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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]

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]

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]

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]