Intermediate Cities and Transport Systems in Embedding Global Agendas: A Multi-Level Approach to SDG Implementation
Keywords:
Sustainable Development Goals; Multi-level governance; Intermediate cities; Place-based development; Socio-economic planning; Territorial policy implementation
Abstract
The implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has revealed a persistent gap between globally defined targets and their effective translation into territorially embedded development processes.
This paper reframes the SDGs as an evolving architecture of multi-level socio-economic planning, the success of which depends on the capacity of sub-national governance systems to operationalise global goals within local economic structures. Within this framework, transport systems and mobility infrastructures emerge as critical enabling dimensions, shaping the spatial organisation of economic activity and simultaneously structuring the accessibility conditions underpinning social inclusion and service provision.
Focusing on intermediate cities, the study argues that these centres consitute strategic meso-level arenas in which policy translation, institutional coordination, and place-based development processes converge. Transport networks—both physical infrastructures (road, rail, intermodal) and organisational arrangements (mobility services, logistics, regulatory frameworks)—play a pivotal role in structuring these dynamics. They function not only as spatial connectors, but also as integrative platforms linking regional production systems with global value chains, while simultaneously sustaining local accessibility.By adopting a conceptual/policy review, the analysis positions intermediate cities at European and Italian level, as key operational nodes for the delivery of global development agendas through context-sensitive planning. It concludes that the effectiveness of SDG implementation depends less on goal-setting than on the capacity to embed global agendas within territorially specific systems—an embedding process in which transport and mobility act as both catalysts and structuring elements of sustainable and inclusive development.
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References
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2. Alvarez-Risco, A., -Arcentales, S. D. A., & Rosen, M. A. (2020). Sustainable development goals and cities. Building Sustainable Cities: Social, Economic and Environmental Factors, 313-330. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45533-0_21
3. Ameen, R. F. M., Mourshed, M., & Li, H. (2015). A critical review of environmental assessment tools for sustainable urban design. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 55, 110-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2015.07.006
4. Antunes, J., Tan, Y., Wanke, P., & Jabbour, C. J. C. (2023). Impact of R&D and innovation in Chinese road transportation sustainability performance: A novel trigonometric envelopment analysis for ideal solutions (TEA-IS). Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 87, 101544.
5. Arora, N. K., & Mishra, I. (2019). United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and environmental sustainability: race against time. Environmental Sustainability, 2(4), 339-342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42398-019-00092-y
6. Bell, D., & Jayne, M. (2009). Small cities? Towards a research agenda. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 33(3), 683–699.
7. Blasi, S., Ganzaroli, A., & De Noni, I. (2022). Smartening sustainable development in cities: Strengthening the theoretical linkage between smart cities and SDGs. Sustainable Cities and Society, 80, 103793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.103793
8. Bolay, J. C., & Kern, A. L. (2019). Intermediate cities. The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of urban and regional studies, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118568446.eurs0163
9. Campos, I., Guerra, J., Gomes, J. F., Schmidt, L., Alves, F., Vizinho, A., & Lopes, G. P. (2017). Understanding climate change policy and action in Portuguese municipalities: A survey. Land use policy, 62, 68-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.12.015
10. D'Amato, V., Di Lorenzo, E., Piscopo, G., Sibillo, M., & Trotta, A. (2024). Insurance business and social sustainability: A proposal. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 93, 101880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2024.101880
11. D’Adamo, I., Gastaldi, M., Ioppolo, G., & Morone, P. (2022). An analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in Italian cities: Performance measurements and policy implications. Land use policy, 120, 106278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106278
12. D’Alessandro, C., Szopik-Depczyńska, K., Tarczyńska-Łuniewska, M., Silvestri, C., & Ioppolo, G. (2024). Exploring Circular Economy Practices in the Healthcare Sector: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis. Sustainability 16(1), 401. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16010401
13. D’Amico, G., Szopik-Depczyńska, K., Dembińska, I., & Ioppolo, G. (2021). Smart and sustainable logistics of Port cities: A framework for comprehending enabling factors, domains and goals. Sustainable Cities and Society, 69, 102801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.102801
14. ESPON (2014), Second Tier Cities and Territorial Development in Europe.
15. ESPON (2020), Functional Urban Areas and Territorial Cohesion (policy evidence).
16. Georgeson, L., & Maslin, M. (2018). Putting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into practice: A review of implementation, monitoring, and finance. Geo: Geography and Environment, 5(1), e00049. https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.49
17. Halkos, G., & Gkampoura, E. C. (2021). Where do we stand on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals? An overview on progress. Economic analysis and policy, 70, 94-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eap.2021.02.001
18. Hurlimann, A., Moosavi, S., & Browne, G. R. (2021). Urban planning policy must do more to integrate climate change adaptation and mitigation actions. Land use policy, 101, 105188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.105188
19. Ioppolo, G., Heijungs, R., Cucurachi, S., Salomone, R., & Kleijn, R. (2014). Urban Metabolism: Many open questions for future answers. Pathways to environmental sustainability: Methodologies and experiences, 23-32. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03826-1_3
20. IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (2018), edited by V. Masson-Delmotte et al
21. Kutty, A. A., Abdella, G. M., Kucukvar, M., Onat, N. C., & Bulu, M. (2020). A system thinking approach for harmonizing smart and sustainable city initiatives with United Nations sustainable development goals. Sustainable Development, 28(5), 1347-1365. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2088
22. Lella, L., & Osés Eraso, N. (2023). Monitoring the SDGs at regional level in EU. REGIONS2030 pilot project. Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2760/02404, JRC135594
23. Luqman, M., Rayner, P. J., & Gurney, K. R. (2023). On the impact of urbanisation on CO2 emissions. NPJ Urban Sustainability, 3(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-023-00084-2
24. Madlener, R., & Sunak, Y. (2011). Impacts of urbanization on urban structures and energy demand: What can we learn for urban energy planning and urbanization management?. Sustainable cities and society, 1(1), 45-53.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2010.08.006
25. MATEC Web of Conferences (2024). Urban Mobility Sustainable Plans: Tools and Transport Policies. Vol. 392, 17001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/202439217001
26. OECD (2020), OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance 2020, OECD Publishing, Paris,https://doi.org/10.1787/959d5ba0-en.
27. OECD/UN-Habitat (2022), Intermediary Cities and Climate Change: An Opportunity for Sustainable Development, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/23508323-en.
28. OECD. (2020a). A territorial approach to the sustainable development goals. OECD Publications Centre.
29. Onorati, M. G., d’Ovidio, F. D., D'Uggento, A. M., & Toma, E. (2024). Comparative analysis of recent changes in the dietary behavior of Italian and US consumers: The made in Italy market and its factorial conceptualization. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 95, 102028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2024.102028
30. Pamučar, D., Durán-Romero, G., Yazdani, M., & López, A. M. (2023). A decision analysis model for smart mobility system development under circular economy approach. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 86, 101474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2022.101474
31. Percoco, M. (2023). I servizi di mobilità sostenibile: il caso Napoli e Salerno. Milano: ISPI. https://www.marcopercoco.eu/static/upload/per/percocomarco_iservizidimobilitsosteni_20241218213304.pdf.
32. Pérez, L. E., Pérez, A. E., & Vásquez, Ó. C. (2024). Evaluation of mitigation initiatives for simultaneous air pollution and municipal solid waste systems: A System Dynamics Approach. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 95, 102010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2024.102010
33. Puertas, R., Guaita-Martinez, J. M., & Marti, L. (2023). Analysis of the impact of university policies on society's environmental perception. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 88, 101672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2023.101672
34. Revi, A., Satterthwaite, D., Aragon-Durand, F., (2014), Urban Areas in Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, IPCC, Cambridge, Available at: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg2/.
35. Sachs, J. D., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G., & Drumm, E. (2023). Sustainable development report 2023: Implementing the SDG Stimulus. https://doi.org/10.25546/102924
36. Saraji, M. K., & Streimikiene, D. (2023). Challenges to the low carbon energy transition: A systematic literature review and research agenda. Energy Strategy Reviews, 49, 101163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esr.2023.101163
37. Saxena, A., Ramaswamy, M., Beale, J., Marciniuk, D., & Smith, P. (2021). Striving for the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs): what will it take?. Discover Sustainability, 2, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-021-00029-8
38. Scheyvens, R., Banks, G., & Hughes, E. (2016). The private sector and the SDGs: The need to move beyond ‘business as usual’. Sustainable Development, 24(6), 371-382. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.1623
39. Sharifi, A. (2022). Cities and the SDGs: Realities and possibilities of local engagement in global frameworks. Ambio.
40. Slimani, S., Omri, A., & Abbassi, A. (2024). International capital flows and sustainable development goals: The role of governance and ICT diffusion. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 93, 101882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2024.101882
41. Telesca, M. (2020). Mobilità verticale e riqualificazione urbana: il caso Potenza. Urbanistica Informazioni, n. 286.
42. UN-Habitat (2015), The Role of Intermediate Cities in the Urban Agenda.
43. UN-Habitat (2020), World Cities Report 2020: The Value of Sustainable Urbanization.
44. UNEP (2017), Resilience and Resource Efficiency in Cities, United Nations Environment Program, Available at: https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/report/resilience-and-resource-efficiency-cities
45. United Nations (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on SDG Progress: A Statistical Perspective.
46. United Nations Secretary-General’s SDG Stimulus to Deliver Agenda 2030, Feb 2023. Available at: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/ uploads/2023/02/SDG-Stimulus-to-Deliver-Agenda-2030.pdf
47. United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2022). The Sustainable Development Goals: Report 2022. UN
48. Valencia, S. C., Simon, D., Croese, S., et al. (2019). Adapting the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda to the city level. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development.
49. Ye, B., Jiang, J., Liu, J., Zheng, Y., & Zhou, N. (2021). Research on quantitative assessment of climate change risk at an urban scale: Review of recent progress and outlook of future direction. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 135, 110415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110415
50. Yigitcanlar, T., & Dizdaroglu, D. (2015). Ecological approaches in planning for sustainable cities: A review of the literature. Global journal of environmental science and management, 1(2), 159-188. https://doi.org/10.7508/gjesm.2015.02.008
51. Yuan, H., Wang, X., Gao, L., et al. (2023). Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals has been slowed by indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Communications Earth & Environment.
Published
2026-05-10
How to Cite
Calabro, G., Carlucci, F., D’Alessandro, C., & Trincone, B. (2026). Intermediate Cities and Transport Systems in Embedding Global Agendas: A Multi-Level Approach to SDG Implementation. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 53, 401. Retrieved from https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/view/21005
Section
ESI Preprints
Copyright (c) 2026 Grazia Calabro, Fabio Carlucci, Carlotta D’Alessandro, Barbara Trincone
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
