Multi-Agent Simulation of Safe Livability and Sustainable Development in Cities
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The article describes and presents urban development scenarios using multi-agent simulation approach. It is well structured and clearly presents the applied method. I recommend accepting the article for publication in the journal after the following comments will have been properly addressed.
The Introduction section lacks justification of the studied problem against a background of actual research topics in the field. The authors cite just three case studies, which is, obviously, not enough for linking the studied problem with the mainstream literature.
The data and methodology sections are clearly presented, and the results are properly discussed.
The paper lacks discussion section. Actually, the Discussion and Conclusion section should be completely re-written. First of all, they should be separated in two distinctive sections. Second, the Discussion section should be significantly extended by properly “discussing” the obtained results with the achievements reported by other authors. The problems and drawbacks of the results should be clearly presented and discussed as well.
The Conclusion section should represent a separate and distinctive entity. It should synthesize the paper’s achievements and point to further likely research direction.
In addition to conceptual suggestion, I would add some technical advices:
Shorten long sentences, especially in Abstract, Introduction and Results sections. Hyphenation problems must be solved: hyphens are missing all along the article.Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
A work of this volume needs more international references.
The conclusions are too concise.
There are serious formatting errors in text, tables and graphics.
A statistical study is necessary to guarantee the significance of the results and provide validity to the procedures used.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
This article sets out to "explore the factors affecting urban security and sustainable development" in Futian District, Shenzhen City, China, by analyzing the decision-making behavior of residents on 10 streets through a multi-agent simulation. The authors make the case that this study is important because of the high growth and development rates in the region over the last several decades.
The article requires more work focused on the set up and discussion of the model before it is ready for publication. The following suggestions may be helpful:
Literature and definitions. While the article begins to explain why this is a topic of importance for research to the region, in its current form it does not set up this argument well within the larger literature. It is not clear how the study interacts with definitions of key concepts such as livability that are found in the literature. Discussion and contribution. Similarly, the article does not conclude with a robust discussion of how the results of the model relate back to concepts such as livability and security. The main takeaway listed in the study is that the research "shows that increasing government investment can improve the degree of safe livability, provide a certain number of jobs and available housing units, and can effectively improve the residents' satisfaction." (P. 11) What did this study contribute to the broader understanding of livability? safety? Copy-editing. The article should be copy-edited to address language and run-on sentences that can disrupt the readability of the research. As an example, see the single sentence on P. 2 LNs 59-65: "By exploring the decision-making behavior of resident agents under the influence of environment and policies, the interaction between residents and the environment, and the dynamic interaction feedback mechanism between various factors and the street safety and livability, this study simulated the changes and development trends of the degree of safety and livability of streets in Futian District, in addition ,this study provides effective suggestions and opinions for the safety management and sustainable development of streets and cities."
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
I appreciate your efforts for addressing the comments. In the second version, the paper looks much better. However, some suggestions were not properly addressed. That is why, the paper needs to be improved. My suggestions are mainly related to the Discussion section, which in its present form is too short for being a genuine section of the paper.
Thus, when preparing this section, you should address the following issues:
- Discuss the weak aspects of your methodology
- Present in detail the limitations of the obtained results
- Explain how your model relates to other factors, which affect urban safe livability (and which a just listed by you (p.13) without any explanations).
So far, the discussion section does not represent the discussion of the issues with pros and contras, justified by references to the literature, but a series of statements poorly justified.
Hyphenation issues are still a problem. See pages 12-13 of the .pdf file
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
text editing must be reviewed. Pag. 12, 13.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 3
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear authors,
All the observations and suggestions have been addressed in an acceptable manner.
I would like to appreciate your efforts made to improve the article.
This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.
