Sensitivity analysis of the smart city environmental sustainability index (SCESI)

Abstract

In recent years, the field of Sustainable Smart Cities is rapidly burgeoning, and the related research carried out is unexplored, heterogeneous, and involves a plethora of issues. In this research, the framework for the Smart City Environmental Sustainability Index (SCESI) is defined and evaluated to guide the investments and monitor the progressive environmental development of Indian cities. The index is based on 24 environmental indicators, and their corresponding significance is assessed by the expert panel. SCESI is an integrated tool on a scale of 0 to 100, which depends upon the value of indicators and their relative weights. However, sometimes data for all the 24 environmental indicators may not be available. The present work determines the sensitivity analysis by applying certain interventions. Eight scenarios have been generated by taking various combinations of high and low weight indicators. The analysis of the study indicates that the occurrence of error is marginal in both cases of non-availability of high and low weight indicators. Thus, the sensitivity analyses critically assess the variations in the SCESI when there are uncertainties involved in the input data. © 2021 Technoscience Publications. All rights reserved.