Research on the Tripartite Evolutionary Game of Zero-Waste City Construction in China

Abstract

The aim in mind in the construction of a zero-waste city is to recycle municipal solid waste in a more reasonable way in order to achieve the sustainable development of the urban environment. This goal is widely used internationally as a green development concept in urban management. However, when only the government takes the lead in the construction process, neglecting to engage and guide the participation of the public and of enterprises, the realization of a zero-waste city becomes challenging. Therefore, effective collaboration among all stakeholders would be a more effective approach to dealing with solid waste and creating an eco-friendly and livable urban environment. In this study, we adopted an evolutionary game model and selected three typical stakeholders—the government, the public, and enterprises—in order to examine the choice of tripartite strategies and their primary influencing factors based on prospect theory. This study found the following: (1) the selection of tripartite strategies at different stages of a zero-waste city’s construction is influenced by the expected benefits and costs; (2) the government’s leading role and related subsidies can promote the enthusiasm of enterprises and the public to participate in the construction of a zero-waste city; (3) tripartite participation in a zero-waste city’s construction can maximize benefits, and after a sustainable development model has been established, each stakeholder can choose to participate actively, even without government intervention; and (4) the construction of a zero-waste city requires long-term exploration and practice, and China is currently in a transition period from government-led to government-directed planning. Establishing a perfect reward and punishment mechanism is beneficial in promoting the active participation of the public and of enterprises. The authors of this paper studied the game process of stakeholders at each stage of a zero-waste city’s construction through prospect theory and explored the influences of important parameters on the strategic choice of each subject at the current stage by conducting numerical simulations, which has implications for the construction and sustainable development of a zero-waste city.

Analysis of Multi-Stakeholder Behavioral Strategies in the Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling Industry through an Evolutionary Game Theory

“…Khanzadi et al [25] examined the decision-making behaviors of contractors facing delays using game-theoretic methodology. Some studies have explored two-party [26], three-party [27,28], and multi-party scenarios [29]. Dong and Song [30] studied the strategic decisions of individual suppliers in reverse supply chains and pointed out that macro-level controls, such as government sanctions, can encourage suppliers to cooperate.…”

Urban Construction Waste Recycling Path: Robust Optimization

“…Without considering the uncertainty of the recycling environment, the design of the recycling path for construction waste mainly considers two aspects: (1) the flow among supply sites, treatment plants, and landfill sites, and the waste treatment capacity and capability of all sites; (2) the demands of construction waste recycling stakeholders [15,16]. Stakeholders in construction waste recycling include the construction side (supply side), treatment plant (demand side), and local government, all of which have different interests.…”

“…The world produces a huge amount of urban construction waste each year. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for 23% of global construction waste generation, and China is the largest producer of construction waste in the East Asian region [1]. As in many other countries around the world, the construction industry is a pillar of China's economy, but it also places a heavy burden on the environment [2,3].…”