The Role of Social Enterprises in Urban Sustainability: Insights from Anyang, South Korea

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors,
The theme developed in the text has scientific relevance and is well structured, however I believe that the following improvements are made:
1 - greater detail in the selection of the population sample and in the support criteria that led to the mentioned traingulation;
2 - It is important to clarify what is meant by "The targeted participants that could not fill the
questionnaire due to severe mental and physical health issues were excluded from the study. ";
3 - It is important to clarify how the experience at work was determined as a demographic characteristic as indicated in section 4.6;
4 - Section 5 requires more depth and support for the next section for discussion of results, which cannot be a set of assumptions and data tables;
5 - In section 6 Discussion of results, the reason for figure 5 (3) is not understood in such a restricted context of the case of application of the presented methodology;
6 - The conclusion section should be narrowed down and focus only on the research findigns.

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1 Comments:

Point 1 - Greater detail in the selection of the population sample and in the support criteria that led to the mentioned triangulation.

The mixing of both the qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis presents analytical problems. I argue that the triangulation analysis in this research is not aimed at validating the findings of this research, but at widening and deepening the understanding of the research findings. Having presented the findings, I conclude that incorporating the triangulation method of analysis is a positive undertaking in order to generate dialectic learning.

 

Point 2. It is important to clarify what is meant by "The targeted participants that could not fill the questionnaire due to severe mental and physical health issues were excluded from the study. "

Some of the targeted participants could not participate in filling questionnaire due to severe mental and physical incapacitation (possible by genetics, drugs/intoxication, or injury). One of the weaknesses of incorporating such participants is that their suboptimal participation and engagement rate. In addition, some of the patients suffering from mental and physical incapacitation may be unable to participate fully in the research due to language barrier. Other patients suffer from acute physical and mental incapacitation that they may not be able to comprehend questions in the questionnaire and provide rational answers.

In our study, we were able to identify five significant barriers to non-participation of patients suffering from both mental and physical incapacitation. Language barrier was a major hindrance for persons to fully participate in the survey. In most cases presented in the study, majority of the participants excluded were unable to completely communicate. Some of them were also unable to understand questions placed in the questionnaire. On the other hand, there were those who were able to understand the questions but were unable to provide rational answers to the questions. All these individuals, however, qualified they were, we excluded them from the research.

The current knowledge of non-participation of mentally and physically challenged patients is a predominant phenomenon. Some of the mentally ill patients suffer from acute eye sight and therefore, are unable to fill the questionnaire by themselves. On the other hand, some had difficulties in writing and reading. The combination of the two facts made it impossible for this study to include some of the mentally and physically challenged persons.

Additionally, cognitive impairment was another limitation for the mentally and physically challenged persons to participate in the study. It leads to misunderstanding of the questions contained in the questionnaire especially by the elderly mentally ill participants.

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Point 3 - It is important to clarify how the experience at work was determined as a demographic characteristic as indicated in section 4.6.

Demographic is a study of either the general or a particular population factor such as occupation, gender and age. The demographic is the quantification of statistics in a given population and is used to quantify statistic sub-sets in a given population. In relation to work experience, demographic characteristics are widely used variables. There is a fundamental role of work experience in determining the organizational commitment of an institution. In our study, research indicates that old workers in an organization are more committed to their assignments compared to young or newly recruited employees.

According to our research, the impact of work experience on institutional commitment is that it creates a feeling of institutional commitment by the workers. However, organizational commitment highly depends on the experience and worker’s attitude. The connection between demographic characteristics and work experience is highly placed on the motivation the employees have had over the years. Research shows that in order to enhance the employee’s motivation towards a particular work, task identity, work experience, and autonomy must be observed.

Length of service or at work tends to improve performance of work of employees. Accordingly, our research reveals that trainings improve performance at the work place. Organizations are concerned with placing right employees at the right work for optimal performance; such an undertaking leads to efficiency and effectiveness. In conclusion, we submit that demographic characteristic is dynamic and multi-dimensional attire that that is induced by work experience of employees in an organization.

 

Point 4 - Section 5 requires more depth and support for the next section for discussion of results, which cannot be a set of assumptions and data tables.

The associated table reveals the demographics of employees of various organizations and their respective ages. It reveals that the majority of the employees are male aged between 30 and 40 years. About 70% of the employees, as provided by the table, are married. A large portion of the workers have also spent 2 and 4 years in their respective employment, representing about 31%. The results also reveals that the use of the non-degree holders in the job market has also become a common phenomenon in the work force.

The pie charts present a correlation of the selected demographic characteristics of the various work forces in an organization. The results reveal that age and marital status are insignificantly correlated. Equally, age or marital status is insignificantly correlated with work experience. The results of the study reveal that number of years and the age of a worker of a service are predictive on the demographic characteristic of a given population. Number of years or the experience of a worker is significantly in correlation to the demographic characteristics of any worker.

 

Point 5 - In section 6 Discussion of results, the reason for figure 5 (3) is not understood in such a restricted context of the case of application of the presented methodology.

Figure 5.3 presents an overall socio-economic position of individuals within a specific period. It entails factors such as gender, educational background, occupation, and incomes of the people in employment. Accordingly, the graph demonstrates that the modern demographic study does not focus only on the population conscious but other factors such as gender, age, and occupation.

The figure further shows the socio-economic characteristics that define personal force, such as gender, marital status, age, and years of service. The chart demonstrates job performance as a common concept used in occupation and industrial psychology. It also demonstrates how people perform their duties. From the chart we were able to demonstrate task or occupational performance between the male and female generation. This involves all the responsibilities assigned to individuals to maintain and serve both the technical and non-technical chores in an organization. This involves both the direct and indirect activities that contribute to the production of goods and services in an organization.

The study shows that performance of tasks between male and female generations correlates with the various predictors of performance. From the chart, it can be demonstrated that age, gender, and job experience explain the considerable job performances between individuals. Despite this fact, the distinctiveness of a chore or assignment remains the distinct factor in the labor market.

Our study links age and job performance, as demonstrated in figure 5.3. Our study shows that the older generation and the young generation perform also in a similar manner. This is attributed to the loss of agility among the old people, whereas lack of experience and life experiences hinders the young people from optimal work results. The workers in the middle age between 30 and 50 years work best, a fact highly attributable to agility and work experience in the job market.

 

Point 6 - The conclusion section should be narrowed down and focus only on the research findings.

Conclusion

The main aim of the study was the identification of mechanisms that can be created and used by Anyang’s social enterprises to have a beneficial effect on urban regeneration and sustainable development of the city. Furthermore, the study identified the principal elements and social purposes of Anyang's leading SEs and the level of their relationship to various stakeholders. The research suggests that social enterprises play a central role in enhancing sustainability in cities. Besides, the research indicates that although social enterprises in Anyang have predominantly focused on economic development over the past five decades; environmental consciousness and social equality are emerging issues that still need more investments to attain sustainable development.

The results of the research revealed that social enterprises of Anyang could execute important operations for attaining sustainable development through the usage of social values and factors like provision of support services to disabled people, environmental conservation, and employment creation. As it was demonstrated in the research, the score of employment creation is 60.3 %. Accordingly, the provision of support services to vulnerable societies and young people is equal to 47.4 %, while the rate of environmental conservation and protection is 41.5 %. Factors that require the proper consideration and advancement due to their low scores are addressing financial exclusion (10.2 %), providing grants to prospective stakeholders (6.1 %) and supporting other social organizations (8.1 %).

The hereunder study has several limitations. At first, the minor, specific area of the research ensures the possibility to generalize results only at the same population. Therefore, a generalization of the results to other emerging cities, which may have the same economic and social characteristics, cannot be attained. The low level of validity and reliability of the results from a global perspective is the most significant limitation of the presented project. The second limitation relates to the uniformity of the participants' population. Research participants were only stakeholders, individuals that represented different business organizations, which were the actual and possible collaborators, and shareholders of the social enterprises. The inclusion of government representatives, environmental activists, and the delegates of non-financial and non-governmental organizations in the research will be the preference of future researches.

Based on the findings, some of the recommendations for practice and theory include the need to fund income-generating activities and other support services to disadvantaged members of Anyang communities. This will provide an opportunity to examine all the areas of sustainable development necessary for social and economic growth. Provision of income-generating activities and other support services to disadvantaged members of Anyang communities scored the highest points, while contacted business stakeholders were not willing to collaborate with their peers in addressing emerging challenges.

Future research should be expanded to more cities to examine the role of education, social, and environmental elements of social enterprise in creating sustainable communities. Moreover, future research should explore ways in which the physical factors interact with the social, economic, environmental, and cultural elements to enhance sustainable development. Finally, the studies should explore the moderating role played by each of the factors in fostering holistic growth and development of the cities. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Reviewer 2 Report

The study deals with an interesting topic, but the focus of the paper should be made more clear from the introduction. 

At present, the first part (introduction, literature review and theoretical considerations) are disjoint from the empirical part, which is on the citizens' perceptions of social enterprises.

The paper should reinforce the focus on individuals' perceptions of subjective wellbeing and its relationship with objective elements.

See for instance:

Ferrara A.R. Nisticò R., Lombardo N. (2019). Subjective and objective wellbeing: bridging the gap. Scienze Regionali, Italian Journal of Reginal Science, 18(speciale), 576-610.

Also, the role of social networks on individuals' behavior and preferences, emerging from some of the results showed in Table 2, should be adequately commented and diiscussed within the framework on social networks, see for instance:

Tsouri M., Alamantariotou K., Pediaditaki O, Harizopoulou V., Kontosorou G. (2016) How knowledge flows through social networks and communities of practice in healthcare projects. In Mhealth ecosystems and social networks in healthcare  (p. 107-118). Springer, Cham.

Finally, the conclusions should be reinforces, in order to clarify how the case study from a single city can provide more general conclusions.

 

 

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 2 Comments:

Point 1 - The study deals with an interesting topic, but the focus of the paper should be made more clear from the introduction.

Our research embraced, among other research methodologies, triangulation research method. The triangulation, qualitative, and the quantitative research methods used in our study have received considerable support, and are of theoretical and practical interest in research. However, despite the support and popularity, a method such as triangulation has raised many problematic philosophical and methodological issues. First, from the research, it can be demonstrated that the triangulation method is not a necessary ingredient in any research. It is agreeable that the questions and the answers that the triangulation research method provides as well as the framing of the question and the answers can be adequately provided by other research methods.

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Point 2 - At present, the first part (introduction, literature review and theoretical considerations) are disjoint from the empirical part, which is on the citizens' perceptions of social enterprises.

Secondly, triangulation is a method that is only advanced in research for validation of the results of a research. Validation in our research only points to the securing of the validated data or statistics. The validation claims raised by this research method often make the unwarranted assumptions in relation to other research methods. Accordingly, our research indicates that triangulation research method does secure validity of data.

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Point 3 - The paper should reinforce the focus on individuals' perceptions of subjective wellbeing and its relationship with objective elements.

The incorporation of qualitative and quantitative research methods in the triangulation method tends to ignore fundamental and significant issues of research. Data generated by combined research methods results to divergent epistemological meaning and framework. The different theoretical triangulation theory overlooks the natural theory and distinctiveness of different perspectives. In conclusion, any research study that incorporates triangulation research method should be undertaken to be cautious with regard to the dubious assumptions upon which the research method frequently rests.

Reviewer 3 Report

The paper is focused on presenting the role of social enterprises in urban sustainability. The case study considered Insights from South Korea’s city. According to the Authors, the main aim of this paper was to determine the mechanisms by which social enterprises can positively affect the sustainable development and urban regeneration of selected South Korea’s city. The Authors used factor analysis and correlation analysis tools to evaluate the results, and the data came from a survey of 1,062 stakeholders recruited from over 18 sectors of the economy. According to the Authors, on the basis of the conducted analysis, social enterprises can effectively use these mechanisms to positively influence the revitalization of cities and sustainable development. The topic is interesting and the paper is well corresponding to the journal aim and scope.

However, there are shortcomings in this paper. In section 2, subheadings can be distinguished. Similarly: see section 4. In lines 311 and 313, why the Authors used singular form when there are 2 Authors of this paper? There are slightly more of such mistakes.

The article undoubtedly needs to be refined. Many items are inserted in red as if it were still a draft. The drawings in the article require improvement and presentation of better quality, as well as the tables. The appendix looks similar. There is also no reference to the additional materials provided. Similarly, the presentation of research results and their discussion are not entirely clear. Reading the article, you get the impression that it looks rather like a patchwork of previous conclusions from other works. Despite the research attempt made, the article looks rather a draft and should not be reviewed in this form.

Minor typos:

• Figure 1 can be presented in higher resolution.
• Lines 310-314, 321-341, 378-396, 414-425, and 504-524 – the red font should be replaced with black.
• Figure 2 contains 3 graphs that should be shown in better quality and labeled 2a, 2b and 2c.
• Table 1 must be shown in its entirety and adapted to the required format.
• Table 2 is missing. There is a reference in the text to table 3, which is omitted.
• Figure 3 can be presented in higher resolution. It is worth working on its layout.
• Line 566 – the sentence “The authors declare no conflict of interest” is not a part of conclusions.
• The list of references contains the words in red – please check this part carefully.
• Figure 5.3 is not included in this paper (line 504).

Author Response

Point 1- Subheadings can be distinguished in section 2

Since section 2 is about literature review, presenting the analysis of the literature in a collective manner without a lot of subheadings is reasonable, since that kind of presentation helps to ensure there is easy flow and cohesion of different perspectives.

Point 2- Use of Singular form

Correction noted and the plural form “we” used to reefer to both authors

Point 3- The presentation of research results and their discussion are not entirely clear

The most pivotal results of the study are those represented in Table 1. They demonstrate that while SEs in the city of Anyang have been involved in economic development over the past decades, environmental consciousness and social equality are emerging issues that still need more investments. From the survey for instance, 41.5% of the respondents believed that environmental conservation was a primary role of SEs, 34.3% believed in the role of social inclusion and 47.4% in aiding of the vulnerable

Point 4-Minor typos

Typos corrected and concerns about image quality taken note of

Proper arrangement of tables and figures will be effected

Rent font was changed

Reviewer 4 Report

1. The study deals with an interesting topic. However, it lacks clarity in its presentation. The text should be better structured and formulated. The argumentation should be more clearly presented. This is also a question of the writing style.
2. The title is unclear. Anyang seems to be a case study but not "South Korea's City". Please correct. Either refer to cities but then make sure that the results from Anyang are representative (which may be difficult to prove), or mention the case of Anyang in the title. Lines 73-74 do not cover this aspect yet. The sentence also should be fomulated more clearly.
3. Introduce the abbreviation "SE" in the text when you use it the first time. In line 60, the full term is used.
4. Explain what a "Social Enterprise" means in the South Korean context. This is necessary in the beginning as they play a leading role in the article (see lines 75-76). Even in the subsection starting in line 131, it is not fully explained what social enterprises are in the Korean context. Some example could help here.
5. There should be an additional reference regarding the statements in lines 37-41.
6. The role of Anyang for the study should be better explained. Moreover, a location map would be helpful. Lines 50-57.
7. In line 66, the term "well-planned" should be explained and some reference should be given which proves this statement.
8. Avoid to formulate the objective of the study two times with different wording (see lines 77 and 86).
9. The methodological summary is appropriate for the abstract and the methodology section. It is not necessary in the introduction (lines 96-105). "The" questionnaire was not metioned before. Thus, the wording should be changed.
10. The sentence in lines 121-122 is confusing. According to the title, suatinability is the issue the article aims to deal with. In the sentence here, however, the authors mention smart cities. This should be further clarified.
11. Terms should be clearly defined in section 2: social enterprise, social economy, sustainability (strong or weak?), sustainable development (there should be a reference to the SDGs). The interrelation of the four terms should be more clearly described in section 2.
12. Sections 2 and 3 could be merged. For example, Figure 1 is alsorelated to section 2.
13. The text in red is misleading. Why is it written in red?
14. Clusters 1-4 are not explained in the text when they are mentioned the first time (see line 408).
15. To which "pie charts" do the authors refer in line 420. Please clarify and restructure the text for more clarity.
16. There should be more references in section 3, e.g., lines 378-384.
17. In the red text, there is a different, more personal writing style. Sometimes, the authors write "I" (who?), sometimes "we" (e.g., lines 311, 313, 327). This should be corrected all over the text.
18. Some parts of the methodology seem to present already results (e.g., lines 385-390). Methods and results shoud be clearly divided.
19. Please explain the novelty of results in the light of lines 436-438.
20. What means "dramatically" and "significantly" in lines 487 and 489?
21. Where is figure 5.3 (line 504) to be found?
22. What is the reason for the presentation of the population pyramid (Figure 3)?
23. The hypothesis (lines 91-95) should be explicitly taken up and discussed in the conclusions.

Author Response

Point 1- Title is unclear

While the general focus of the paper is on the role of SEs in bringing sustainable development, the city of Anyang, South Korea, is used as the case study because of being representative due to urbanization.  

Point 2- Social Enterprise in the South Korean context

In South Korean context, a SE is defined as a company or an organization which performs business activities while placing high importance on the pursuit of social purposes.

Point 3- definition of key terms and their correlation.

A social enterprise is an organization that normally applies commercial strategies in order to maximize enhancements in financial, environmental and social well-being. SEs generally endeavor to maximize their social impacts alongside increasing profitability. Generally, there are social enterprises constituted in a social economy. A social economy on the other hand refers to diversification of enterprises and organizations in the private sphere with the aim to seek both economic and social interests based on a set of given principles. Understanding social enterprises and their role in a social economy is essential because it makes it possible to identify how sustainable development can be achieved. Sustainability, a foundational concept of sustainable development refers to the ability of anything to be maintained at a certain rate or level while sustainable development implies development that is able to sufficiently meet the current needs of a population without compromising the ability of forthcoming generations to meet their own.

Point 4- Sections 2 and 3 could be merged

While section 2 and 3 convey a number of similar ideas, they could not be merged. This is because while section 2 on literature review synthesizes other scholarly works, section 3 presents a different context which is based on our interpretation of the general theory of social economy in which the subject of SEs and sustainable development revolves.

Point 5- Clusters 1-4 are not explained at the first mention

Clusters 1-4 in Table 2 were based on clusters of varying population sizes where for Cluster 1 N=410, Cluster 2 N=307, cluster 3 N=67 and cluster 4N= 168

Point 6- To which "pie charts" do the authors refer?

After revision, it is now clear that the pie charts being referred to are diagrams 2a, 2b and 2c.

Point 7- purpose of the population pyramid (figure 3)

The population pyramid is key in impressing the need for ensuring that there is sustainable development through social enterprises. This is because with a significant portion of the population, that is 54 years and below constituting the larger half, it is evident that utilizing resources efficiently in present so that in future years the population does not run out of resources is quintessential.

Point 8- Explicit discussion of hypothesis

The primary hypothesis of the study is that mechanisms such as environmental protection, employment creation, support of vulnerable communities, and stakeholder attraction are predictable factors in producing sustainable development and urban regeneration. In addition is the hypothesis that the target of sustainable regional and local development is deviating from the conventional focus on economic development and inclining more on social and community responsibilities. After the analysis of research data collected, the primary hypothesis holds as majority participants responded in the affirmative concerning the role that SEs has played in aspects such as; creating employment opportunities (60.4%), protecting the environment (41.5%), addressing social inclusion (34.3%) and extending support to the vulnerable through different community-based initiatives (47.4%). This finding confirms the additional hypothesis that SEs have in recent times been delving into social and community responsibilities than in the past where the major focus would only be in economic development.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Editor 

The Authors have answered to the queries of the first review and now I consider the text can be accepted to be published in the present form. 

Author Response

Thank you for all your critiques for a quality research paper.

Reviewer 2 Report

 The paper is basically the same as before, so please refer to my previous comments.

Author Response

Point 1 - The study deals with an interesting topic, but the focus of the paper should be made more clear from the introduction.

The primary focus of the paper is understanding the role that social enterprises play and/or should play in ensuring that urban centers are sustainable. The research makes use of the City of Anyang in the province of Gyeonggi, South Korean, to obtain primary data from select participants through questionnaires in order to identify the role that has so far been played by social enterprises, and the expectations that people have placed on social enterprises.  The city of Anyang was identified as a suitable subject of study because besides an urbanized place where diversity in data could be achieved and thus be more representative, it also is not lopsided in terms of disadvantages or advantages. Rather, it has a balance between its negative externalities and positive factors such as being well-planned and having coordinated network of both public and private systems. 

Point 2 - At present, the first part (introduction, literature review and theoretical considerations) are disjoint from the empirical part, which is on the citizens' perceptions of social enterprises.

The introduction part of the paper provides an overview of factors that will be of focus in the rest of the paper. The introduction categorically points out that the focus would be on social enterprises within the greater social economy and how the SEs can be effective tools of bringing about sustainable development. The literature review explores how the subjects of sustainable development, sustainability, urban regeneration, social economy and social enterprises has been explored by other scholars. This section is critical because it provides in-depth information of why social enterprising is of particular interest in the South Korean context. In addition, by examining the research that has so far been done with regard to the subject of study, it becomes possible to get a widened perception that is useful in guiding the research and later on the readers of the paper. The part on theoretical considerations essentially helps in understanding the interrelationship of the various terminologies that are focused on in the paper by placing them in the wider context of a social economy.

The three parts, that is the introduction, literature review and theoretical consideration, link to the empirical part in that the latter seeks to substantiate theories, or postulations made within the three parts. The empirical part mainly aims at testing the theory already mentioned in the three parts by approaching the study subject from diverse angles. By doing so, the research is able to examine factors such as how people from the case study first understand social enterprises in the context of their own society.   

Point 3 - The paper should reinforce the focus on individuals' perceptions of subjective wellbeing and its relationship with objective elements.

Notably is that the primary focus of the paper was the entirety of social enterprises and their role in sustainable development and urban regeneration. It is therefore for this reason that the study tried as much as possible to get multifaceted opinions without necessarily placing more emphasis on a particular factor. As such, placing a lot of emphasis on individuals’ perceptions of subjective well-being and its relationship with objective elements would most likely bring about a deviation in the study’s initial or intended trajectory.

Point 4- Reinforcement of the Conclusion

The research positively confirmed the central assertion of the paper about the pivotal role played by social enterprises in sustainable development of cities. Using the case study of South Korea’s city of Anyang, the research evidently found out that people in the city believed in the role of SEs in being agents of sustainable development and urban regeneration. Some roles such as employment creation, addressing social inclusion, supporting the vulnerable and also young people and conserving the environment particularly stood out more than others. The implication of these findings was identification of a new trend in which SEs were expected to be more inclined in bringing about social developments and not just economic development.

Reviewer 3 Report

As it was mentioned in the 1^st revision, is focused on presenting the role of social enterprises in urban sustainability. The case study considered Insights from South Korea’s city. According to the Authors, the main aim of this paper was to determine the mechanisms by which social enterprises can positively affect the sustainable development and urban regeneration of selected South Korea’s city. The Authors used factor analysis and correlation analysis tools to evaluate the results, and the data came from a survey of 1,062 stakeholders recruited from over 18 sectors of the economy. According to the Authors, on the basis of the conducted analysis, social enterprises can effectively use these mechanisms to positively influence the revitalization of cities and sustainable development. The topic is interesting and the paper is well corresponding to the journal aim and scope.

In the previous revision, my suggestions encompassed rebuilding the structure of the paper, refining the attached drawings in this paper, and preparing the improved version of the some parts of this work.

The Authors were asked to refer to the attached additional material. Moreover, the Authors were asked to improve the presentation of the research results as well as their discussion. It was also necessary to improve by the Authors some of the text, which often looked like a patchwork of earlier conclusions from other works. Of course, there are still shortcomings and minor typos (many of the drawings still require quality improvement), but the main part of the work has been done.

Minor typos:

Line 335 – “…business links with SEswithin the city” – the space is missing.

Line 388 – “As indicated in Figure 3 below…” – The Authors present diagram 2 (figure 2) below.

Diagram 2a – Please improve the quality and resize it with the figures/diagrams below.

Line 394 – “Figure 3 also indicates…” – please add the relevant reference (diagram 2c/figure 2).

Lines 374, 375 and 434 – “...Table 3”. – please add the relevant reference (table 2).

Lines 516-517 – “The population pyramid of South Korea is present in Figure 5 below.” - please add the relevant reference (figure 3).

Lines 176, 308, 524, 550, 553 and 554 – please add the missing space between SE and other word.

Author Response

All minor edits have been addressed. Thank you for all your critiques for a quality research paper.

Reviewer 4 Report

The article has considerably improved.

There are only a few suggestions which can easily be taken up:

1. In the title, I recommend not to use the abbreviation SE but write "social enterprises".
2. Please correct the second part of the title; proposal: "Insights from Anyang, South Korea." Or you may write: "Insights from South Korea's cities". In this case you have to take care and prove that the result from Anyang are transferable and generalizable.
3. The sentence is lines 18-20 is no fully clear. Maybe you want to reformualte it.
4. There are some typos connected with using the "SEs" abbreviation. Sometimes the following words are not separated.

Author Response

All minor edits have been addressed. Thank you for all your critiques for a quality research paper.

Round 3

Reviewer 2 Report

No comment.

Author Response

All minor edits have been addressed. Thank you for all your critiques for a quality research paper.