Towards an Integrative Assessment Model for Port Sustainability Decisions: A Systematic Review

The slow pace of sustainability poses questions about what sustainability purposes are served and how to assess the status quo of sustainability for effective decision support. Having recognized the fuzzy concept of sustainability and the lack of sustainability assessments for ports that play key nodes of global logistic networks, this study applies a systematic review method to broadly collect theoretical and practical data from literature databases and relevant organizations, to identify sustainability requirements, port sustainability perceptions, and existing sustainability assessment approaches and methods. Results show that the sustainability concept is moving to eco-centric and context-specific thinking while the port sustainability still lies in traditional triple lines and the elements of the concept lack recognition of the business-environment nexus. Although dozens of specific methods have been available from the existing sustainability assessments, previous assessment approaches rely much on subjective expert judgments or quantitative data, which may affect the reliability and validity of assessments. As such, this study provides a new integrative assessment model for port sustainability decisions to meet ecological needs. The proposed model integrates the interactions between port activities and the environment. It is a data-driven, evidence-based approach to reducing subjectivity and saving time. The proposed assessment model contributes to the understanding the port sustainability situations and finding preferable options in terms of interaction mechanisms.