the meatless days or
reducing meat portions among these consumers. The challenge
here is to come up with alternative meals that would still satisfy the
989
consumers. The last method is called “Cultural Change”, which is an
extension of “Moderate Involvement”; instead of incorporating
meatless days, it aims at changing the values and embracing an
alternative lifestyle. This method best targets consumers who
rarely or do not eat meat. These three methods should all be
considered when potential consumption policies are being
formulated. Moreover, the paper discusses meat consumption from
an ethical point of view; it is often related to environmental re-
sponsibility as well as respect for animal welfare. The study thus
concluded that an ethical solution for meat consumption should
never depend on guilt as the sole driver, but rather should focus on
the different motives and utilize them in sustainable consumption
campaigns.
9.2. Product service systems & waste
As the world population increases, wastes generated from
products and services equally increase. A study (Armstrong et al.,
2015) conducted in Finland investigated the attitudes of females
towards product service system (PSS). PSS is a business model that
provides sustainable production and consumption. The study
introduced different scenarios of clothing PSS; repair and redesign,
take-back, customized, make it yourself, consultancy, renting,
clothing swaps and fashion result. All of the mentioned scenarios
help reduce waste and increase the longevity of the products. It was
reported that most consumers realized an increased value in PSS
clothing characteristics, especially in aspects of quality, durability
and newness. The study showed that renting, fashion result and
swapping approaches suited younger consumers best while ap-
proaches that achieved satisfaction such as product redesign,
repair, consultancy and customization were best suited to older
consumers. In order to achieve a functioning PSS business model
for clothing with consideration to the environment, the paper ar-
gues that the industry must disconnect the customer's satisfaction
from material consumption while fulfilling the need for newness.
This can be realized by producing durable products and imple-
menting newness with innovative designs. The study thus
concluded that clothing PSS requires durable and high-quality
products in order to increase longevity. Creativity and talent in
design are also required to produce clothes with the possibility of
redesigning and customizing them.
A similar study (Vezzoli et al., 2015) called Sustainable Product-
Service Systems (S.PSS) involves constant innovation in order to
decrease the number of resources used and achieve social equity.
Reducing the input resources will lead to reduced costs for the
provider. In addition, the provider would be the owner of the
product and consequently would retain the product for as long as
possible. This means that there is a hidden incentive to increase
longevity and delay the disposal process. The benefits of S.PSS are
reduced initial and maintenance costs as well as providing high
quality services and products to the lower income population.
However, there are three presented barriers to implement S.PSS.
The first barrier deals with providers; the implementation of
traditional methods of selling products is much easier than
implementing S.PSS. The second deals with customers; most con-
sumers are not familiar with S.PSS and that creates concerns about
the system and its costs and responsibilities. The third barrier is
related to externalities; environmental benefits are considered an
externality and do not have a market value.
The aim of industries is to achieve larger productions in order to
increase revenue. In recent years, some industries have managed to
reduce their environmental footprint while increasing production.
Niinima €ki and Hassi (2011) explores different design strategies for
sustainable production and consumption in textiles. The study was
conducted in Finland in 2010 and was based on online surveys with
990 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
the sample size of 137 people. The results showed that the reason
why people may be unwilling to patronize sustainable textile
products is the quality of the clothes; around 30% revealed that they
have used some clothes only once or twice before throwing them
away due to poor quality. Based on the survey results, the paper
discussed three types of sustainable designs; long life guarantee,
product attachment and service-based designs. Long life guarantee
would mean not only increasing the lifespan of the textiles by
designing high quality and durable products, but also providing the
customers with information on the expected duration of a product.
For example, the number of washing cycles a t-shirt would go
through while maintaining good quality. Product attachment de-
signs entail creating a bond between the product and the customer
to lengthen the lifespan of the product. Product attachment can be
created by either customization of clothes based on the customers'
desires, or by co-creating and involving the end users in designing
the product. The last strategy is service-oriented design, which is
used to both satisfy customer needs and reduce the environmental
impacts. One way to implement this is design services; an example
is a tailor-made suit, which is made specifically according to a
person's measurements and wishes and with high standards of
quality. A tailor-made suit is expensive; however, with new tech-
nologies, it is possible to provide design services at lower prices.
Laitala and Klepp (2016) wrote a chapter in the Handbook of Life
Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Textiles and Clothing (Muthu, 2015). The
chapter contained a study conducted in Norway on the disposal
methods of textiles and their effect on LCA studies. This was done
through surveys and wardrobe study and it was found that three
factors are involved in the disposal process of clothes. The first
factor is the disposal method; 59% of the sample throw away their
damaged clothes into the garbage while 69% donate their used
clothes to charity. Moreover, men were more likely to wear clothes
until they were worn out and thrown in the garbage, while women
would rather donate. The second factor is the type of clothes; the
study showed that 82% of consumables, which include underwear,
stockings, and socks, were thrown away. The third factor is the
frequency of disposal; 48% of the responders throw away their used
clothes every two years whereas 32% throw their clothes away
every 3e4 years. The paper thus suggested that studying the types
of textile waste will help determine the proper disposal method
and raise the environmental benefits. The results of the study
would make it easy to determine the types of clothes to be reused,
recycled or incinerated for energy recovery.
9.3. Shopping
Panzone et al. (2016) studied the relationship between sus-
tainable consumption and the socio-demographic, explicit and
implicit attitudes of shoppers. The study was based on a survey
conducted on customers who shop and have loyalty cards at Tesco.
The sample size consisted of 916 responders. The study showed
that implicit attitudes and sustainable food consumption do not
have a relationship; however, explicit attitudes had a role in pre-
dicting the consumer's behavior. Three different explicit attitudes
were studied, Green Consumer Action (GCA), which indicates to
which extent consumers will live sustainably; Environmental
Concern (EC), which estimates the consumers' environmental
concerns; and Sustainable Food Preference (SFP), which estimates
the consumers' preferences toward organic and non-organic foods.
The study found that environmental concerns had a major influ-
ence on consumers' groceries, while the other two attitudes had no
major effects. Overall, the paper suggested that there is a weak
relationship between attitudes and sustainable consumption. This
might be due to attitudes being inactive in the process of shopping.
In terms of socio-demographic categories and how they are
divided. The study revealed that education is the key factor in
affecting behavior. Other demographics predict sustainable atti-
tudes but do not affect behavior. For instance, women tend to be
more concerned about the environment than men. Similarly,
younger consumers with university education show concerns for
the environment, whereas older consumers tend to score high in
Green Consumer Action, while postgraduates are negatively related
to Sustainable Food preferences.
9.4. Policies
Population growth has always constituted a debate among those
who believe that the earth carrying capacity is not affected by in-
crease in population if resources and wastes are sustainably
managed, and those who believe that increase in population would
lead to resource depletion. Population issues must be addressed
from many angles, one way to deal with them is setting policies in
both high and low fertility rate in order to balance the population.
Ezeh et al. (2012) suggested family planning program for men and
women in developing countries to reduce child mortality. The au-
thors explained that previously, countries with low fertility rates
were complacent in introducing population growth programs due
to fear of being called out on double standards when addressing
population reduction in other countries. The authors argues that
countries with low fertility rates should not wait to address the
issue before it is too late. There are few policies that would help
solve the problem such as paid maternal leave, lower taxes for
families, subsidized child products and birth bonuses. It has been
reported elsewhere (Knight et al., 2013) that less working hours
would reduce pressure on the environment in high-income Orga-
nization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries
(OECD). The report showed that working hours is strongly related
to environmental pressures. This presents a perfect opportunity to
reduce the pressures on the environment by setting a policy on
reduced working hours especially in high-income countries where
welfare will not be affected. However, this could prove challenging
mainly due to companies who are against shorter work hours and
due to austerity measures implemented by countries because of
financial crises or fall oil prices.
Countries in the South Asia are battling with balancing their
surging population and available resources. A study by Rasul (2016)
investigated food, water and energy problem in South Asia, and
argued that the governments have implemented several policies
yet the problem still persists. The author presented the problem of
food shortage and reviewed policies to subsidize water and energy
prices in order to increase cereal production as a sustainable so-
lution. However, these initiatives contributed to higher energy and
water demand as well as increasing water-related diseases. As in
Jevon's Paradox, free or cheaper water and energy would not solve
the problem, on the contrary, it would lead to the overuse of re-
sources. Environmental considerations should be included in the
pricing of water, energy and food, while only subsidizing their
prices in special cases such as poor farmers. Finally, the paper
introduced a framework for integrating policies in the three sectors,
i.e. water, energy and food. The framework includes increasing
coordination between the three sectors, harmonizing the policies,
introducing incentives and directing them towards sustainability
goals, controlling unsustainable actions and introducing more
advanced technologies where it is needed, supporting investments
in advanced technologies for more water and energy savings and
finally creating a shared knowledge base.
9.5. Other strategies
Several research works have been reported on potential
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
strategies for sustainable consumption. One of such works was
reported by Salo et al. (2016) who investigated four action models
in Finland in order to reduce the carbon footprint of households,
save energy and water. These include reducing household elec-
tricity consumption, decreasing transportation footprint, reducing
meat and dairy consumption and reducing food waste. These action
models introduced a service concept in order to help homeowners
with renovations for more efficient houses. The action models also
provided advice and energy saving repairs for companies and small
and medium businesses. Workshops and training on how to reduce
their carbon footprint were also provided for renting residents.
Elsewhere, Jaeger-Erben et al. (2015) innovative strategies for more
sustainable consumption were proposed. The first strategy is called
“Do It Together”; it involves social teamwork and sometimes
sharing surplus resources, examples include community gardening
and energy supply. The second strategy is Consumer Involvement
and it involves consumers being more active in conservation
campaigns. It is less demanding than “Do It Together”. The third
strategy is Collaborative Consumption, it is brought about by
creating a sharing community where consumers can purchase or
sell energy efficient devices and products. However, it requires
cooperation and higher engagement than the other two previous
strategies. The fourth strategy is “Do It Yourself”, this is an indi-
vidual activity where competent consumers are supported and
provided with the required facilities for sustainable consumption.
The last strategy is a better use of devices; examples include car
sharing, bicycle rentals and etc. In other work, Rodprasert et al.
(2014) the prospects of a smart society that relies on green en-
ergy were proposed. One approach is introducing smart homes
powered by solar energy; the house will have a computerized
system with energy saving procedures such as light control.
Another approach is supplying homes with energy generated by
tidal waves. The proposals also include a transportation system, in
which hydrogen-powered cars and hybrid vehicles are introduced
to reduce carbon emissions. In conclusion, the proposals suggested
options such as providing facilities for consumers to start a “Do It
Yourself” project by providing a DIY center in each community and
for societies to be self-dependent by growing their own food in
their backyards in order to reduce the demand for fertile lands and
energy spent on food transportation.
9.6. Concluding remarks on accommodating population growth
All the above outlined strategies, approaches and interventions
are put forward to manage resources sustainably in the current
populated world. In regions where low or aging population is a
challenge, their population may be boosted while adopting a
number of interventions such as, paid maternal leave, lower taxes
for families, subsidized child products and birth bonuses. To
address the overall global population explosion however, the single
most important factor to control the world population is education;
highly-educated city dwellers procreate less. It is equally important
to mention that education, a factor that is currently responsible for
low and aging population in advanced countries, should not be
utterly prescribed for developing countries as the antidote for
controlling their surging population. Rather, sustainable education
that recognizes different interventions to population control should
be adopted.
10. Environmental management of natural resources
Environmental resource management (ERM) is the manage-
ment of manmade processes that have direct or indirect impact on
the environment. It focuses on the conservation and preservation of
ecological units for next generations on the ethical, ecological and
991
economic grounds. The main areas addressing ERM include the
protection of the environment, sustainable development and
improved land administration. Fig. 4 shows the environmental
resource management case studies for better understanding. Fig. 4a
shows the shrinking water body of Aral Sea as a result of poor water
management which was used for irrigational purposes (NASA,
2018). Due to poor management of water resources, water bodies
have been reduced, resulted in endangering the biosphere in the
locality. On the other hand, Fig. 4b shows a suitable ERM for the
protection of marine species facing problems due to the turbine
entrapment in dams. It shows a bypass scheme for fishes used at
hydroelectric dams to decrease fish entrance into turbomachinery
(Linnansaari et al., 2015).
10.1. Sustainable management of natural resources
The current extractive pressure on earth limited resources is
huge. The reason for the upsurge in the use of natural resources is
directly linked to population explosion (Akhtar et al., 2016). To
address this critical issue, there is a need for new policy and
planning for sustainable management of natural resources
(Meadows, 1998; Brugmann, 1997) placed much emphasis on the
environment when discussing sustainable city; they advocated for
the inclusion of indicators related to pollution and natural re-
sources consumptions. Indicators like carbon emission, waste vol-
umes, recycling rates, energy and water consumptions, energy mix,
water quality, green space ratio, agricultural land loss, and primary
forests are few of sustainability parlances their study discussed. In
addition to a healthy ecosystem, Rode and Burdett (2011) adopted a
more socio-economic approach for a sustainable city, where social
equity has an equal share of importance with green living envi-
ronment, through innovation and job creation, which does not
contradict the ecological sustainability since it calls for a clean
service-oriented economy. This ecological modernization (Hajer,
1995) will minimize the trade-offs between the environment and
the economic development and will allow economic growth, social
stability, and ecological preservation altogether. Adua (2011), Hajer
(1995) and Mol (2003) have studied how the concept of ecological
modernization is emphasizing the important role of ecology in
enhancing the economy through efficient and productive use of
natural resources, which as a result, would contribute towards
future development and growth of labor and capital. This can be
achieved through innovation of green technologies and increasing
efficiency for processes such as the management of the supply
chain, designing more environmental products, and replacing
hazardous substances with benign alternatives. This will help
decrease emissions and resources turnovers in addition to
enhancing the quality of industrial production (De Jong et al., 2015).
Incorporating the designs for social and agricultural practices
based on natural ecosystems through permaculture can assist in
the efficient management of these depleting material resources.
The concept of permaculture can be implemented through three
ethical components: Care for Earth, Care for People and Fair share
for everyone. A new management tool with the incorporation of
permaculture has been proposed as follows (Akhtar et al., 2016):
 Recording all natural assets and evaluating them in quantifiable
measurements.
 Pulling policymakers' attention toward sustainability in
resource management.
 Setting standards to assess the sustainability of resource man-
agement and evaluate indicators.
 Taking policy initiatives in natural resources under
consideration.
992 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
a)
1989 2003
Fig. 4. Environmental resource management case studies a) Shrinking water body of Aral Sea as a result of inadequate to substandard water control employed for irrigation
purposes (NASA, 2018) and b) A bypass scheme for fishes used at hydroelectric dams to decrease fish entrance into turbomachinery.
 Evaluating critical success factors in order to predict the risk of
resources exhaustion.
 Monitoring and evaluating progress.
 Verification and comparison with reference standards.
This strategy can measure both tangible and intangible in-
dicators of natural resource management as well as evaluating the
consumption levels and critical success factors of a certain policy.
Thus, providing efficient policies while preventing over-
exploitation of natural resources.
An important case study using environmental resource man-
agement for coastal urban area is reported by Economou and
Mitoula (2013). Glyfada is located in the capital city of Athens, it
is rich with natural resources and it is an attraction for tourism,
major businesses and luxury residences. Economou and Mitoula
(2013) conducted a survey on the issues facing the natural re-
sources of Glyfada, which included interviews with officials on land
use assessments. Results showed that while 94% of Glyfada is still
under protection, the threat to the environment is still present in
the form of poor land use and air pollution caused by traffic. Ini-
tiatives are needed to conserve the existing natural resources, make
use of the open spaces and turn it green and improve the use of the
beach.
Economou and Mitoula (2013) have summarized necessary ac-
tions to achieve the required goals as highlighted below;
 Enhance Natural Gas use.
 Promote the use of trams within the city
 Construct a cycling network in the streets
 Increase automation in the building
 Include thermal insulation and bioclimatic designs in
construction
 Harvest solar power to generate electricity
 Create green passageways to preserve native vegetation and
fauna.
 Separating resource consumption from economic growth is
necessary
 Research on air pollution and the reducing the causes must be
conducted
b)
Optimal water resource management in a sustainable manner is
vital in order to safeguard the impact of future projections. It is
important to consider the effect of population growth as well as the
time value of money in designing water network for cities. Rojas-
Torres et al. (2014) presented a model to investigate the optimal
scenario for water planning, storage and distribution. Three sce-
narios were applied to a Mexican city in order to study which
scenario is the most economic and most sustainable. Case study 1 is
an approach that is currently applied. It does not involve any
alternative water source such as rainwater storage or recycled
water. Results showed that the water demands can be met through
planning and scheduling while maintaining water sources at a
sustainable level. Case study 2 utilizes rainwater collection and
storage through 12 artificial ponds. It has been reported that rain-
water can provide 20% of the demand, however, the collected
rainwater is not consistent throughout the years and more storage
area is required in order to reduce the effects of fluctuating pre-
cipitation patterns. Case study 2 presented a 20% increase over case
study 1 in profit. Case study 3 utilizes both rainwater storage and
recycled water as alternative water sources. However, fewer storage
tanks for rainwater are needed compared to case study 2. Case 3
does not depend on rainwater as case 2 and it reduces the waste-
water discharged into the environment. In this scenario, it is ex-
pected that using rainwater and recycled water can provide up to
25% of the water demand as well as offering around 30% increase
than case study 1 in profit. The use of alternative water sources such
as rainwater and recycled water must be promoted and subsidized
to reduce demand pressure on natural water resources. Further-
more, governments should focus on long-term investments in the
required infrastructures for water collection and treatment.
Social factors and public attitude are extremely important when
developing strategies and setting polices for ecosystem services
administration. A study Baur et al. (2016) presented a comparison
between the attitudes of homeowners and renters regarding urban
forest ecosystem in four cities in the state of Oregon in the United
States. The results of the study showed that both renters and
homeowners in all four cities almost agreed on the importance of
management goals for urban forests such as habitat protection and
environmental preservation. However, there is a small difference
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
between renters and homeowners, renters showed stronger atti-
tudes toward the support of management goals. The paper points
out that by considering these attitudes, managers and adminis-
trators can predict the success of an initiative and effectively engage
the public and get their support through outreach programs.
Hunt et al. (2016) discussed the advantages and challenges of
underground urban space (UUS). Living underground could reduce
the harmful impact of urbanization on the environment whilst
improving accessibility and services for the underground residents.
For this to work, proper tools are required to understand and assess
the value created by UUS for the sustainability of cities. Developing
a framework to evaluate UUS and using computational techniques
may assist in examining the feasibility. These approaches include
modeling, using geographical data systems such as GIS and per-
forming scenario analysis. The knowledge gaps in UUS assessments
and possible areas to research for UUS are: resilence of design of
geo-structures, durability and lifetime of geo-structures, geological
attributes and their impacts, coherence between decision-making
and city planning processes, site information with respect to loca-
tion and time.
10.2. Managing ecological footprint of sustainable cities
Marsal-Llacuna et al. (2015) reviewed the case studies of sus-
tainable cities and investigated the key indicators that best mea-
sure sustainability. The author addressed the lack of aggregated or
synthetic summarizing index to effectively monitor and measure
the sustainability level of a city. It also stressed the need for sum-
marizing index in order to summarize a huge amount of data as
well as predict the success of an initiative. The paper reviewed the
recent work done on sustainable cities standards. The International
Standards Organization is the first entity to set standards and cer-
tification process in this field, which are followed by other entities
such as the European Committee for Standardization. Nevertheless,
all these initiatives lack the required summarizing indices. There-
fore, the paper suggested real-time data of quality of life and sus-
tainability in order to create smart indicators then develop an index
that measures the sustainability of cities.
Ecological footprint (EF) and biocapacity (BC) are two tools that
can be used to assess ecological sustainability (Adua, 2011). The
tools can be used as the following; if EF > BC for a city, it represents
an ecological deficit (ED) city that is an ecological debtor, while if a
city has a BC that is larger than its EF BC > EF, it is an ecological
creditor city, and this represents an ecological surplus (Rugani et al.,
2014). The comparison of EF and BC was used along with ecological
deficit (ED) and ecological overshoot (EO) to calculate the resource
excessive consumption indicator (RECI), where the data were
drawn from China statistical yearbook, published by the govern-
ment from 1980 to 2011. Although China's economy is flourishing,
the country is facing a huge ecological degradation due to natural
resources overconsumption (Gao and Tian, 2016). Population
growth and socio-economic development are important causes for
excessive natural resources consumptions. In addition to excessive
natural resources consumption, importing other products (ETD)
contributed toward the increase of ED. This influences the national
EF at the global scale, which is why these indicators are important
to calculate the potential threats that are accrued in the national
trades. Since 1983, ED increased 66 folds and 3.6 times the current
bio-productive lands to provide for the current consumption (Gao
and Tian, 2016). Since China is an agricultural country, cropland
production and consumption EF have been the largest among
others. Yet, this is to be changed by the diet choices and socio-
economic development effects. As China is facing an increasing
discrepancy between consumption EF per capita and BC, the
country is facing a high overconsumption for its natural resources
993
and ETD, which is mainly about exporting energy resources (oil and
iron) and goods like steel and cement. The country has one of the
highest consumption per capita in the world that exceeds United
States, Japan, and European Union. These issues place a big chal-
lenge on China's foreign trade and ecological system.
To reduce the ecological deficit (ED), Gao and Tian (2016) rec-
ommended two main actions to consider;
1. To increase the biocapacity: By identifying an ecological
threshold to maintain ecological stabilization for land area and
protect ecological service functions. This will improve the
ecological security patterns of lands and will enhance the land
potential productivity.
2. To increase bioproductivity through more efficient agricultural
systems: By promoting innovative agricultural equipment and
scientific land management. Enhancing irrigation systems and
developing higher efficiency breeding technology.
As some of these ecological development models and efforts
have not solved the problem of environmental degradation, but on
the contrary, have caused more damages over time which were not
limited to ecological system, but touched social system as well
through inequality issues among the industrialized societies (Beck,
2008). Ecological modernization (EM), which suggests the possi-
bility of achieving economic growth and environmental protection
synergistically, is one of the positive responses that emerged to
address the concerns raised by the environmental policies and
development strategies that caused environmental deterioration
during the industrialization era that accompanied the rapid urban
population increase in the 20th century. The way EM can achieve its
purpose by innovative thinking and design that target efficiency in
natural resources and energy use through a productive use of
€nicke and Lindemann, 2010).
natural resources, capital and labor (Ja
As EM is considered to be a participatory process where civil
society contributes to the policy implementation through educa-
tion, research and experimentation, it could achieve successes
around the world (Bayulken and Huisingh, 2015).
10.3. Concluding remarks on environmental management of
natural resources
Preservation and management of natural resources is not
limited to abiotic natural resources (non-renewable resources such
as fossil fuels) alone, the argument put forward by Crenna et al.
(2018) is that biotic natural resources (renewable natural re-
sources) equally need much attention on their sustainability. It has
been proposed that a transition towards a circular biotic economy is
urgently needed in order to effectively manage renewable re-
sources, such that the rate of their regeneration is not lower than
the rate of their consumption. For abiotic natural resources, the
solution recommendations provided by Economou and Mitoula
(2013) are all-encompassing; the ones which encourage the use
of natural gas in place of other carbon intensive fossil fuels,
encourage the use of tram within the cities in place of individual
vehicles, encourage automation in the buildings in place of manual
resource saving mode, encourage harvest of solar for electricity
generation in place of fossil-based fuels, and etc.
11. Water security
Currently, there are about 400 big cities and 23 megacities in the
world with about one million and 10 million inhabitants, respec-
tively. Half of all cities with populations greater than 100,000 are
located in water-scarce basins.
Jenerette and Larsen (2006) studied the water condition of the
994 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
world's 524 large cities (with a population larger than 750,000) in
terms of the availability of their renewable water resources and
urban water consumption between the years 2000 and 2015. In the
study, a modified ecological footprint was used to identify the
relative significance of the factors affecting the continuous supply
of water to the cities. Results of the study demonstrated that the
most significant change in urban footprint rate is in the cities with
rapid growing rates, in arid and semi-arid regions. It was suggested
that climate change has higher impacts than increased per capita
water consumption or growth of urban population on the urban
water supply (Jenerette and Larsen, 2006).
11.1. Water & sustainability
The sustainable management of urban water systems requires
an integrated scientific, technical, ecological and socio-economic
studies (Bertrand-Krajewski et al., 2000; Rijsberman and Van De
Ven, 2000). In addition, Dobbie et al. (2016) suggest that urban
water management requires an inclusive risk governance which
involves stakeholders with a diverse range of attitudes, knowledge,
values and beliefs. For sustainable water management in cities, it is
essential to shift from traditional centralized large water systems to
distributed water systems. Despite the recent technological ad-
vances in sustainable urban water management, the shift to sus-
tainable water management systems is very slow (Van de Meene
et al., 2011). The urgent need to shift from the current traditional
urban water management systems to sustainable urban water
management systems was discussed in the work of (Marlow et al.,
2013). Traditional centralized urban water systems are maladapted
to the challenges in growing cities since they deliver water services
via networks of buried pipes. This infrastructure requires a high
capital investment and cannot be adopted to the changing condi-
tions in the cities. Sustainable urban water management systems
produce more benefits than the traditional urban water manage-
ment systems. The potential governance characteristics of sus-
tainable urban water management is studied by Van de Meene et al.
(2011). The study suggested that at practical and operational level,
there is a need for hybrid governance provisions which comprise
network and hierarchical methodologies with market governance
tools.
Water Footprint (WF) is the total volume of freshwater,
including direct and indirect or embedded (virtual) water used to
produce the goods and services (Paterson et al., 2015). It measures
the dependency of human economic activities on water. Hence, WF
does not measure economic and social sides. WF illustrates the
hidden links between human consumption and water use and
between global trade and water resource management. The total
water footprint of a country is composed of internal and external
water footprints. The internal water footprint is the volume of
water needed to provide goods and services which are produced
and consumed inside the country, whereas the external water
footprint is the result of consumption of imported goods or water
which are used for the production of goods in the exporting
country. The external water footprint is often referred to as “virtual
water”. The water footprint concept is rooted in the search to
illustrate the hidden links between human consumption and water
use and between global trade and water resource management
(Mori and Christodoulou, 2012).
House-Peters and Chang (2011) used a theoretical model which
comprises both human and natural systems to analyze the meth-
odological advances in urban water demand over the past 30 years.
These advances include both the theoretical and empirical meth-
odologies to analyze the complex system behavior. The authors
comparatively discuss the earlier and the recent methodologies.
Today, availability of more data and advances in technology enables
development of more sophisticated models which can better
simulate human agency through complex decision-making
processes.
Jorgensen et al. (2009) developed a theoretically integrated
social and economic water use model to understand household
water consumption through examining behavioral models of water
use. The model describes a number of new factors that have im-
pacts on household water use behaviors as well as the other factors
that have been previously found. The proposed model suggests that
consumption, conservation intention, and perceived behavioral
control is influenced by (1) demographic characteristics (such as
income, age, education and household size), (2) dwelling charac-
teristics (including house size, water using appliances and type),
and (3) household composition (number of people and ages).
Pataki et al. (2011) proposed a new framework for urban water
system, which integrates the factors affecting the demand and
supply of water, by combining biophysical and social dimensions of
the urban water system. In the study, western US cities are
considered as an example. This region is believed to provide valu-
able lessons for addressing water challenges in other cities. The
proposed socio-eco-hydrology framework integrates the disparate
variables in urban water consumption and provides a better un-
derstanding of interactions between social and biophysical system
components for urban water system management.
11.2. Case studies
Fielding et al. (2013) investigated the long term impact of three
different interventions in South East Queensland. 221 households
participated in the study. They initially completed a survey, then
smart water meters were installed in respondents’ houses. The
results of the study revealed that all interventions contributed to
reduction in water use. However, after 12 months, this reduction
dissipated to the pre-intervention level. It was attributed to the loss
of information campaign by that time. Therefore, it was suggested
that if the households were provided with adequate information, a
greater reduction could be achieved. The study contributed to
reduction in urban residential water demands and equally
addressed water security. It finally suggested that understanding of
the benefits of voluntary water demand management strategies in
a long-term would provide water managers a valuable information
to make a better long-term plan.
Beal et al. (2013) aimed to identify the disparities between
perceived and actual residential end use water consumption. A
detailed survey and high-resolution end-use measures were con-
ducted in order to (1) compare the perceived and actual residential
water consumption, (2) identify the contributions of physico-social
variables on disparities between perceived and actual water con-
sumption, and (3) describe the characteristics of groups who over-
or under-estimate their water use. The results of the study showed
that perceived high water users consumed less than perceived
medium water users; 301 L/h/d and 452 L/h/d, accordingly. It was
identified that the characteristics of the over-estimated group are
less education, having less income, having less number of children,
less occupancy, less likely to have water efficient technology,
whereas the characteristics of the under-estimated group are
higher income, larger family with young children, more likely to
have water efficient technology (low-flow shower roses and higher
star rated washing machines). The authors suggested that future
studies should be conducted for at least full seasonal data, because
the study was carried out only for two weeks. Willis et al. (2011)
complemented this suggestion with a study covering two years
end-use data. In the study, a detailed survey and high resolution
end use measures were carried out to investigate the relationship
between environmental awareness (attitudes and beliefs) and
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
understanding, with actual water consumption behavior. The re-
sults showed that on average, the end uses with the highest water
consumption rates are shower; by 31%, clothes washer; by 20%,
faucet; by 17%, toilet; by 14% and plants irrigation; by 12%. In the
study, it was found that the household that showed high concern
for the environment and water conservation had a lower total
water consumption. It is also the case for discretionary (influenced
by behavior) end-use categories (shower, clothes washing, irriga-
tion, and tap) that households who had a strong positive concern
for the environment consumed less water (Willis et al., 2011).
11.3. Mitigation actions
Verstraete and Vlaeminck (2011) proposed Zero-Waste-Water
concept as a solution to sustainable centralized technology. Cur-
rent sewage treatment depends on conventional activated sludge
(CAS) systems. However, CAS has the drawbacks of high-cost, low
recovery, high energy and great impact on the environment. Zero-
Waste-Water concept aims to recover water, energy and valuable
materials from sewage while removing pathogens, heavy metals
and trace organics. The authors evaluated the aforementioned re-
coveries from an economic point of view and suggested Zero-
Waste-Water concept as an economically viable concept in short-
cycling of wastewater resources for sustainable cities.
Tortajada (2006) presented a successful demand and supply
management practice which is applied in Singapore to reduce its
dependence on external resources for water supply since Singapore
depends on Malesia for water importation. Rainfall storage, desa-
lination and a sophisticated technology for water recycling were
included in the practice. All the water governance methods applied
in Singapore were presented in detail. The study recommended the
same practice to the cities which are under development to secure
their water in the future.
Larsen et al. (2016) discuss possible solutions for challenges of
urban water security. These solutions are (1) new concepts of storm
water drainage, (2) increased water productivity, (3) distributed or
on-site treatment of wastewater, (4) source separation of human
waste, and (5) institutional and organizational reforms.
 Storm water drainage: The conventional urban water manage-
ment approach has the limits of storm water drainage. Larsen
et al. (2016) introduces the possible concepts to overcome
these limits. The concepts are; sustainable urban drainage sys-
tems (SUDS), low impact urban design and development
(LIUDD), water-sensitive urban design (WSUD), and green in-
frastructures (GI). The main purpose of these concepts is to
minimize flood risk and also the impact of storm-water drainage
on aquatic environment.
 Increasing water productivity: Three main strategies to increase
water productivity are defined; reducing water waste, reuse of
lower-quality water, and regenerating high-quality water from
used water. The last two strategies have the advantage of
compatibility with conventional urban water networks. How-
ever, it requires an additional infrastructure for treatment and
redistribution.
 Distributed or on-site treatment of wastewater: Decentralized
systems are advised due to their low cost of investment and easy
access by a short term construction. Decentralized systems also
have the advantage of increasing water productivity.
 Source separation of waste: Greywater recovery is advised
particularly for arid regions as a potential to save potable water
since it provides a continuous water source.
 Institutional and organizational reforms: A combined approach of
centralized management with centralized treatment technology
995
is defined as the most economically efficient organizational and
regulatory mode.
11.4. Concluding remarks on water security
Water security and water sustainability are among the most
discussed sustainability issues in our modern world. The reason is
because water is essential to life and it is the building block of
almost all other known materials. Ironically, water is one of the
most abundant materials on our planet and yet difficult to access in
most parts of the world. The accessible fresh water is less than 1% of
all known water that makes up about 75% of the planet. Although
saline water is being accessed and desalinated in some water
stressed regions (such as in some parts of Australia and among the
Gulf Countries), this comes at a steep price in both cost and sus-
tainability. Every conceivable sustainability principle has been
applied to water; from water reuse to water recycle, water scarcity
persists in most regions of the world. Like most materials, applying
circular economy to used and wastewater is necessary to conserve
the relatively little accessible water on the planet. Application of
circular economy to wastewater would yield deliverables; accord-
ing to (Ghosh and Mukherjee, 2019), from the estimate predicted
on the application of circular economy to wastewater in some water
stressed regions (which comprise of Ghana, California, Northern
Asian Nations, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates and Netherlands)
in the world, about 412 billion m3$year 1, which is approximately
11% of global water demands and about the whole water con-
sumption of the United States per year would be saved. For city
water sustainability, different technological solutions (Kefeni et al.,
2017; Theregowda et al., 2016; Wilcox et al., 2016) are needed to
recapture and reclaim water and other valuable materials in
wastewater (such as energy, fertilizer, nutrients, etc.) that can be
reutilized onsite for various urban, industrial and agricultural
purposes.
12. Future cities built on sustainability principles
12.1. Sustainable education
For effective scaling of sustainable education from its present
niche to a far-reaching curriculum (Rowe, 2007), the purchasing
power of the academic institution as they demand more environ-
mentally and socially responsible products and processes would
change the outlook of sustainability progressively. More energy-
efficient, greener buildings and retrofitting of the existing facil-
ities with environmentally friendly alternatives and the substantial
policy drives for renewable energy purchases and operations would
have an enduring impact on sustainable education. Sustainability
audits and reporting and sustainability living and campaign in the
halls of residence have already started in some notable universities
across the United States. By way of examples, other countries can
emulate these practices. Making sustainability a requirement for all
undergraduate programs would go a long way in entrenching
sustainable education in the universities. For effective approach to
solving the perennial problem of climate change, the solution
recommendations for sustainable education must be thoroughly
implemented; for example, some approaches of teaching students
need to be completely expunged from our textbooks, such as
“endless growth”, “man conquers nature” and “unlimited natural
resources” etc.
12.2. Renewable energy
The importance of renewable energy for sustainable
996 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
development of a society is significant. However, consumer attitude
toward renewable energy is much more important. The willingness
of consumer to pay (WTP) for a renewable energy technology de-
pends on many factors; education, awareness, age, cost, govern-
ment policies and support etc.
Menges et al. (2005), Yoo and Kwak (2009) and Zori
c and
Hrovatin (2012) studied the behavior of the consumer on WTP
and willingness to adopt (WTA) in Germany, South Korea and
Slovenia respectively. Their findings showed that highly educated
and middle-aged people display a positive attitude towards the
adoption of renewable energy than other groups. An extension of
this research to determine why other groups fall short on WTA and
WTP would provide pathways for lasting solutions in renewable
energy recommendations and deployment.
Energy security and cost savings are the factors that motivate
consumer towards renewable energy, however, high initial cost and
equipment maintenance may act as barriers in the adoption of new
renewable energy technology (Hast et al., 2015).
More awareness regarding the benefits of renewable and sus-
tainable energy, lower prices and government support and inter-
vention are needed to scale future energy from its present niche to
wider audiences in order to save the environment, humans and
other lifeforms.
12.3. Energy efficiency
Energy efficiency is seen as an important feature of sustain-
ability worldwide. However, the claim that the impact of improved
energy efficiency on reducing energy use works on the basis of
rebound and backfire effects is debatable. Increasing energy effi-
ciency leads to a decrease in its price, making it more affordable for
people and hence making its use rise by a considerable amounte
This effect is called ‘rebound’ or ‘takeback’ effect (Hanley et al.,
2009). As its use increases the C02 emissions, this becomes a
cause of additional global warming. Therefore, the increased con-
sumption of energy should not only be linked with increasing its
efficiency, rather a policy of sufficiency should be considered while
trying to reduce the consumption. Behavioral solution is very
important, the concept of living on less should be promoted among
the people so that they feel the need to consume less energy.
Working hours should be made less so people can have more lei-
sure time for their families and communities rather than focusing
on material consumption. This ideology, however, totally chal-
lenges the already present ideology of this world that talks about
consumer choice and free-market capitalism (Herring, 2006).
In order to decrease CO2 emissions, the focus should not be on
consuming less energy but on turning towards fuels that are less
carbon-intensive like nuclear power and renewable energy sources.
This would promote energy growth with less carbon emissions.
Therefore, turning towards nonfossil fuels is a better technical so-
lution than improving energy efficiency. However, on social welfare
and economic grounds, improving energy efficiency should be
promoted. In conclusion, this may sound contradicting to the
argument above; the main energy problem may not be about
consumption, but rather about clean sustainable consumption.
High consumption may be dealt with in separate economic policies,
the focus now should be about clean consumption which would
lead to clean and breathable emissions.
12.4. Sustainable buildings
There is a significant shift to rehabilitation of present buildings.
Bullen (2007) examined the consequence of adaptive reuse of
commercial buildings on sustainability. They concluded that
buildings’ adaptation retains cultural heritage and might be more
cost-effective than demolition and rebuilding. On the other hand,
many barriers appeared to oppose the development of old build-
ings which is mainly concerned with cost (Bullen, 2007). However,
some of these barriers include no economic benefit for the owners
from the reuse, old buildings require more maintenance, renova-
tion process might be extensively costly and inability to meet the
required performance standards.
Despite the recent substantial progress in the development of
sustainable building assessment tools, there remain several issues
with assessment methods and system frameworks, which signifi-
cantly affect their reliability and applicability. If these problems
persist, the role of sustainable building assessment tools as decision
making aids during the design stage would be critically limited.
Delivering sustainable urban infrastructure faces the following
challenges: improving the understanding of sustainability, global
warming, increased urbanization, increases age and risk of failure
in urban infrastructure, increase in consumption in developing
countries and resources availability of energy, water and con-
struction materials. To overcome these sustainability challenges,
implementable research needs to achieve the following goals:
establish the fundamentals of the science of sustainability as a
foundation for infrastructure, enable greater understanding of the
risks that affect infrastructural systems and assist in developing
better community response for sustainability challenges (Boyle
et al., 2010).
12.5. Sustainable transportation
There are widespread uncertainties on how to address the goals
of sustainable transportation, but there is a consensus on the
parties that can make the goals successful; the synergetic part-
nership of government, private companies and citizens. Due to the
complexity of urban transportation problems and a myriad of
participants involved, major cultural change and societal awareness
should be indoctrinated in order to achieve sustainable trans-
portation goals (Administration, 2005).
Sustainable transportation arrangement must stay away from
the conventional urban transportation system in which trans-
portation is restricted to means of mobility in the urban settings, a
condition that prevents innovation in transportation system. A
sustainable transportation strategy must recognize the four
emerging areas of innovation in city transportation: Mobility, City
Logistics, Intelligent System Management, and Livability. Sustain-
able transportation is one in which transportation does not
endanger public health or ecosystems and meets the needs for
access consistent with (a) use of renewable resources below their
regeneration rates, and (b) use of non-renewable resources below
the rates of development of renewable substitutes. The contem-
porary city-wide sustainable transportation system classification is
based on 8 proficient decision making strategies, which are;
1. Cost effectiveness analysis (CEA) and cost benefit analysis (CBA)
2. Life cycle analysis
3. Data analysis
4. Environmental impact assessment
5. Multi-criterial decision analysis (MCDA)
6. Optimization models
7. Assessment indicator models
8. System dynamic models
For future decision making strategies in sustainable trans-
portation, the combination of MCDA with artificial intelligence and
also the use of MCDA under an uncertain environment (Awasthi
et al., 2011) would add to the effectiveness of city transportation
systems.
 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
12.6. Food wastes and sustainability issues
In order to really benefit the environment, the better approach is
to avoid food wastes getting to landfills by employing home com-
posting as an alternative method (Trois and Simelane, 2010).
However, the best way to benefit the environment is to prevent
food from being wasted or lost in the first place. Through this
approach, resources used in growing, harvesting, processing and
transporting the food would be saved. This practice would ensure
reduction in the environmental impacts brought about by food
wastes eight times more than biologically treating food wastes
(Quested et al., 2011).
12.7. Accommodating population growth
It has been postulated many times that population increase
would have effects on the carrying capacity of the planet. In spite of
this, an optimistic point of view towards population growth be-
lieves that, with an increase in population, the current agricultural
systems would adapt and become more efficient in light of
continuous technological developments. This is partly true because
the world production rate is higher than the population growth
rate. However, technological advancement would lead to more use
of natural resources which would exert strain on the planet (Alcott,
2005; Missemer, 2012). On the other hand, continuous exploration
of natural resources would eventually encroach on farmlands and
ultimately lead to food shortages. It has been reported that grain
production per capita has been on the decrease since 1978, and per
capita croplands have been decreasing since 1948 (Pimentel et al.,
2010). These are not unconnected with population growth.
Population growth must be addressed from many angles, one
way to deal with the issue is setting policies in both high and low
fertility rate. The work of Ezeh et al. (2012) suggested family
planning program for men and women in developing countries to
reduce unwanted births. Implementing this policy will reduce the
negative views of using contraceptives in the society and improve
the welfare of women and children as well as reduce pressure on
the country's economic resources. The authors explained that
previously, countries with low fertility rates were complacent in
introducing population growth programs due to fear of being called
out on double standards when addressing population reduction in
other countries. The paper argues that countries with low fertility
rates should not wait to address the issue before it is too late. The
paper then goes on suggesting a few policies that would help solve
the problem such as paid maternal leave, lower taxes for families,
subsidized child products and birth bonuses. It has been reported
elsewhere (Knight et al., 2013) that less working hours would
reduce pressure on the environment in high-income Organization
for Economic Co-operation and Development countries (OECD).
The report showed that working hours is strongly related to envi-
ronmental pressures. This presents a perfect opportunity to reduce
the pressures on the environment by setting a policy to reduce
working hours especially in high-income countries where welfare
will not be affected. However, this could prove challenging mainly
due to companies who are against shorter work hours and due to
the austerity measures implemented by countries because of
financial crises or fall in oil prices.
12.8. Environmental management of natural resources
Langhelle (2000) noted that EM shouldn't be used inter-
changeably with sustainable development (SD), as the latter in-
cludes a wide spectrum of issues such as population, peace, security
and social justice, while EM's main issues are economic growth and
environmental protection. This indicates that it is not a standalone
997
remedial action to the ecological problems emerging with urbani-
zation and population increase, however; it is an effective com-
plementary solution when accompanied with others. Therefore,
managing natural resources is directly related to other sustain-
ability principles; for example, population increase would have
effects on how much resources are extracted, used, recycled, and
dumped.
Socio-economic supporters Cole (2012), Du Plessis (2012), and
Mang and Reed (2012) believe that not only would it preserve the
environmental resources and stocks, but would also help restore
and regenerate the previous loses, in what they call the regenera-
tive development and sustainability paradigm. As the cities are
being supported by technical interventions, economic growth and
ecological regeneration, they can be represented as “low carbon”,
“intelligent”, resilient and livable cities. The growing urban popu-
lation and the emergence of heavy industrialization have caused a
massive degradation in the ecological system, causing great dam-
ages to the environment and its resources, lowering its resilience,
and raising future threats like climate change. All these factors have
led to the emergence of new development models, policies,
frameworks and concepts (Bayulken and Huisingh, 2015).
12.9. Water security
Cities occupy 2% of the earth surface, however, they consume
60e80% of global energy. It is important to note that water and
energy have direct relationship; to generate water, energy is
needed, and to produce energy, water is equally needed. Therefore,
cities oftentimes exceed their environmental footprint in energy
and water use by a factor of up to 150 (Koop and van Leeuwen,
2017). But in order to reduce this factor to an acceptable value,
current major cities need serious “sustainable makeover”. It is a
common knowledge that water availability is region-specific, and
may require extra efforts to provide potable water for a city,
whereas much easier for another city. The net environmental ef-
fects may be very negligible when a city that is located in a highly
water-stressed region can access water sustainably (using renew-
able energy) from non-renewable sources (e.g. water desalination
for cities located in the desert). Wastewater management is a
strong tool for ensuring water security for modern cities. Adopting
advanced practical methods such as membrane bioreactor (MBR)
(Sadeghi et al., 2017; Sepehri and Sarrafzadeh, 2018) is gaining
traction in city-wide wastewater treatments. Such methods ensure
removal of fouling and waste sludge while maintaining high
removal efficiencies (Azami et al., 2012; Rezvani et al., 2019).
13. Conclusion
As highlighted in the preceding sections, creating sustainable
cities requires many interventions; from human capital develop-
ment and knowledge economy to protection of the environment,
new or retrofitted sustainable cities must set new standards in
governing future cities. As shown from the reviewed papers, the
required elements for making sustainable cities are many, however,
the rallying point of these elements is the triple bottom line
approach of sustainability (i.e. environment, economics and eq-
uity). Each element is directly or indirectly connected to these
sustainability principles. Currently, there are about 400 big cities
and 23 mega cities in the world, with about one million and 10
million inhabitants, respectively. Cities occupy about 2% of the
earth surface, they however consume 60e80% of global energy. The
global urban population increased from 220 million to about 2.8
billion in the 20th century, and it is projected that by 2050, this
would increase to 6.9 billion, which is roughly about 70% of the
world population. Therefore, sustainability campaigns, when
998 A. Sodiq et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 227 (2019) 972e1001
directed at cities, would have impacts due to a number of factors
associated with cities: large population, hub of intellectual and
social integration, high consumptions, etc. A new paradigm in
governing and managing future cities sustainably is shifting to-
wards circular economy. Application of circular economy to cities'
economic principles would close energy and material loops, narrow
resource input, emission, waste and energy leakages. In the end,
our future cities would have the capacity to mimic nature's carbon
and water cycles, where recovery and reuse are more important
than the current sustainability condition that places much
emphasis on recycle.
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