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Published on: December 12, 2025
Spatiotemporal changes in inter-city sustainability impacts linked to emission challenges worldwide
Huijuan Xiao1,2,3,4,5, Cheolhee Yoo1,2,6,7, Qihao Weng1,2,6
1JC STEM Lab of Earth Observations, Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong SAR, China.
None:
Atmospheric emissions pose significant challenges to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As key sources of emissions, cities are also critical actors in driving sustainable transitions. Their performance on emission-related SDG indicators is shaped not only by local factors but also by inter-city interactions. However, the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of these interactions remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate inter-city SDG interactions across 4,116 cities worldwide from 2010 to 2020, and simulate SDG performance under five interaction scenarios, including isolated and collaborative conditions. Results reveal that a 10% improvement in SDG 11.6 (particulate matter), SDG 12.4 (gaseous pollutants), and SDG 13.2 (greenhouse gases) in other cities can boost the focal city's performance by 0.450%, 0.390%, and 0.200%, respectively. Most cities (93.51%) are influenced by other cities. Inter-city coordination can improve SDG performance by 10.81% compared to isolated efforts. These findings highlight the importance of coordinated strategies to enhance urban sustainability.
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