Conceptualization and Development of a DFuzzy Model for Low-Carbon Ecocities

Abstract

The Industrial Revolution has enabled mechanization to lead the manufacturing industry into a new era of explosive economic growth. Mass production through the use of machines has improved the overall societal prosperity in industrialized countries. The great and continuous demand of mechanization, economic growth, and energy consumption has resulted in the excessive use of natural resources and the mining of natural energy deposits. Challenges such as serious environmental pollution, ecological damage, and climate change have been identified as some of the critical issues for sustainable development. Therefore, this paper proposes a Delphi and Fuzzy (DFuzzy) model in order to institute low-carbon ecocities. DFuzzy is a scientific decision-making model with quantitative multiple attributes and artificial intelligence. Twelve specialists from the Delphi experts were interviewed, including chief executive officers (CEOs) of industries, management committee members, and senior academics, all of whom have 15 years of experience in urban planning practice. After a three-round Delphi process with 17 criteria that were taken from the literature, four criteria of the DFuzzy model were recognized by experts: policy norms, resident cooperation, pollution prevention and control, and ecological reserves. The practical application of the DFuzzy model took three areas as examples: the Baiyun District and Conghua District of Guangzhou City, and the Dahu Community of Kaohsiung City. Through the experts’ consensus in the two-round Delphi process, the four criteria, as the input basis, demonstrated the objective quantitative calculation function of the DFuzzy model and also indicated that the model established in this study provides a reference for evaluating low-carbon ecocities.