The Impacts of Transportation Infrastructure on Sustainable Development: Emerging Trends and Challenges

Changing institutional landscape and transportation development in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Cities in the global south, constrained by limited resources, face challenges in delivering efficient transportation infrastructure and services to support their rapidly growing urban populations. Dhaka, serves as an example, as it grapples with the increasing demand driven by population growth, exacerbated by factors like land and resource scarcity, as well as intricate geopolitical dynamics. Despite the construction of a metro rail and other similar mass transit options, Dhaka continues to face difficulties in meeting the increasing transportation demand, posing a persistent challenge. Multiple institutions, including a coordination authority, are working to provide improved transportation services by implementing diverse strategic approaches focusing on infrastructure development, and formulating policies aimed at facilitating better mobility and accessibility. Over the past fifty years, the institutional arrangement and roles within the transportation system have changed. This study examines the institutional arrangements and how they have evolved, along with reviewing transportation development policies during this period. The findings indicate the involvement of multiple organizations in the city's transportation system performing distinct activities-- administrative, coordinating, legislative, regulatory, construction and management, and law enforcement. These authorities often encounter challenges fulfilling their responsibilities stemming from differences in vision, organizational structure, jurisdiction and most notably, lack of coordinatoon, resulting in ineffective infrastructure development and duplicated activities. To improve the transportation system, this study recommends better equipping the existing coordinating authority and expanding its jurisdiction to include other institutions. This approach aims to enhance coordination and address the challenges faced by Dhaka's transportation system, ultimately facilitating improved mobility and accessibility for the city's growing population.

Mitigation of Social Impacts of Alternative Road Development Plans Based on Local Wisdom in West Sumatra, Indonesia

Infrastructure development, especially roads, is hampered by the fact of rejection based on urgency and attachment to the Ulayat land of the local community. Therefore, further models are needed in the form of mitigation based on culture and local wisdom to avoid conflicts and land disputes and changes in their use. This study aims to identify the social impacts of the bypass Amor Road construction and its mitigation strategies based on the perceptions of the community and stakeholders. This research study uses a descriptive qualitative research method. Data collection techniques were carried out through documentation studies, observation, and in-depth interviews. The data analysis technique was carried out using SIA (social impact analysis). SIA helps the community, government, and private sector to better understand and anticipate possible social problems and the changes they bring about as a result of the construction of the bypass Amor road. The results of the study conclude that the success of road construction depends on the government’s mitigation strategy in adopting local values that live in the community which is then followed by the existence of a foundation and expansion of the fulfilment of community interests. This study recommends three things, namely, (1) conduct intensive and responsive socialization and approach; (2) approach community involvement through a community-based approach and traditional leaders; and (3) prepare alternative livelihoods based on community interest, local potential, market opportunities, and financial feasibility as well as providing capital for businesses.

Research on Sustainable Development of Transport Infrastructure Based on Corporate Culture and Low-Carbon Perspective

Excellence in corporate culture is the key to achieving sustainable business development. Sustainability can be a source of success, innovation and profitability for a company, driving the achievement of low-carbon goals for transport infrastructure enterprises. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between corporate culture and corporate sustainability from the perspective of transport infrastructure enterprises, and to identify which corporate culture factors may have an impact on the sustainable low carbon development of transport infrastructure enterprises. To achieve this, we constructed a structural equation model based on 351 cases in Hunan Province and examined the relationship between corporate culture and sustainable low-carbon development using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings suggest that corporate values and corporate culture management capabilities play an important role in promoting sustainable development of transport infrastructure enterprises at the economic and low-carbon levels.

Carpooling Systems for Commuting among Teachers: An Expert Panel Analysis of Their Barriers and Incentives

Sustainable mobility is a current challenge in our society. Research shows that carpooling systems are potential solutions that could mitigate environmental pollution and urban congestion and provide cost savings for their users. Despite their potential benefits, the levels of carpooling practices among some occupations could be improved. Teachers are suitable for carpooling experiences due to their specific working conditions (e.g., timetables, destinations changes, path matches); however, there is no research solely focused on teachers. Thus, the current research aimed to analyze the barriers and incentives for teachers using carpooling systems for commuting. A panel member was selected following the staticized group technique. Panelists were surveyed to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of carpooling. Results showed that fuel savings were considered by the expert panel as the most important incentive for carpooling. For short distances, carpooling was not considered the best commuting option. Additionally, the increase in travel time and loss of personal independence were identified as relevant barriers. Based on the opinions of experts, it can be concluded that carpooling barriers outweigh the incentives for the commuting of teachers. To promote carpooling practices, institutional mobility plans with advantages for carpoolers could improve the teachers’ perceptions about carpooling. Future carpooling strategies should consider these results to promote incentives and address the identified barriers.

Sustainability and Resilience of Indigenous Siberian Communities under the Impact of Transportation Infrastructure Transformation

Transport provision in remote territories is one of the most important factors in maintaining the sustainability of socio-economic and ecological systems. Indigenous peoples of Siberia have always been mobile using diverse traditional ways across the taiga. During the Soviet period, the transition to settled life, along with technological development and the emergence of new modes of transport, such as off-road cars, snowmobiles, and motor boats, significantly affected the level of population mobility, including remote areas where people are engaged in traditional nature management. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were significant changes and reductions in the subsidies of transportation systems for remote terrains that made them isolated. Transport connectivity has been realized through rare plane flights (once a month or less) or by cars on dirt roads (actually off-road) that take several days of travel. Siberian territories rich with natural resources, low population density, and weak infrastructure might be attractive for mining companies. Being difficult to access not only for the local population, but also for industrial companies, the territories imply the allocation of a significant share of road construction and transport costs in the cost items of miners and processors. The problems of sustainability and resilience of the indigenous peoples of Siberia require special attention when restructuring transport communications, but they have practically not been studied before. Methods of in-depth and group interviews with local residents were used. Based on comparative geographic and statistical analysis and generalization of data, network and problem approaches applied for various sources and field materials (including in-depth and group interviews), the factors of sustainability and resilience, which the indigenous communities of three remote Siberian territories pin their hopes on in the context of the transformation of transportation infrastructure, have been identified. If geographic remoteness remains an unchanged fact, the expansion of desired transport accessibility (mainly due to investments by industrial companies) is associated by locals with the possibility of additional income related to provision of services, the emergence of new types of employment of the population that have not been observed before, and the implementation of new transport modes to support traditional activities.

Challenges for Implementing Environmental Management Plans in Construction Projects: The Case of Malaysia

An environmental management plan (EMP) can reduce the impact of construction projects on the environment. While there is an increasing trend to promote sustainability, effective EMP implementation in Malaysia is limited. In this study, we aim to investigate the challenges for implementing EMP at construction sites in Malaysia, identify the main issues among those challenges, and determine the interrelationships between the main challenges. We identified 30 potential challenges for implementing EMP through a systematic literature review of 41 papers and semi-structured interviews with 20 construction industry professionals. Subsequently, a survey was used to solicit opinions on the challenges. The collected data were analyzed using mean score, standard deviation, normalization, factor analysis, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results illustrate that 21 main challenges exist for implementing EMP in Malaysia. From these, eight main challenges can be grouped into two major components: people- and project-related challenges. ANOVA test results suggest different perceptions of the challenges between project owners, contractors, and consultants. The theoretical implications of this study include a profound understanding of the challenges in implementing EMP at construction sites in Malaysia and their underlying relations.

Research Structure and Trends of Smart Urban Mobility

Mobility is a subject of increasing importance in a time when cities have gained prominence, as they are home to over 56% of the world’s population and generate over 80% of global GDP. Urban planning principles have traditionally been developed to promote urban efficiency and enhance productivity. The emergence of ‘Smart Mobility’ has provided researchers and policy practitioners new ways to understand and plan cities. With rapid urbanization growth and the sustained mobility challenges faced in most global cities, this paper sets forth to understand and map the evolution of the concept of ‘Smart Urban Mobility’ through a bibliometric analysis and science mapping techniques using VOSviewer. In total, 6079 articles were retrieved from the Web of Science database over 5 decades, from 1968 to 2021, and divided into four sub-periods, namely 1968 to 2010, 2011 to 2015, 2016 to 2019, and 2020 to 2021. The paper provides a better understanding of the thematic focus and associated trends of smart mobility beyond technical issues related to Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), where due to diverse dynamics, such as unprecedented growth and advancement in technologies, attention has extended to incorporating the impacts of the application of different technologies in urban mobility as well as associated fields. This paper further identifies major sources, authors, publications, and countries that have made more contributions to the development of this field. The findings of this study can help researchers better understand the evolution of the subject, and help policymakers make better-informed decisions on investable infrastructures for better mobility outcomes in urban regeneration pursuits and future cities.

After the Epidemic, Is the Smart Traffic Management System a Key Factor in Creating a Green Leisure and Tourism Environment in the Move towards Sustainable Urban Development?

The purpose of this study is to explore, after the epidemic, the intelligent traffic management system, which is the key to creating a green leisure tourism environment in the move towards sustainable urban development. First, quantitative research, snowballing, and convenience sampling methods are used to analyze 750 questionnaires with a basic statistical test, t-test, ANOVA test, and the Pearson product–moment correlation coefficient (PPMCC) method. Qualitative research and a semi-structured interview method are used to collect the opinions of six experts on the data results. Finally, the results are discussed with the multivariate inspection method. Although the current electric bicycle system is convenient, the study found that the service quality of the airport is sufficient; that the fare of the subway is low and popular with students if the system can ease the crowd during peak hours; and that the login and security check time can be shortened, which can help improve the operating convenience of the system interface and link the information of leisure and tourism activities. On the other hand, adjusting fares, increasing seats, planning for women-only ticketing measures and travel space, providing disinfection or cleaning facilities in public areas, and improving passenger’s public health literacy and epidemic prevention cooperation will further enhance the student travel experience, improve the smart city and green tourism network, and help achieve sustainable urban tourism.

New Development Direction of Underground Logistics from the Perspective of Public Transport: A Systematic Review Based on Scientometrics

Research on the underground logistics system (ULS) has been carried out for nearly 30 years, but the description of the global research network, research trends, and the discussion of advanced theories and practices have not been systematically reviewed so far. The concept of public freight has expanded a new development direction: metro-based underground logistics system (M-ULS). The purpose of this paper is to analyze this new model by taking underground logistics and public freight as the research object. We performed statistical analyses of 222 references and constructed three kinds of visualized bibliographic information experiments for regional collaboration, authorship collaboration, and keywords co-occurrence. Based on the scientometrics results, the evolution path of the literature evolution was drawn. We used cluster-analysis-based taxonomy to structure the recent relevant literature. According to the comprehensive review, the research stays in the theoretical research stage, mainly focusing on system concept and planning, traffic organization, and network operation. There is still a lack of discussion on engineering quantification and application implementation. Finally, this study highlights some brief ideas, discussions, and potential suggestions for future research. This bibliometric research is expected to provide researchers and practitioners with a panoramic description and in-depth understanding of ULS and M-ULS research.

Contribution of Infrastructure to the Township’s Sustainable Development in Southwest China

Townships in Southwest China are usually located in mountainous regions, which are abundant in natural and cultural landscape resources. There are additional requirements for the township’s sustainable development in these areas. However, insufficient infrastructures, due to limited resources, constrain the sustainable development of these townships. Sustainable contribution of infrastructure (SCOI) in this study is defined as the performance of infrastructure as a contribution to the coordinated development among economic, social, and environmental dimensions of township’s sustainable development. It is necessary to assess these infrastructures according to SCOI and provide choices for investment to maximize resource utilization. Therefore, an assessing model of SCOI with 26 general indicators was developed, which covers five most urgently needed infrastructures of these townships in Southwest China, including road transport, sewage treatment, waste disposal, water supply, and gas. In this model, quantitative and qualitative methods are combined to acquire different SCOI of each infrastructure. The result of the SCOI would be an important reference for infrastructure investment. A case study of Jiansheng Town, that is located in the Dadukou district of Chongqing, demonstrates the applicability of the model. It shows the assessing model of SCOI is efficient to identify the most valuable infrastructure that is appropriate for investment with the goal of township’s sustainable development. This study can provide insights for infrastructure investment and management in townships or areas.

Impact of Parking Maneuvers on the Capacity of the Inlets of Intersections with Traffic Lights for Road Traffic Conditions in Poland

The goal of smart cities and sustainable transport is to ensure the efficient movement of people while minimizing a negative impact on the environment. Many cities around the world conduct a policy aimed at limiting parking spaces; however, the complete elimination of parking spaces in cities currently does not seem possible. Parking vehicles cause disturbances in road traffic by searching for a parking space and performing the parking maneuver. This article analyzes the impact of the parking maneuver on the capacity of the inlets of intersections with traffic lights, and the significance of the time it takes to enter and exit a parking space on road traffic disturbance areas under Polish conditions. The research is carried out in on-street parking, characterized by different positions of the parking space to the road, the different surfaces of parking spaces, and the geometry of the road next to which the parking spaces are located. Differences in the time of entry to and exit from the parking space between the research areas indicate that different characteristics of the parking spaces affect the time of the parking maneuver. Drivers wait for the acceptable distance between vehicles on the road into which the vehicle can exit from the parking space. Drivers exiting from perpendicular parking spaces more often cause traffic disruptions than in the case of parallel parking spaces, due to limited visibility. The occupancy of parking spaces directly next to the analyzed ones also affects the time of entry to and exit from the parking space. However, between the time of entry to or exit from the parking space, and the use of the parking space, there is no relationship. This finding indicates that more factors determine the time of entry to and exit from the parking space. The results presented in the article show the need to conduct further research on the impact of parking maneuvers on the capacity of intersections with traffic lights for road traffic conditions in Poland. The results of the research will allow for the design and construction of an optimal parking infrastructure that will meet the needs of road users, while minimizing the negative impact on road conditions and the natural environment following sustainable development.

A Scientometric Analysis and Overview of Research on Infrastructure Externalities

There is a growing level of concern regarding infrastructure externalities globally. However, most of the previous relevant reviews were undertaken manually and few of them covered all infrastructure systems. This study conducted a scientometric analysis and overview of the research on externalities of all infrastructure systems. The analysis results of 743 articles that were rigorously selected first showed the increasing trend of research interest in infrastructure externalities. Moreover, the results demonstrated productive and influential journals, scholars, and institutions, and their collaboration networks. Furthermore, research on the spillover effects of the infrastructure on economic growth, airport-related externalities, road transport-related externalities, and externalities of ecosystem services and energy systems were identified as the four main research domains. The evolution of the research is reflected in the focus change from economic aspects to environment aspects, from government governance to assessing and pricing by the market, and from airport to other infrastructure systems. Additionally, this study identified the scientific knowledge base supporting each research domain. Finally, this study pointed out research gaps and future research directions in the aspects of knowledge base, multi-dimensional evaluation, and multiple governance strategies. The results could cultivate deeper and more carefully focused research into this field in the academic community, and assist policymakers and practitioners in research planning and funding efforts.

Can Electric Bicycles Enhance Leisure and Tourism Activities and City Happiness?

Using Meizhou City as an example, the aim of this study was to verify whether e-bike sharing systems can improve the convenience of engaging in leisure and tourism activities in cities, and thus increase residents’ well-being. First, quantitative research was carried out to collect data on users’ opinions. Then, qualitative research was carried out to obtain the opinions of experts. Finally, the investigation was conducted using multivariate review analysis. The results of the research showed that e-bikes should be classified based on electric quantity, the rental fee should be charged based on mileage, and the relevant corporate information should be integrated. It is also necessary to develop a software interface with functions for users to rent e-bikes and search for information related to consumption, leisure, and travel activities, and make promotion plans. Finally, people need to be encouraged to cycle to obtain the benefits of leisure and exercise. In this manner, the convenience of participation in leisure and tourism activities can be increased, people’s physical and mental health will be substantially improved, and the happiness index of the people and the city will increase.

Technical efficiency and its determinants in the Indian meat processing industry

The stochastic frontier approach captures the technical efficiency and its determinants of meat processing industry using unit level data from 2002-2016 of annual survey of industries in India. The study concludes substantial (73%) scope of improvement in technical efficiency. Better management of inputs by private limited firms have achieved higher technical efficiency compared to firms of other sectors. Cross learning among best performing states and worst performing states would bridge the gap of technical efficiency in meat processing industry. The matching skill set of labour force with state of art technology is the way out to arrest the deterioration of technical efficiency in the industry.

Bees and pesticides: the research impact and scientometrics relations

Bees are fundamental insects in agroecosystems, mainly due to pollination. However, its decline has been observed in recent years, and the contamination by pesticides is suspected to be responsible. This relationship is the objective of our research, which is the first scientometric study on this subject. The data were obtained from the Web of Science database (1231) and were analyzed using Microsoft Office Excel and CiteSpace. The results point to a significant increase in pesticide and bee reseach in the last 15 years in the most influential scientific journals. The USA and France have the largest number of publications and a moderade relationship between this trait and GDP (gross domestic product) was observed (r = 0.80; r2 = 0.60). There is no correlation between the use of pesticides and studies of the effects on pollinators and the use of pesticides and the countries' GDP. In general, studies have shown the negative effects of the contamination by pesticides on bees; however, most publications are with bees of the Apis genus, and therefore it is necessary to explore the action of pesticides on bumble bees and wild bees, as well furthur as studies are needed regarding the sublethal effects of these products on bees as the number of molecules used in the management of agricultural crops is vast.

How to Measure Environmental Performance in Ports

Oceans, seas, and marine resources are highly relevant for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Such relevance has given rise to the blue economy approach, where scholars and policymakers see activities carried out in cargo ports from a different perspective. The blue economy approach stresses the emergence of multiple transnational networks in relation to these topics and the development of green ports plus environmental measurements at seaports in general. In this context, our study aimed to review the various scientifically documented methods for measuring environmental performance in ports, ports companies, or port authorities in the maritime transport and inland waterways framework. The study followed a scientometric meta-analytic methodology to accomplish its goals. The study strictly referred to the Environmental Performance in Ports (EPP) and extracted the corpus to analyze data held in five databases embedded in the Web of Science Core Collection. Then, the selection was processed and refined with the PRISMA guidelines to establish the eligibility criteria for articles with the PICOS (Population, Interventions, Comparators, Outcomes, and Study) tool. A limited study set was identified. This included port environmental performance indicators and studies that were strongly influenced by the European Sea Ports Organization and Green Marine networks. These were compared based on the ecological Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), scale structure, and diversity in application. Finally, we assessed two measurement forms documented in the scientific research on the subject at a global level and discussed their pros and cons.

A SCIENTOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE EMERGING TOPICS IN GENERAL COMPUTER SCIENCE

Citations have been an acceptable journal performance metric used by many indexing databases for inclusion and discontinuation of journals in their list. Therefore, editorial teams must maintain their journal performance by increasing article citations for continuous content indexing in the databases. With this aim in hand, this study intended to assist the editorial team of the Journal of Information and Communication Technology (JICT) in increasing the performance and impact of the journal. Currently, the journal has suffered from low citation count, which may jeopardise its sustainability. Past studies in library science suggested a positive correlation between keywords and citations. Therefore, keyword and topic analyses could be a solution to address the issue of journal citation. This article described a scientometric analysis of emerging topics in general computer science, the Scopus subject area for which JICT is indexed. This study extracted bibliometric data of the top 10% journals in the subject area to create a dataset of 5,546 articles. The results of the study suggested ten emerging topics in computer science that can be considered by the journal editorial team in selecting articles and a list of highly used keywords in articles published in 2019 and 2020 (as of 15 April 2020). The outcome of this study might be considered by the JICT editorial team and other journals in general computer science that suffer from a similar issue.

Sustainable Transport Infrastructure and Economic Returns: A Bibliometric and Visualization Analysis

Sustainable transport infrastructure can determine the effect of countries’ transport-driven economic returns. Considering the economic, environmental, and social relevance and growing issues of CO 2 in the countries concerned, this study aims to examine sustainable transport infrastructure related to economic return through a bibliometric and visualization analysis from 2000 to 2019. First, to measure the status of sustainable transport infrastructure literature, we determine the number of publications produced per year. Second, we determine the most frequently cited articles and prominent journals on sustainable transport infrastructure. Third, we examine the co-occurrence of the author’s keywords below the abstract. Fifth, we describe the bibliometric details in clusters and analyze the network link between reference, sources, and authors’ co-citations, and discuss the characteristics and structures of clusters. Sixth, we discuss the bibliographic relationship between authors, and finally, determine the country and the institutional network of co-authors. The obtained results identify that the most influential articles, journals, and authors that make a significant contribution to sustainable transport infrastructure studies and present the research sub-areas or themes related to sustainable transport infrastructure. Overall, the study found the paradigms of today, key research areas, and the link between the fields of sustainable transport infrastructure studies. In the meantime, this study also reveals the improvements in the main topics and sub-sections over the last 20 years and shows the changes in future areas of research. The study concluded that the findings could provide researchers with some insights and help to advance studies on sustainable transport systems.

Climate change and sustainable development: the case of Amazonia and policy implications

The relationship between sustainable development and climate change has been extensively addressed, but with few studies focusing on the Amazonian Rainforest. Due to its dimension and importance, preserving it is critical in order to mitigate the problem of climate change associated with rising temperatures, lower precipitation, and the increase of extreme weather events. This paper studies the effects of climate change on the sustainable development of Amazonia. A scientometric analysis was carried out which reveals the evolution of the research field in terms of the growing number of works that have been published in top journals and the main drivers of climate change in Amazonia, such as deforestation, global warming, and land use. Our results indicate that the environmental dimension of sustainable development has been the issue most studied. Our analysis leads us to recommend that policymakers implement incentives for better forest management, design policies with realistic expectations, and rely more on technical reports and approaches to implement policies. Better integration of policies at local, regional, national, and international levels is necessary in order to adapt to and mitigate climate change. Several measures to intensify the scientific approaches joining economic and social dimensions are also proposed. This work contributes to the systematization of the literature on sustainable development and climate change in Amazonia, which has not yet been done, and provides policy recommendations to researchers and professionals for a better understanding of climate change and sustainable development in the Amazonia region of Brazil.

Anthropization and Growth of the Electricity Grid as Variables for the Analysis of Urban Infrastructure

City growth goes together with the development of infrastructure, and the power network is one of the most relevant towards economic development. The study of urban infrastructure through the analysis of anthropization coupled with power network growth can produce a tool that supports sustainable infrastructure planning, both economic and environmental. The case study focuses on Ambato, Ecuador, in the period from 1950 to 2019, and assesses quantitatively the changes in the city layout and the evolution of its power network. The data are adjusted to a sigmoid-type objective function through a non-linear least squares problem, that is solved using the Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno (BFGS) method. Anthropization data show how the urban area grew during the study period: 37% (1950–1960), 53% (1960–1970), 80% (1970–1980), 35% (1980–1990), 39% (1990–2000), 38% (2000–2010), and 11% (2010–2019), mostly at the expense of agricultural land. The forecast for new power network users by 2050 yields a result of 203,630 total users with a population density of 4850 people/km2. The conclusion is that this type of analysis can help city planners and decision makers further understand city and infrastructure growth dynamics and produce policies that bolster sustainable city growth.

A Systematic Literature Review of Green and Sustainable Logistics: Bibliometric Analysis, Research Trend and Knowledge Taxonomy

Ever-growing globalization and industrialization put forward impending requirements for green and sustainable logistics (G&SL). Over the past decades, G&SL initiatives triggered worldwide deliberations, aiming at easing negative transport externalities and improving supply chain performance. This review-based paper attempts to offer a joint quantitative and qualitative understanding for the overall evolutionary trend, knowledge structure, and literature gaps of the G&SL research field. Employing the science mapping approach, a total of 306 major paper published from 1999 to 2019 were retrieved, elaborated on, and synthesized. Visualized statistics regarding publication years, journal allocation/co-citation, inter-country/institution collaboration, influential articles, co-occurred keywords, and time view clusters of research themes were analyzed bibliographically. On this basis, a total of 50 sub-branches of G&SL knowledge were classified and thematically discussed based on five alignments, namely (i) social-environmental-economic research, (ii) planning, policy and management, (iii) application and practice, (iv) technology, and (v) operations research. Finally, the current knowledge obstacles and the future research opportunities were suggested. The findings contribute to portray a systematic intellectual prospect for the state quo, hotspots, and academic frontiers of G&SL research. Moreover, it provides researchers and practitioners with heuristic thoughts to govern transportation ecology and logistics service quality.

Global performance and development on sustainable city based on natural science and social science research: A bibliometric analysis

Sustainable city has been a global concern in recent years, involving natural science and social science research. However, few studies have attempted to map the global research of sustainable city. This study aimed to reveal the global performance and development of sustainable city research during 1992 to 2016, using a bibliometric analysis based on Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) on Web of Science. Research performance, research emphases and trends were illustrated by bibliometric indicators and newly developed visualization tools, like Science of Science (Sci2), Gephi, and alluvial diagram. Sustainable city research in natural science and social science were well-matched in quantity, and had similar and different characteristics in terms of different investigated aspects. China ranked first in natural science research, while the USA was the leading country in social science research. More categories and clusters were involved in sustainable city field, indicating more interdisciplinary integration was undergoing. Energy and fuels in natural science field, and interdisciplinary applications mathematics in social science field started to attract more attention. Statistical analysis of words in title, author keywords, and KeyWords Plus has been investigated to monitor the development of sustainable city research. Finally, three critical issues in sustainable city research based on the clues by the analysis of these keywords were reviewed and discussed.

Determining Local Economic Development in the Rural Areas of Romania. Exploring the Role of Exogenous Factors

Based on data collected for 398 communes from the North-West development region of Romania between 2007 and 2014, this article presents a local economic development (LED) index for rural communities and identifies the main factors which influence LED in these communities. Our results show that exogenous factors, such as location in the influence area of urban communities and the existence of a direct connection to the European Road Network, influence the level of LED. At the same time nor the aforementioned exogenous factors nor other exogenous factors, such as non-refundable investments programs in local core infrastructure (financed by the European Union and the Romanian Government) which were designed to accelerate/spur economic development, as well as direct connections to the National Roads Network, do not have any statistically significant influence on spurring/accelerating LED (at least in this short period of time).

Transport Infrastructure Development, Public Performance and Long-Run Economic Growth: A Case Study for the Eu-28 Countries

This paper examines the link between the transport infrastructure and the economic performance in the EU-28 countries, over the period of time 2000–2014, using panel data methods. Firstly, we aim to provide the theoretical background of the transport infrastructure development, public sector performance and economic growth. The paper's key point is the detailed look at the components of transport infrastructure, analyzing the implications of the policy-makers based on a production function and in order to test the policy implication, factor analysis is also employed. The results show significant effects from transport infrastructure components even after institutional and other factors are controlled for. From the path analysis results, the study confirm the alternative hypothesis, outlining the unidirectional long-run causality relationship between growth, transport infrastructure and Public Sector Performance. Transport infrastructure status (measured thought index of transport) has significant impact on economic development with coefficient estimate. The public performance indicators influence the way to economic growth. On the one hand, the corruption, the regulatory environment, size shadow economy, infant mortality, income inequality, inflation and unemployment rate negatively affect the economic growth, and on the other hand there is a strong positive relationship between the quality of the judiciary, education achievement, life expectancy and economic growth.