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Enhancing allocation efficiency is vital for maintaining China’s position as a leading textile producer. The adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) can improve the efficiency of farmers’ input allocation. Nonetheless, limited evidence exists regarding the impact and extent of farmers’ access to digital agricultural extension through subscribing to agricultural WeChat public accounts (WPAs) on allocation inefficiency costs. Using a 2019 farm household survey of cotton farmers in Xinjiang, this paper employs a primal system model to calculate farmers’ allocation inefficiency costs and a two-stage residual inclusion approach model (2SRI) to estimate the effects of agricultural WPAs subscription on allocation inefficiency costs and allocation inefficiency. The empirical findings indicate that the average allocation inefficiency cost is 3.264 Yuan per kilogram, constituting 45.8% of cotton production cost. Our results demonstrate that subscribing to agricultural WPAs can significantly reduce farmers’ allocation inefficiency costs by 19.5% and decrease allocation inefficiency by 0.079. Consequently, promoting smallholder farmers’ access to digital agricultural extension serves as an effective strategy to enhance allocation efficiency and lower costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of plot size on maize yields and farm profits, using plot-level data collected from Chinese maize farmers in 2013 and 2015. Unlike previous studies that have used either a parametric or non-parametric model, this study estimates a semi-parametric model. This model simultaneously estimates the impact of plot size on maize yields and farm profits non-parametrically and the impact of other control variables on the two outcome variables parametrically, which provides more insights. The findings reveal that plot size affects maize yields and farm profits differently. There is a 'pan-shaped' relationship between plot size and maize yields. Specifically, we show that when increasing plot size from 0.1 to 1.5 mu and then to 65 mu, the maize yields decrease first and then become stable. When plot size is above 65 mu, maize yields increase as plot size increases. In comparison, our results indicate that as plot size increases, the farm profits of maize production monotonically increase. Our findings have important implications for sustainable land use and food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid social-economic and science development, and the improvement of people's cognitive level and demand, it is urgent to further study the relationship between human and ecosystem. Landsenses ecology is a comprehensive discipline, a bridge which links ecosystem services and sustainable development. Based on the analysis of the relationship between the principle of landsenses creation and the ecological aesthetics experience, as well as the practice of Chinese traditional culture, this paper preliminarily presents a framework of applying landsenses ecology to explore ecological aesthetics. The principles of landsenses creation have many manifestation forms similar to Chinese traditional culture. Chinese classical landscape poems is a kind of carriers for ancient Chinese people to present their cultural manifestations with their simple ecological view, which shows their simple ecological thoughts, sustainable development consciousness and corresponding vision at that time. The paper discusses the manifestation forms of Chinese traditional culture, and systematically analyzes the landsense creation ways and the spatiotemporal scales in the two poems, Out of the Great Wall (凉州词in Chinese) and On the Stork Tower (登鹳雀楼in Chinese). These two poems combine the ecosystem elements organically, integrate visual landscape with psychological perceptions, and reflect the ecological aesthetics through the combination of landscape spatiotemporal scales, as well as the interactivity of physical senses and psychological cognitions. The approaches of landsenses ecology can expand the cultural ecosystem service in a spatiotemporal way, and contribute to deeply integrate traditional culture with ecological civilization to promote sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the theory of landsenses ecology, this paper makes a detailed analysis of the architecture pattern of 'The House of Hundred Rooms'(HHR) in the East Dragon Village, a traditional ancient Chinese village, so as to provide a reference for the research on reasonable land use and sustainable development in modern times. By the principle of the vein-compliance in orientation and bearing in landsense creation, the paper analyses the causes of the north-facing feature and the 'counter-tradition' room setting feature lie in the architectural pattern of HHR, revealing that people's psychological perceptions of orientation and bearing is distinct from the physical one. It points out these features of this building complex are the results of man's active adaptation to nature on the basis of respecting nature, which together manages to form a process of constructing the harmonious relationship between man and nature during land use. By the principle of the multiscale (trans-scale or cross-scale) spatiotemporal combination in landsense creation, the paper continues to analyze on the pattern of HHR and finds that it has both the function of cultural inheritance and the innovation of adaptation to new environment, which can promote the protection of historical and cultural elements during the course of development, and bring reference for the realization of sustainable development from the perspective of contemporary historical and cultural heritage protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of landsenses ecology is closely connected with Chinese philosophy and ecological wisdom. Many ancient settlements contain the ideas of landsenses ecology in the process of site determination, planning and development. From the perspective of landsenses ecology, this paper takes ancient house, fortress-village, town and city in Yu County, Hebei Province, China, as typical cases, and summarizes the characteristics and changes of the influencing factors in the process of these site determination, planning and development over history through literature search and field investigation. The main factors of site determination, planning and development would have different focuses and changes in different historical stages (from the Stone Age to Qing Dynasty) and on different scales (from house to city). The main factors ranged from macro factors, including natural factors, political economy, military defense and landscape structure, to specific factors, including road traffic, microclimate characteristics, human physical and psychological perception, financial situation, etc. It can be seen that there is a correspondence between the process of Chinese ancient site determination, planning and development and the theory of landsenses ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by Chinese traditional art forms and architectural thoughts, landscape ecology or landsenseology emphasizes the integration of human physical senses, psychological perceptions and sustainable development concept into the regional ecol-environmental research and planning-construction-management, which is an inheritance and development to ancient Chinese simple ecological ideas and sustainable development consciousness. The multiscale of spatiotemporal combination is one of the principles of landsense creation, which means that people's senses and perceptions at different times and different places can be integrated into a single landsense for a landsense creation. The bidirection of vision manifestation and the vein-compliance of orientation are the other two main principles of landsense creation. As traditional Chinese art creations, poetry, calligraphy and painting possess the same origin, poetry, calligraphy and painting reproduce their creators' perceptions of ecosystems and also present their creators' visions for a better living environment, which reflects people's simple ecological ideas and sustainable development consciousness at that time. Zhihuan Wang is a famous poet in the Chinese Tang Dynasty. The poem, On the Stork Tower, is one of his representative works. This poem is widely loved by people and has been widely spread in China. Based on the theory and methodology of landsenses ecology or landsenseology, this paper analyzes the creation method, lofty artistic conception and good vision of the poem, which provides an effective approach or methodology for art appreciation. The analysis framework formed with this approach is of enlightening significance for the theoretical researches and practices of eco-environmental art creation, eco-environment construction and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban energy consumption is one of the most important causes of air pollution. Air pollution-oriented ecological risk assessment is of great significance to the promotion of urban environmental protection. This paper focuses on ecological risk in Xiamen city caused by air pollutant discharge from urban energy consumption. The Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning model was used to establish two scenarios of energy consumption in Xiamen city, and based on different scenarios, we estimated urban energy consumption and discharge quantity of air pollutant (DQAP). A box model and an expert scoring method were used to calculate the air pollution burden (APB) of SO2, NO2, CO, PM10 and PM2.5 and to obtain the probabilities of different air pollution loads. An ecological risk assessment model was developed and utilized to predict Xiamen city’s ecological risks in 2020. The results showed that under an energy-saving scenario, the ecological risks for PM2.5, SO2 and NO2 are high, whereas the ecological risks for CO and PM10 are low. Under a baseline scenario, the ecological risks for PM2.5, SO2 and NO2 are moderate, whereas the ecological risks for CO and PM10 are low. In addition, the APB of SO2, NO2, CO, and PM2.5, but not of PM10, is predicted to rise. In the simulation, energy generation from coal is the main source of air pollution. Although the DQAP from automobiles is not high, it is predicted to rise year-on-year. In summary, the ecological risk due to pollution in Xiamen city is high, and the main pollutants are SO2, NO2 and PM2.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban ecological risk is one of the important factors that may restrict the social and economic development. Therefore, it is of great significance to carry out a comprehensive assessment of ecological risks so that an ecological risk prevention and control plan can be scientifically formulated. In this paper, a comprehensive ecological risk assessment indicator system of Xiamen was established based on local ecological properties and socioeconomic status. This indicator system covers seven indicators including air pollution, soil pollution, water pollution, fresh water consumption, change in land use, occupation of key zones with ecological functions, and road network expansion. Based on this indicator system and in conjunction with the single factor assessment of ecological risks, this study constructed a model of comprehensive ecological risk assessment and forecasted the comprehensive ecological risk of Xiamen in 2020. The results showed that the comprehensive ecological risk level of Xiamen in 2020 is medium and the main stressors are the discharge of air and water pollutants. From the perspective of risk receptors, i.e. the ecosystem services, the risk posed to the ecosystem services associated to the maintenance of air quality and water purification is the highest. Therefore, this study proposed the recommendations on ecological risk prevention and regulation in Xiamen based on the comprehensive assessment of ecological risks, in the hope to provide scientific support for local ecological protection and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization has created a significant gap between the Three Northeast Provinces (TNP) and the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) since China’s reform and opening-up. In this study, we explain this problem by employing an urban expansion index, spatial hierarchical clustering, the Zipf-PLE model, fractal theory, and time-series analysis. Statistical data on the built-up area, population, and gross domestic product were downloaded from the National Bureau of Statistics of China. The results revealed the following. (1) During the stage of the planned economy, as a result of the significant government investment in development, the urban built-up areas in the TNP and the YRD reached 1867 and 757 km2, respectively, in 1984. (2) During the stage of the socialist market economy, the urban built-up area of the YRD experienced rapid growth over the 30 years from 1984 to 2014 with a rate of increase of 668.8%, which was higher than that of the TNP (139.9%). In 2014, the urban built-up areas of the TNP and the YRD were 4479 and 5820 km2, respectively. (3) Locational advantages had significant effects on urban development after China’s economic reform. The coastal cities of the YRD had higher rates of increase of the built-up areas. By contrast, the border cities of the TNP had lower rates of increase. Finally, this paper finds that the socialist market economy exhibited more efficiency in promoting urban expansion and economic development. The results are significant for generating balanced and sustainable regional development strategies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most cities or leagues in Inner Mongolia are the result of resource-based industrialization processes and animal husbandry development, leading to a heterogeneous composition and configuration of urban areas seldom guided by proper urban ecological landscape regulation policies. In this paper, we chose Xilingol as a case study, and put forward novel ecological landscape regulation approaches based on ecosystem services (ES) for achieving sustainable development in it. An urban ES simulation model and an urban classification model were used to assess the change of ES and to guide the future urban ecological landscape regulation. The results showed a rapid land use change in different subsystems of Xilingol from 2008 to 2013, providing relative values of each type of land per unit in three subsystems (core urban area, suburb and rural), and detected the change of ES in three subsystems and the change of ES per capita in the whole administrative urban area. We suggest that (a) long-term, stable, and ecosystem-services-based land use policies and urban ecological landscape regulation approaches are needed; and (b) highlight an urban ecological landscape regulation approach covering economic, social and natural dimensions for achieving sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses China’s policy of developing an ecologically based circular economy (CE). In this paper, CE is understood as the environmental dimension of the wider vision of China as a ‘harmonious society’, formulated by the 16th Party Congress in 2002 in response to the social and environmental problems following in the wake of the unfettered economic growth policy of China after Mao Zedong’s death in 1976. The 18th Party Congress of CCP in 2012 further strengthened the official resolve to develop China as an ‘ecological civilization’ characterized by harmony between man and nature under the epitome ‘Beautiful China’. The paper discusses CE in this wider context. It is based on a review of literature on CE available in English. The aim is to present a more comprehensive understanding and critique of the Chinese version of CE as part of a wider policy for socioeconomic transformation and development of an ecologically based society, than has so far been done. The paper concludes by discussing bottlenecks and challenges confronting the implementation of CE in this wider socioeconomic context. The main problems are claimed to be the challenge of implementing CE as a top-down social engineering process and the lack of civil society involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the implementation of reverse logistics (RL) in automobile manufacturing has drawn extensive interest from the Chinese government that has launched relevant take-back and environmental regulations and pilot projects. This study focuses on RL implementation issues in Chinese auto-parts manufacturing sector. Based on comprehensive literature review and multiple case studies in the Chinese auto-parts firms, this paper proposes a conceptual RL framework and highlights the major implementation issues. The purpose of this paper is to draw an overall picture of RL in the Chinese context, highlighting implementation issues in the auto-parts sector. Our study suggests that Chinese RL implementation requires close government monitoring mechanism and incentives, top management commitment within firms, technology and human capabilities support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Korean Government is considering designating Baegnyeong Island, which has several distinguishing features (it is the habitat of endangered species such as the spotted seal and has unique marine scenery and ecosystem), as a marine protected area (MPA). The policymakers are demanding information on the economic benefits of designating the island as an MPA. Therefore, this paper describes an attempt to measure the economic benefits, using a contingent valuation (CV) survey of 600 randomly selected households in Korea in 2015. We used a one-and-one-half-bound dichotomous choice (DC) question to derive the willingness to pay (WTP) responses, and applied a spike model to deal with WTP responses of zero. The yearly mean WTP per household was computed to be KRW 3,590 (USD 3.15) for the next 10 years, an estimate that is statistically significant at the 1% level. Expanding the value to the national population gives us KRW 67.2 billion (USD 59.1 million) per year. The present value of the total economic benefits amounts to KRW 534.0 billion (USD 469.2 million) using a social discount rate of 5.5%. We can conclude that Korean households are ready to shoulder some of the financial burden of designating the island as an MPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under Chinese culture it is believed that herbal medicine is always safe and wild food is always healthy. Generally, the rarer a plant, the higher its value. The booming economy in China has promoted tourism development in wilderness areas and wild medicinal and food plants are part of the attraction to tourists. Conflicts between wild plant exploitation and protection have emerged in many parts of China, such as Changbai Mountain. Changbai Mountain supports numerous medicinal and food plants but many have become rare and endangered. This paper numerically evaluates 30 plant species that have relatively high conservation value for each type (medicinal, ornamental and food), and briefly describes the uses of four to five top ranked species per type that need more protection on Changbai Mountain. This paper also addresses some tree species with important timber values on Changbai Mountain. Over 90% of China's medicinal, ornamental and food plant species, as well as valuable timber trees are found in the conifer–broadleaf mixed forest zone across the boundary of Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve. It is a major challenge to protect the native biodiversity of mixed forest on Changbai Mountain and more efforts need to be made to protect rare and endangered plant species with high economic value. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper introduces the concept, status and problems of China's environmental management system at the rural-urban interface. The problems of environmental management are closely related to rapid urbanisation and the traditional rural-urban dual management system. Integrating rural and urban environmental concerns into environmental policy and management remains a challenge at the rural-urban interface because of the institutional mismatch between urban environmental policies and rural environmental issues. From the current management status, management goals, related laws and major measures the problems in terms of management process are (1) lack of clear identification of environmental issues; (2) lack of clearly defined responsibilities; (3) inappropriate policies and regulation systems; (4) ineffective implementation of environmental policies and regulations; and (5) lack of supervision in environmental management. The existing environmental management pattern leads to a lack of environmental awareness in residents and environmental quality deterioration in the rural-urban interface. This paper suggests a new environmental management pattern constituting government-led environmental management committees and environmental organisations of public participation for the rural-urban interface in China. This pattern is aimed at facilitating reform of the current rural-urban interface environmental management and promoting integrated development in China's urban and rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing interest in environmental conservation is a global phenomenon. In many countries, natural reserves or protected areas (PAs) have been established to restrict human activities and to enhance natural ecosystems, which potentially benefit the planet as a whole. However, this often demands some sacrifices from local residents who may have to give up resources they rely on or suffer losses caused by wildlife. This issue potentially becomes aggravated in densely populated areas where many people and economic activities are impacted. This paper presents research findings on poverty issues in a newly established national natural reserve in China, Hengshui Lake Natural Reserve. The paper addresses the characteristics of poor households in the reserve and the interaction between these families and the reserve. In addition, poverty alleviation measures are analysed and additional measures to reduce poverty and conflicts between the reserve and local residents are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rehabilitation of degraded forests is widely recognized, with a consensus that technical, economic, environmental and social factors must all be considered in practice. Rehabilitating degraded forests has been being one of the Guangdong Provincial Government's most important priorities. Several successful efforts and a holistic approach have been made to rehabilitate the degraded forest landscape and increase forest cover. This paper assesses the characteristics of eight rehabilitation initiatives identified in Guangdong Province, their outcomes and influencing factors, and sustainability of technical, social-economic, long-term management and financing factors using a literature search and 22 case studies obtained by means of questionnaires and interviews. The case studies help to elucidate implementation activities and outcomes on the ground. The objective of this paper is to draw strategic lessons for sustaining and guiding current and future efforts both within China and elsewhere in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last two decades, sustainable consumption has become one of the most important issues in global sustainable development. Rapid economic development in China has greatly improved people's living standards, but has also seriously damaged the environment. In this paper, material flow analysis and life-cycle assessment methods were used to analyze environmental consumption patterns of Chinese urban households. Results show that the total household environmental impact (HEI) increased nearly four fold, increasing from 1.85 in the environmental potential index (EPI) in 1985 to 6.40 EPI in 2000. In 1985 and 1990, more than 80% of HEI came from food and housing consumption behaviors. In 2000, transport and housing consumption behaviors have become the main sources of HEI. Climate, economic development, household income, family size, and urbanization rate are main driving forces of household environmental impacts. The increasing consumption demand in the next two decades and its environmental implications are discussed in the last part of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper emphasises that more holistic infrastructure systems are of great importance to achieving sustainable development of China and hence of the planet. Whilst rapid urbanisation brings the prospect of economic growth and a higher standard of living, it may also involve unsustainable consumption of scarce resources (land, materials, energy and water), accompanied by environmental degradation (such as pollution, emissions and waste). The challenge is to achieve the necessary economic growth but with far lower resource use, and thus reduce the ecological footprint, as recognised by China's Circular Economy policy. Whilst developed nations should rightly aim for a Factor 10 improvement in resource productivity, Factor 4 is often seen as a more appropriate target for developing countries -- a fourfold increase. This involves doubling wealth while halving resource use in order to return to an ecological balance. Arguably, even greater resource productivity is required. China's economy will need to achieve at least a sevenfold increase in efficiency of resource use to achieve the goal of 'all-round well-being of society' set for 2050, although some have argued that a tenfold increase (90% improvement) will be required. The paper highlights the significant contribution of transport, energy, water and built infrastructure to resource consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and the ecological footprint. It examines ways that China can move towards a Factor 10 improvement in resource productivity. This involves viewing infrastructure as 'a system to facilitate the delivery of services' to support social and economic development in an integrated, eco- or resource-efficient, cost-effective and socially inclusive manner, coupled with extending the principles of a 'product service system' more widely to an 'infrastructure service system'. It is argued that a revolution in thought and action is required to achieve the necessary paradigm shift in China, with the West leading by example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is pioneering a new sustainable development model which has the ability to overcome current environmental and resource management problems, while achieving improvements in resource productivity and eco-efficiency. This model, formally accepted in 2002 and termed the 'circular economy', is understood to mean the realisation of a closed loop of material flows in the Chinese economic system. Successful implementation of this model is seen as one way in which China can 'leapfrog' past environmental damage that is typically seen as economies industrialise. This paper introduces the development of the model in China, and presents the current situation of circular economy practice in China. The paper describes current measures being implemented in China for the long-term promotion of a circular economy, including the formulation of objectives, legislation, policies and measures, so that the country can 'leapfrog' its way from environmentally-damaging development to a more sustainable path. The paper then identifies a series of barriers and challenges to the implementation of the concept in China. Finally, conclusions on the future of the circular economy concept are drawn. Data were derived primarily from an analysis of secondary sources (i.e. previously published papers). Additional primary data derived from the main author's personal involvement in several circular economy initiatives were also employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic disturbances have caused major landscape changes in the forests of northeastern China during the past 50 years. In particular, continuous over-deforestation has greatly decreased the region's forest quality. Ecological footprint analysis generates aggregated information about a population's demand on nature and the population regional biological capacity. To show the forest change and the population's ecological demand on the study area, this paper presents an ecological footprint time series for the Songling Forestry Bureau in northeastern China from 1965 to 2000. The paper shows conventional ecological footprint time series and area demand time series -- under global, Chinese and local yearly yields -- to study the biological productivity of Songling. In this study, biological capacity was calculated based on a conventional approach. The results demonstrate that the ecological footprint has increased slightly and continuously during the 35-year timespan, while the biological capacity has decreased dramatically. These effects have been caused mainly by the depletion of forest resources. The results also yield much information about natural changes and socioeconomic dynamics, as well as the driving factors for these changes, of which the most important is forest management policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water reuse and wastewater minimization are becoming increasingly important strategies for industrial parks. However, integrated industrial water management systems at an industrial park level have not yet been adequately investigated to determine synergies. This paper employs a case study of the Tianjin Economic Development Area (TEDA) to examine the importance of developing an integrated water resources management framework at the industrial park level. The paper presents a framework for effective and efficient management of water resources within an industrial park by taking a systems approach to conventional water management practices, designed to minimize industrial water use and maximize wastewater reuse among different tenants of an industrial park. The framework is composed of four elements: a management information system, policies and regulations, economic instruments and capacity building. The paper then considers how to implement such an integrated approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource-based cities (RBC) have made momentous contributions to urbanization in China. However, as natural resources are exhausted, RBC are facing an enormous challenge. In this paper we put forward a resource-based city sustainability index (RCSI) and a resource-based city coordination index (RCCI), including environmental, social, and economic dimensions, adopted three weight scenarios, and selected 13 cities for study. The results: (a) help locate the problems by analyzing both dimensions and indicators; (b) simulate the trends of how RBC emerged, grew, declined, and regenerated; (c) categorize RBC into four types by integrating RCSI and RCCI; (d) give policy makers a holistic and comprehensive perspective in the future urban regulation and management; and (e) highlight a road to sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's rapid urbanization and its success in developing the Internet of Things (IoT) will decide its future development direction. The construction of sustainable cities is crucial to China because China has such a large population. The Xiamen Long-term Urban Ecosystem Observation and Research Station (Xiamen LUEORS) was started in 2006, together with the research related to the Environmental Internet of Things (EIoT) for Xiamen LUEORS. This paper explains the purpose, general framework, and main features of EIoT, and outlines the results of performing EIoT experiments in some areas, including a ‘town village’, a peculiar phenomenon of China's urbanization. It also discusses the development trends of IoT and proposes the concept of ZeroSpace Interconnection of Things (ZeroIoT, or ZeroSIT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobility has been argued to be the single factor explaining why some pastoralists do relatively well during extreme climatic events, while others do not, because mobility works by taking advantage of the spatial and temporal structure of resource failure by moving away from scarcity towards abundance. In spite of this, a common governmental management strategy is to resettle pastoral populations and thereby significantly reduce mobility. By revealing the underlying logic of mobility for Tibetan pastoralists, this paper questions official policy that aims at privatizing communally owned rangelands since it reduces pastoral flexibility and access to key resources. This is especially pertinent in the face of climate change. While little is known as to the specifics of how climate change will affect nomadic pastoralists, environmental variability is likely to increase. Consequently, policies resulting in decreased mobility may exacerbate the negative effects of climate change because of a positive feedback between climate and negative density dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activities can have dramatic effects on the environment so that evaluating the anthropogenic driving forces is an important issue in the consideration of how humans impact the world. In this paper, ecological footprint (EF) was used as an aggregate index of total human impacts in 31 provinces in mainland China during 2010. The STIRPAT model was employed to analyze the major anthropogenic drivers of EF. The empirical results demonstrate that great disparities of EF exist at the spatial scale. Provinces with the largest total EF are mostly distributed in the populated east coast of China, whereas provinces with the lowest total EF are mostly found in west China. Similar to EF, ecological deficit (ED) is a dominant characteristic of most municipal areas in China. The results of STIRPAT show that population has the largest potential effect on the Chinese environment at the provincial scale, followed by EF intensity, affluence, percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) from the industrial sector, age structure, and per capita land area. Urbanization has negative effects on EF disparities, but it is not an inevitable factor in this case. This study is helpful to recognizing the human effects on environment and helps to facilitate the management of sustainable development across China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lijiang City has undergone rapid economic development, and it is important to evaluate factors that will contribute to future development and how to make that development more sustainable. In this paper, we used ecological footprint (EF) and ecological carrying capacity (ECC) to assess economic development in Lijiang City from 1995 to 2007. The results show that there was a sharp increase in EF and a minor decrease in ECC. The large increase in EF might be caused by rapid economic development, which consumed energy and other resources but did not cause serious observable damage to ECC. In the final analysis, this is because the tourism industry plays a prominent role in economic growth in Lijiang City, and is far more important than the two sectors that have a more severe environmental impact: agriculture and general industry. The economic development of Lijiang City depends mainly on comprehensive development of tourism; cultural resources and ethnic cultures are the critical drivers of tourism development in the city. Vigorously developing integrated tourism, combined with addressing concerns over sustainability and protective development of ethnic cultures, is the best approach to sustainable development of Lijiang City. To assure the success of this approach, we proposed a number of strategic measures, such as payment for both ecological and cultural services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scientific approach to urban planning is required to ensure environmental protection and ecological sustainability. This paper presents a range of urban land-use scenarios and their implications for urban development and economic demand in the Old Town of Lijiang. Using geographic information system (GIS) and questionnaire analysis, three future urban planning scenarios were created based on data and storylines for the Lijiang region. In all scenarios, urban growth arises from population increase due to tourism and economic change. However, the spatial patterns differ due to varying assumptions about urban development processes or purposes. The modelling results are successfully illustrated in the scope of possible land-use scenarios for the future and provide useful input for starting discussions on future urban development planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integrity of the living space of villages with rich historical settings and traditional culture is increasingly challenged by modern economic development. Sustainable development of such villages will be impractical unless their space is protected. In this paper, the living space for Yuhu Village, an important tourist attraction in Lijiang City, is introduced and analysed on the basis of in situ observations, and principles and strategies for living space protection are proposed based on the historical background and current status. Although Yuhu Village is an excellent place for the local people to live and for tourists to visit, traditional land use, rural scenery, native species and Naxi culture need to be protected, and improvements are needed in water systems, roads and agriculture. Such an integrated effort will help to create a balance between heritage protection and economic development and lead to the creation of a harmonious modern society with intact historical remnants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid growth in land use has caused problems such as waste of natural resources, geological disasters and damage to heritage through the social, economic and environmental impacts of urban sprawl. In this paper, a new model and index system of urban ecological risk assessment (ERA) based on geographic information system (GIS) was built. To identify and classify urban ecological risk factors, three crucial parameters are described: land use features, spatial distance between receptors and risk sources and developed area. World Cultural Heritage conservation areas serve as key receptors, while expansion of land use for construction results in massive urbanisation as a risk source. To analyse the relationships between the receptors and risk sources, a spatial interaction model (SIM), spatial analysis with GIS and geostatistical methods were used. The results show that urban sprawl land threatens Lijiang's land-use patterns. The Lashihai wetland and Wenbi reservoir are at highest risk, while Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is only slightly affected. This research provides further and more comprehensive technical support for identifying potential ecological risk and guaranteeing ecological security in zoning and achieving sustainable development of Lijiang City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are facing considerable challenges resulting from imminent climate change impacts. Urban planning to minimise adverse impacts of climate change at the city level can establish a climate-resilient city. Mitigation strategies to reduce CO2 emissions would lead to a climate-friendly city. Integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation into sustainable city planning should not be merely added as a single level of sustainable city planning, but requires a wide range of multi-level cooperation. Lijiang City has experienced climatic change during the last half century, and its CO2 emissions have increased faster than the GDP growth. Nearby glaciers on Yulong Snow Mountain have been retreating and losing mass since the early twentieth century. In this paper, we identify economic sectors that are vulnerable to climate change, including tourism, agriculture and water supply, and propose mitigation and adaptation strategies to cope with climate change in this tourism city. As energy use is the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, renewable energy has enormous CO2 reduction potential. Land use practices, a sectoral approach and public participation are all considered adaptive in climate planning. The proposals outlined are valuable as they provide an understanding of how to implement integrated climate planning and integrate climate change mitigation and adaptation into sustainable city planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of Lijiang City, many empty spaces have been exploited and the built-up land is becoming increasingly crowded. This has caused degradation of the urban environment. In this paper, we analyse the fractal dimension of built-up land in Lijiang City in an attempt to improve environmental quality. TM image data acquired in 2000 and 2006 were used to derive land-use data through a back-propagation neural network realized using Matlab software. Urban form was quantified with the box-counting method. The fractal dimension of built-up land increased from 1.73 in 2000 to 1.84 in 2006, meaning that the respective amounts of built-up land and green space have become disproportionate over time. To obtain a better balance between green areas and built-up land, the area–radius relationship method and the Smeed model were used to find the optimum range, within which increasing green areas will bring greater ecological benefits. This range was within a 2000-m radius of the entrance to the Old Town of Lijiang. Increasing green areas in this range is recommended to increase ecological benefits to the whole city, and the emphasis of planning studies in Lijiang City in future should be on the rational layout of built-up land within this range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid economic development has led to urban sprawl and threatens river systems. In this paper, we used geographic information system (GIS) techniques to examine the effects of urbanisation on the water resources of the Yanggong River watershed in Lijiang City, and analysed the temporal changes in river systems and their impacts on watershed ecosystem functions. The total length of the river systems in the Yanggong River watershed decreased from 786.9 km in 1995 to 674.2 km in 2009 and is predicted to continue to decrease by 35.5 km in the next 11 years according to various data sources. The decrease in river system density started in the Old Town of Lijiang and gradually spread to the surrounding areas. Our analysis shows that urbanisation is failing to take into account the impacts on river systems and their functions, which could cause a reduction in the size of the river systems and degradation of watershed ecosystem functions in the Yanggong River watershed of Lijiang City. It is suggested that protecting the natural river network and making full use of the advantages of the distinctive terrain in the Yanggong River watershed could contribute to the sustainability of urban development in Lijiang City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World cultural and natural heritage sites are an important part of the wealth of humankind, but their protection is threatened by rapid urbanisation. In this paper, we assessed urbanisation-related pressures on the Old Town of Lijiang, using an integrated method based on the analytic network process (ANP). In addition to the data from the governmental census, we also employed satellite images, ecosystem services and sewage treatment data. The results of quantitative assessment of 16 indicators demonstrated that the pressure on the Old Town of Lijiang from 1978 to 2009 has increased with urbanisation and economic development, with the highest pressure occurring in 2009 and the lowest in 1978. The pressure more than doubled between 2000 and 2009, and there was an exponential relationship between urbanisation rate and pressure, suggesting that a small increase in urbanisation rate can trigger a large increase in urbanisation-related pressure. It was found that increases in population and tourism are the most crucial of the pressure indicators. The findings have significant implications for promoting the protection of the Old Town of Lijiang and other world heritage sites under similar pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the understanding of temporal and spatial behaviour of tourists is important for enhancing sustainable management of tourism. In recent years, with the emergence of photo-sharing Internet communities, many photographers have posted their photographs on the Internet and made them freely accessible. Generally attached to these shared photos is information about where and when the photos were taken, providing clues to establish the temporal and spatial distribution of the photographers. In this paper, we described a photography-based approach to analyse Chinese tourists' temporal–spatial behaviour identified from 1308 photos taken in the Old Town of Lijiang. We estimated tourists' temporal variation, length of stay, daily average number of tourists, individual movement traces and tourist hotspots. The results suggest that the photo-based methods have obvious advantages. We believe that this wealth of publicly available data sources with spatio-temporal information will provide a new perspective in analysing tourist flow distribution and tourist hotspots and will be helpful to plan tourism resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability assessment is an essential requirement for constructing sustainable cities. In this paper, we develop a comprehensive method to assess the sustainability level of development of cities (SLDC) in China, and use data from the China City Statistical Yearbook to calculate assessment indicators for Lijiang City between 2003 and 2008. Ten indicators covering residents' welfare, urbanisation and environment were selected. The results showed that Lijiang's SLDC experienced a ‘slow decline’ stage followed by a ‘rapid improvement’ stage, and the sustainability of Lijiang's development has been steadily enhanced during the second phase. This assessment indicator system could readily be applied to assess the SLDC of other Chinese cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dairy industry is an important part of the global economy, and the rapidly developing dairy enterprises in China have become increasingly important to the rest of the world. Due to increasing demand for dairy products and support from the government, China's dairy industry has thrived in recent decades. But rapid growth has been accompanied by a suite of industry/structural problems associated with raw milk supply, processing enterprises, product retailing and profit allocation. Thus, a major dairy crisis took place in 2008, triggered by a notorious melamine-contaminated milk event. The dairy crisis has had devastating impacts on China's dairy industry, negatively affecting farmers, consumers, processing enterprises and even government agencies. The Chinese government has developed rigorous measures to prevent future incidents of this sort, including the enactment of the Food Safety Law and reinstatement of the no-exemption quality inspection of food products. In this paper, we analyse the wide-ranging impacts and root causes of the recent dairy crisis in China. We also examine how the crisis has been handled and what measures have been put in place in its aftermath. Then we discuss policy implications for promoting the sustainability of China's dairy industry. Lessons learned from this crisis, as well as implications for policy improvements, should be valuable for the development of a sustainable dairy industry in other regions of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The clean development mechanism (CDM) could play an important role in the power generation sector of developing countries and emerging economies by providing additional revenue to support the diffusion of renewable energy sources (RES). This paper investigates the contribution of the CDM to deployment of renewable electricity projects in China and India, and highlights the main potentialities and limitations of this mechanism for their support. The outcome of our analysis shows many differences and similarities in the way and scale of CDM projects for renewable electricity generation have been implemented in the two countries. In both cases, the CDM has made a contribution to greening investments in the power generation sector, which is still largely dominated by subcritical coal-fuelled power plants. Nonetheless, some major problems still remain and they are mainly related to the distribution of projects across different technologies and to the environmental integrity of the mechanism. In view of the likely revision of the CDM in the post-Kyoto period, we find that the differentiation of the credit generation rate of different project categories could bring some level of improvement without significantly altering the current system functionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of local (city-level) sustainable development (LSD) is explored against the backdrop of urban dynamics and the international discussions on sustainable development. Urban metabolism is a key concept used in the analysis. Overall, sustainable urban development is seen to have an internal dimension and an external dimension, even though urban jurisdictions may be restricted to the former. Sustainable cities (SCs) and policies for LSD are discussed conceptually and in terms of their operational use, with a focus on urban policies in developing and emerging countries. Examples are given of SCs in China. Cities with strategies related especially to climate change are considered separately and analysed in terms of developed-developing, adaptation or mitigation focus. Again, examples of especially 'low-carbon' cities in China are presented. From these elements, this paper extracts some elements of a (social science) research agenda in urban environmental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an increasing population and rapid development of the economy and society of the Yellow River Basin region, the Yellow River is at crisis point. The discrepancy between supply and demand of water resources is a key issue. In 2000-2006, the mean annual discharge of the Yellow River entering the delta was 13.2 billion m3, a reduction of 18.6 billion m3 compared with the 1980s, and 9 billion m3 less than in the 1990s. The water requirements of various sectors are increasing. Large amounts of water essential to maintain the health of the delta ecosystem have been diverted for other users. The lower river channel is shrinking and the threat of flooding is becoming severe. Moreover, water pollution is increasing to a serious level; the river mouth ecosystem is subject to degradation. Due to overall decreased flow into the delta, and almost no flow into the delta for much of the year except in wet periods, biodiversity is threatened and there has been degradation of the ecological environment. In view of the water scarcity and variation in water supply, particularly in the context of climate change, measures need to be taken to realise sustainable water use in the Yellow River Delta region. In view of the lack of a complete index system for sustainable utilisation of regional water resources in China, this paper examines the major countermeasures for sustainable water use in the region. A rational adjustment mechanism for water prices is needed. Adjustment of agricultural infrastructure and water saving need to be directed by water prices, and thus the reasonable exploitation of groundwater must also be directed by water prices. Participation of the public is to be encouraged, with the development of a water user association that will become involved in formulating water rights, water allocation and water prices. Decision-making, management and supervision of this association will be done in a democratic way to promote the social management of water saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological footprint (EF), as a physical indicator to measure the extent of humanity's use of natural resources, is one of the most successful methods used to assess sustainable development. This paper calculated the per capita EF and biocapacity (BC) of China from 1949 to 2008 and the fluctuant cycles of per capita EF and BC, which were decomposed and assessed based on empirical mode decomposition and nonlinear dynamic prediction models. We propose prediction scenarios and the results show that: (1) over the last 60 years, the per capita EF increasingly fluctuated while the per capita BC constantly reduced, and since 1985, China has had an aggregate ecological deficit (ED); (2) the business-as-usual scenario looked at the consequences if average annual change rates of per capita EF and BC are constant, where the per capita ED would be 3.9024 gha in 2030, a very grim situation for China; and (3) if the productivity of natural ecosystems increases by 10%, consumption of natural ecosystems and emission of CO2 and contamination could be reduced by 10% and per capita ED would be 1.5217 gha in 2030, then the potential for sustainable development will be much better than the business-as-usual scenario. Finally, some policy recommendations are presented, such as increased land productivity to meet growing demand, reducing over-consumption of resources to mitigate ecological overload, promoting resource-saving consumption and paying attention to international trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, it has been important to objectively evaluate the degree of regional ecological security with regard to resource depletion and to analyse influential factors to assess sustainable development. This paper tries to assess ecological security in Chongqing while investigating the main influencing factors. Calculations of the consumption footprint, production footprint and ecological capacity for Chongqing from 1996 to 2007 based on an ecological footprint approach were carried out. An ecological security index was also calculated from these results and factors influencing security were analysed using factor analysis. Both the consumption and production footprints present an upward trend, contrary to the gradually decreasing trend of ecological capacity. In addition, the ecological security index shows that Chongqing has deteriorated from a level of less risk to that of risk. Factor analysis suggests that the deterioration of ecological security could primarily be ascribed to socio-economic factors and industrialisation. With socio-economic development and industrialisation, appropriate measures must be taken to improve the ecosystem in Chongqing so as to achieve sustainable development. The limitations of the methodology are also discussed and areas that require further research are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, urbanisation has become an inevitable worldwide trend, especially in China, which is experiencing rapid urbanisation. Understanding the relationship between city size and resource consumption is necessary to achieve a transition to sustainable development. This paper took a typical rapidly urbanising city, Xiamen, as a case study to analyse relationships between resource consumption and city size in the course of rapid urbanisation. The best-fit curve estimation models were chosen for analysis. The average, derivative and elasticity functions were then solved and plotted. The results revealed different modes for resource use with city-scale growth. An availability, accessibility and scale framework was proposed for analysis, and the implications for sustainable urbanisation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of critical importance to develop appropriate assessment tools with which to comprehensively measure the sustainability status of a region in order to guide its transformation to sustainable development. This paper proposes a novel method of sustainability assessment based on urban eco-efficiency, which calculates the ratios of welfare and ecological impact. This method can demonstrate the relative sustainability status of targeted regions for different time periods, and it implicitly considers comprehensive urban information including ecology, economy and society. By using the human development index (HDI) and ecological footprint (EF) as measures of urban welfare and ecological burden, we carried out a case study of Xiamen City during 2000-2006 using the proposed method. The results indicated that there is a fluctuation of eco-efficiency, which shows a steady increase then a sharp decline, with a marginal increase towards the end of the studied period. Overall, eco-efficiency, resource efficiency and environmental efficiency declined 0.155-, 0.157- and 0.153-times, respectively, during this period. This means that the increase of ecological consumption is faster than improvement of social welfare. As a result, urban sustainability declines, and its future increase depend on improvements of both resource and environment efficiency. Our method proved effective in analysing the relative sustainability status among targeted regions for different time periods, paving the way for practical applications, such as policy analysis, in pursuit of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity of communities is a common feature in peri-urban areas, which are transitional zones between urban and rural areas. Lifestyles, as well as environmental awareness, may be closely related to the community morphology. Currently, there are few studies on the differences in environmental awareness in peri-urban areas. In this paper, a typical peri-urban area in Xiamen (Jimei District) was selected to investigate the residential characteristics and compare and analyse residents' environmental awareness in communities at various levels of urbanisation. Based on external building and socio-economic characteristics, 10 communities in Jimei District could be classified and ranked by degree of urbanisation. The closer the communities were to the urban centre or industrial zone, the higher the urbanisation level. Significant differences in resident's environmental awareness existed among the 10 communities in Jimei District. Along the urbanisation gradient, the discrepancies in awareness among communities were not linear, but showed a U or inverted U trend, very similar to the environmental Kuznets curve. The data obtained should be helpful in enriching urbanisation theory, and provide a scientific basis for environment planning and management in peri-urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land-use change in oases of arid zones play a significant role in the sustainable development and stability of oases. This paper presents a typical case of successful efforts to mitigate land-use change, its drivers and effects on the oasis eco-environment at Keriya Oasis in the western arid zone of China using remotely-sensed data, official statistics, and data collected by field investigation. Mathematical models were developed to quantify important elements related to land-use change, including net change and total change. The results indicate that: (1) approximately 17% of land-use types of Keriya Oasis changed between 1991 and 2002; (2) socioeconomic development, climate change, and economic polices contributed to land-use change in the oasis; (3) inappropriate human activities were the main cause of land-use change and eco-environmental degradation in the oasis; and (4) the stability of the oasis is threatened by land-use change and unexpected eco-environmental changes in the oasis and oasis-desert ecotone. The study suggests irrational human activity in arid zones, and that caution should be exercised to maintain stability and sustainable development of oases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An oasis is not only the most concentrated area of human activity in an arid area but also the largest area where artificial disturbances occur at a regional scale. The study of oasis urban expansion and related factors is important to understand the development of cities in arid areas, guide the evolution of rational urban expansion and promote sustainable development of oasis cities. Although there have been several studies on urban expansion in Xinjiang over past decades, a lack of quantitative data and methods impedes further research. In this paper, urban expansion of the studied area in 1990, 2000 and 2007 is evaluated using 39 Landsat satellite images, a geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS). We also analyse the related factors of urban expansion using quantitative and qualitative methods. We found that economic development and the area of the urban administrative region greatly effect urban expansion. Too rapid growth and outward urbanized expansion paradigms should not be applied blindly in arid areas from the point of view of sustainability. Historic-geographic features of oases and urban planning influence oasis urban morphology. Compact urban morphology is relatively better for protecting precious water and arable resources, and reducing ecology damage to the surrounding oasis. The relationship between urban expansion and population growth was not coordinate before 2000, and effectively only improved after that date. City growth should be moderated, with lower elastic coefficients, slower expansion and higher elasticity coefficients. Oasis cities in Xinjiang are expanding under the combined effects of urbanization, economic development, transportation, environment, resources, policy and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetlands, with their many values and important functions, are precious resources. They have, however, undergone great changes during economic development and population growth. Relying on recent advances in remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques, this paper probes changes in wetland landscapes on Yinchuan Plain during 1978-2006. A series of remote sensing images was used to identify wetland landscape types. Landscape pattern indices, such as patch number, patch density, landscape shape, and Shannon's diversity, evenness, and contagion indices were calculated with GIS and landscape analysis software. Changes in wetland landscape patterns on Yinchuan Plain were analyzed. The analysis show that the total area of wetlands on Yinchuan Plain decreased from 391,540,239 m2 in 1978 to 267,979,957 m2 in 2006, a significant change over 28 years. The area of rivers and lakes has shrunk, and the area of paddies has increased consistently, with increasing wetland fragmentation and heterogeneity. The number of patches, patch density, and landscape shape index shows that wetland landscape patterns have undergone great changes. The landscape diversity, landscape evenness, and contagion indices indicate that wetland landscapes have become less heterogeneous. We discuss the causes of these changes and the sustainable development of wetland ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid growth of its economy in the past two decades, China is facing a serious energy shortage. Energy consumption of China is currently based on coal, but intensive exploitation of coal resources is accompanied by serious threats to the environment. In order to balance economic development, environmental protection, and natural resource conservation, there is an opportunity for development of eco-industry in the coal industry. This paper examines a case study of Yanzou Coal Mining Group (YZCMG), which can be viewed as a typical mining enterprise in China. The aim is to identify the benefits of developing an eco-industry in the coal industry. The significant reduction of environmental pollutants, economic benefits from recycling and reuse of wastes, and increased energy efficiency, together with reduced consumption of natural resources (mainly coal and water), reveal that development of an eco-industry within YZCMG is a promising option. This is also an opportunity for the coal industry to contribute to more sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serious resource depletion has made sustainable agriculture an important and pressing issue for scientists, policy makers, and stakeholders worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Researchers have focused on methods to assess agriculture correctly, and to introduce sound solutions for sustainability, but have reached no agreement. In this paper, we introduce the theoretical framework of the agro-ecosystem health model, a new holistic approach, and apply it at a regional scale using four aspects (4S): sound structure, stable function, safe service, and sustainable development. We examine how 12 indicators of an agro-ecosystem health assessment (AHA) were selected using three dimensions based on this theoretical framework. In an AHA, we used an amoeba approach to examine a high-yield agro-ecosystem in Huantai County, Shandong Province, China. The results indicate that this model of ecosystem health can reflect the complex ecological, economic, and human conditions of an agro-ecosystem and evaluate these conditions using perspectives pertinent to system structure, function, and responses (services). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]