The SDGs, Ecosystem Services and Cities: A Network Analysis of Current Research Innovation for Implementing Urban Sustainability

Scott Hawken, Homa Rahmat, Samad M. E. Sepasgozar and Kefeng Zhang
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Scott Hawken: School of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Homa Rahmat: Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture, UNSW Sydney, Sydney 2052, Australia
Samad M. E. Sepasgozar: Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture, UNSW Sydney, Sydney 2052, Australia
Kefeng Zhang: Faculty of Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Sydney 2052, Australia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-36

Abstract: Ecosystem services are essential for cities and are key factors in achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Such services are best delivered through green infrastructure, which works in resourceful, multifunctional, synergistic, and environmentally sensitive ways to deliver ecosystem services and provide alternative cleaner pathways for the delivery of multiple urban services. It is unclear if current research supports the necessary linkages between ecosystem services, cities, and green infrastructure in order to achieve the SDGs. To answer this question, we conducted a systematic review analysing 3392 studies on the SDGs from the WoS database. The contents of 66 of those with relevance to ecosystem services and urban research were reviewed in depth. We applied network-analytic methods to map the relationships of different knowledge clusters of SDGs research (1) across time, (2) across disciplines, and (3) in relation to ecosystem services and cities. The results of our analysis show that research on the SDGs have developed stronger networks from 2010–2018, but this research has not been sustained. Further, whilst research on cities now occupies a central place in the SDGs literature, research on ecosystem services only shows tentative links to both green-infrastructure research and SDGs research. Such literature on urban green infrastructure remains peripheral to the central challenge of sustainable urban transitions. We conclude that when it comes to the SDGs, research articles typically consider urban services independently of green infrastructure. Further, it suggests that green infrastructure is not generally considered as a sustainable alternative to conventional urban infrastructures. To address this serious shortcoming, we recommend transdisciplinary approaches to link urban ecosystem and urban green infrastructure research to the 2030 global sustainability agenda.

Keywords: green infrastructure; nature-based systems; ecological infrastructure; urban infrastructure; sustainable urban transitions; bibliometric analysis; sustainable development goals; urban areas; urban design; urban planning; transdisciplinary knowledge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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