Spatio-Temporal Evolution of City Resilience in the Yangtze River Delta, China, from the Perspective of Statistics

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Please see the attached documents for detailed comments.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear professor:

Thank you very much for your review of the manuscript, and all the valuable comments could make us polish the article better. We have revised the paper carefully and thoroughly based on the constructive comments and suggestions furnished by you. (See details in the attached response letter)

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

It is of great significance to study the evolution of spatio-temporal city resilience in the Yangtze River Delta for its fastest urbanization, highest level of economic development, and the most densely populated area in China. The methods are suitable to answer the research questions and the data sources are reliable. The results are identical to what we knew. For improving quality of the manuscript, some supplements need to be done as follows:

1    1)    In part 3.3.1, please explain the reason to choose these driving factors in more detail.

2    2)    In part 3.3.2, please explain dynamic characteristic the determinists of the 10 factors and the reason of determinists dynamic.

3    3)    In part 4.1 (Page 17), to reconsider the representation of the sentence “The overall differences in the resilience level of cities in the Yangtze River Delta region  were  primarily  derived  from  regional  differences,…”. Do the region derive the resilience or the factors in part 3.3.1 derive it?   

Author Response

Dear professor:

Thank you very much for your review of the manuscript, and all the valuable comments could make us polish the article better. We have revised the paper carefully and thoroughly based on the constructive comments and suggestions furnished by you. (See details in the attached response letter)

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

The article is focused on a very important aspect of sustainability, the resilience of several cities from an area that is developing fast with a growing economy but from my point of view the study treats the subject only from a statistical point of view, measuring only quantitative elements and missing the cultural aspect. The authors only rely on data that regards strict dimensions but does not care for the quality of the elements involved, the care for the environment, the actions that are measuring carbon footprint of the developments, the materials used in the development, the quality of the public space, the quality of life. Other elements that are not taken into consideration are the preserved areas for natural habitat, and the cultural traditions as an element that gives value to a community and may represent the greatest part of ethics in ecology and sustainability.

 I think that statistics can sustain and enforce urban planning and regional planning decisions but they should act only as a tool for improvement, completing the principles of circular economy, the care for the nature, the care for the environment, the care for the cultural heritage, the care for communities as a response to the climate crisis that is an effect of the economic growth and fast-growing economy.    

 I think the subject of the article can be balanced and present a true image only if the elements mentioned above are taken into consideration and included in the evolution with interdisciplinary team analysis.

Author Response

Dear professor:

Thank you very much for your review of the manuscript, and all the valuable comments could make us polish the article better. We have revised the paper carefully and thoroughly based on the constructive comments and suggestions furnished by you. (See details in the attached response letter)

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Fig. 3: Two figures are too large to fit into the table cell, including the one in row 1 column 3 and the one in row 2 column 2. 

All the other comments have been addressed.

Author Response

Thank you very much for your comment and patient explanation. We have refined the Fig. 3 and marked each city to ensure that each picture is clear and correct to understand. (See Figure. 3 in Page 12)

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

I understand the improvements that have been done to the article but I still believe the research is incomplete and presents conclusions based only on one type data and does not take in consideration other important elements. I believe that this issue should be addressed in the title of the article, in order to be clear that this is only a statistic perspective for city resilience.

Author Response

Thank you for your valuable advice. Your advice is very helpful to us and has made our team have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of city resilience assessment. Our evaluation is based on statistical data and draws conclusions through spatio-temporal analysis and driving analysis. The main purpose is to provide decision-making basis for the government. Therefore, we change the title to “Spatio-temporal Evolution of City Resilience in the Yangtze River Delta, China  from the perspective of statistics”