{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,21]],"date-time":"2025-12-21T05:15:05Z","timestamp":1766294105309,"version":"3.48.0"},"reference-count":64,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]],"date-time":"2025-12-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766102400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["71971150"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["71971150"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Project of Research Center for System Sciences and Enterprise Development","award":["Xq16B05"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Xq16B05"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012226","name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["SXYPY202313"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SXYPY202313"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012226","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Water scarcity has become a major bottleneck to global sustainable development, threatening ecosystem security and socio-economic stability. However, previous studies have failed to distinguish regional characteristics of scarcity and to propose cost-optimal differentiated management strategies. We systematically assessed the scarcity patterns and seasonal dynamics of 350 prefecture-level cities in China during the period 2021\u20132024, developed a city classification scheme based on scarcity intensity and seasonal variability, and established a least-cost optimization model to identify the optimal management portfolios for different scarcity types. The results show that water pollution significantly exacerbates scarcity intensity and prolongs its duration; the classification framework reveals the complexity and heterogeneity of scarcity across China; and the optimization model demonstrates that even under the widespread implementation of existing measures, further portfolio optimization can still achieve an additional 9.31\u201369.32% reduction in scarcity under cost-effective conditions. The findings enable decision-makers to develop differentiated and cost-efficient management strategies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems14010006","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]],"date-time":"2025-12-19T14:27:16Z","timestamp":1766154436000},"page":"6","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Cost-Optimization Model for Water-Scarcity Mitigation Strategies Towards Differentiated City Types in China"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1782-2804","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ziqiang","family":"Zeng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Uncertain Decision Making Laboratory, Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuechuan","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Uncertain Decision Making Laboratory, Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xingyou","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Uncertain Decision Making Laboratory, Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1500323","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.1500323","article-title":"Four billion people facing severe water scarcity","volume":"2","author":"Mekonnen","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci. 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