Environmental sustainability and scenarios of urbanization in arid area

Based on data of questionnaire and field survey and two developing models of Business As Usual (BAU) and the Intensive Urbanization (IU), this article, taking Wuwei City, a medium size city and typical oasis arid area in Gansu Province with very vulnerable and sensitive natural environment but long history of oasis economy, as an example, evaluated the sustainability of its environment and analyzed the scenarios of Wuwei’s household energy consumption, waste discharge in transportation industry, primary industry, secondary industry, tertiary industry, by the integration of the systematical dynamics model Stella and Polestar language to simulate the future development of the research area. The results showed that, first, the developing model of IU was propitious to Wuwei City named for oasis economy and vulnerable natural environment. The strategy of "Intensive Urbanization" can change the structure of energy utilization, and improve the efficiency of energy utilization. Second, the proportion of domestic energy consumption will decrease with industrialization and economic development, while that of tertiary industry, secondary industry and transportation will gradually grow up according to strategy of "Intensive Urbanization". Third, the Wuwei City is facing a severe eco-environmental crisis under the conventional patterns of development and a better future under a sustainable urbanization scenario, in the next 10 to 20 years. The different developing trends were clarified and the relative countermeasures were put forward for the policy makers according to the driving forces. Foundation item: Under the auspices of Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 90102013) and Key Innovation Sub-project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX1-10-07-04) Biography: YOU Fei (1972–), male, a native of Pianguan of Shanxi Province, Ph.D., assistant professor, specialized in regional sustainable development and ecological economy. E-mail: yofae@sina.com     

城市化进程与城市可持续发展

全球城市化在带动经济发展的同时也带来了一系列的问题,即所谓的“城市病”,实现城市可持续发展是解决这些问题的必由之路,在分析城市化现象带来的问题之后,讨论了实施城市可持续发展的可行性和必要性,并就如何实施我国城市可持续发展提出了一些建议。     

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FORSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN URBANIZATION PROCESS IN CHINA

This paper reviewed the development of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in China, expounded its functions and regional characteristics, and discussed the targets of SEA in the process of urbanization,and the main assessment indicators, procedures, techniques and methodologies of SEA. It concluded that SEA could be improved by the following recommendations: incorporating SEA in decision-making process, selecting experimental units for SEA trial run, and developing strategic evaluation tools and techniques. SEA can provide appropriate and up-to-date information on the impact of human activity on environment in the process of urbanization, and develop a plan of action targeting implementation of intervention for the rehabilitation and preservation of the ecological stability of a city. Therefore, SEA can be a supporting tool for decision-making toward achieving sustainable development.     

The developmental characteristics and strategic ideas of urbanization in China

Since cities and towns are places where those nonagricultural industries are centralized, urbanization is greatly interrelated with industrialization and de-agriculturalization. By means of this kind of interrelationship, Chinese urbanization level may be estimated with the formulas: P1=I1/I0/u0, Pr = N1/N0/u0. The urbanization after the founding of the People's Republic of China can be divided into the following 5 stages: the stage at the out set of industrialization (1949-1957); the high-speed urbanization stage (1958-1960); the first counter-urbanization stage (1961-1965); the second counter-urbanization stage (1966-1976); and the high-speed urbanization stage (1978-now). The characteristics of Chinese urbanization are: the industrialization launched by the government; the simultaneous development of urbanization of cities and urbanization of rural areas; the quite low capability of urbanization to absorb nonagricultural labor force; the incoordinate development of cities, etc. Before establishing a     

Spatial effect of mineral resources exploitation on urbanization: A case study of Tarim River Basin, Xinjiang, China

Mineral resources exploitation significantly affects the spatial structure and evolutive trend of urbanization in arid areas.In this study,the spatial autocorrelation method and the spatial computation model were used to investigate the spatial impacts of mineral resources excavation and processing on comprehensive level of urbanization in the Tarim River Basin,Xinjiang,China for the years of 2000,2006 and 2008.The results are as follows:1)There was a spatial correlation of the development of mineral resources industry and the comprehensive level of urbanization in 2006 and 2008,with the spatial concentration trend rising significantly in 2006 and decreasing in 2008.2)The patterns of local spatial concentration of mineral resources industry and of the comprehensive level of urbanization were relatively stable,and the two patterns showed signs of spatial correlationship.The higher was the degree of the concentration of mineral resources industry,the stronger was its impact on the spatial clustering of urbanization.3)In 2000, mineral resources excavation and processing had a significant positive impact on the comprehensive level of urbanization in the region but not in its adjacent regions.However,in 2008,mineral resources excavation and processing significantly raised the comprehensive level of urbanization not only in the region but also in its neighboring regions.This research demonstrates that the development of mineral resources industry can strongly affect the trends and spatial patterns of urbanization.     

Pattern dynamics of thermal-environment effect during urbanization: A case study in Shenzhen City, China

The thermal-environment effect exists in the field of rapid urbanization.It has adverse effects on the urban atmosphere,regional climate,energy consumption,and public health.Shenzhen,a representative of rapidly urbanizing cities in China,was selected as a case for pattern dynamics analysis of the thermal environment.The surface temperature was acquired from the thermal infrared data of Landsat TM and ETM+ images in 1986,1995,and 2005 by Jiménez-Mu?oz and Sobrino’s generalized single-channel method,which was used in assessing the distribution and spatial patterns of the thermal environment.The relative thermal environment curve(RTC) was combined with Moran’s I analysis to assess the pattern dynamics of the thermal environment in different urbanization periods.Moran’s I index and the RTC represent a process of aggregation-fragmentation-aggregation,which shows the aggregation pattern of a decrease during the rapid urbanization period and then an increase during the steady urbanization period.High-temperature areas gradually expanded to a uniform and scattered distribution in the rapid urbanization period;while the high thermal-environment effect was gradually transformed into a steady spatial pattern in the stable urbanization period.To characterize the increasing development in this multiple-center city,we chose profiles along an urban-development axis.The results suggest that heat islands have expanded from internal urban to external urban areas.Four profiles were obtained showing differences in shape due to spatial differences in the process of development.     

Reconsideration of the urbanization research in China

Theappearanceofmodemurbancommunityisanoutcomeofindustrializationandsocialdevelopment.ThecityitseIfindicatestheconcentrationofpopulation,toolofproduction,capital,enjoymentanddemand.Asaspecialintensive1ivingspace,citymay,inthecourseofmodernization,gatherandagglomeratevariousre-sourcestoitsown,andreflectandspreaditsfunctionstoperipheralareasaswell,whichistheprocessofur-banization.Nomatterasatermoraphenomenon,sinceitwasfirstused'intheworks"FundamentalTheoryofU,ba.i.ati.."bytheSpanishengineerA.S…     

西藏土地荒漠化遥感监测

应用RS与GIS技术,利用1976年的MSS数据和2000年TM遥感数据,对西藏境内的荒漠化土地现状与动态变化进行监测研究,并对其时空演变特征进行了分析。结果表明,西藏荒漠化土地面积2000年为29.08×104km2,占总面积的24.28%,其中沙质荒漠化土地面积为24.99×104km2,占20.86%。1976年荒漠化总面积为27×104km2。由1976~2000年间,荒漠化土地总面积增加了20 764.67 km2,共增长7.69%,年增长率为0.32%。同时,土地荒漠化程度明显加重,重度沙质荒漠化土地面积增加了315.87%。     

四川省人口城市化的趋势分析

四川省是中国传统的人口与农业大省,城市化发展的任务尤其艰巨.四川省城市化水平与全国水平相比差距很大,且发展极不平衡,这已成为严重制约经济发展的瓶颈.利用修正的Logistic模型,从城乡人口数量方面对四川省城市化的发展趋势进行了研究.     

IMPLEMENTATION OF CLEANER PRODUCTION STRATEGIES TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE CITY

Rapid urbanization and growing size of cities will have an increasing impact on the global environment in the 21st century. As an engine of urban development to drive economic growth and technological innovations, industry has moved its focus from controlling environmental hazards to stimulating sustainable industrial development throughout the entire product lifecycle. These process- and technology-driven innovations for industrial production are prerequisites for enhancement of urban environment and sustainable development of cities. In this review, problems of environment and resources scarcity associated with rapid urbanization are demonstrated. And, on the basis of expatiations on the concepts and policies of the cleaner production (CP) and other similar initiatives with the goal of preventing pollution at the source and of managing the raw material more efficiently, two different ways to link the practice of cleaner production in industrial sector with performance of urban environment are discussed in detail. Then, the introduction, practice and legislation of CP strategies in China are outlined, and possibility for China to develop CPC (Cleaner Practices for Cities) approaches in the demonstration cities is discussed. Finally, some suggestions on implementation of CPC strategies are put forward.     

RURAL-URBAN LABORERS''MOBILITY AND URBANIZATION IN CHINA

（孟晓晨）ＲＵＲＡＬ－ＵＲＢＡＮＬＡＢＯＲＥＲＳ＇ＭＯＢＩＬＩＴＹＡＮＤＵＲＢＡＮＩＺＡＴＩＯＮＩＮＣＨＩＮＡ￥ＭｅｎｇＸｉａｏｃｈｅｎ（ＰｅｋｉｎｇＵｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔｙ，Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ１００８７１，ＰＲＣ）Ａｂｓｔｒａｃｔ：Ｕｒｂａｎｉｚａｔｋｉｎ...     

SUSTAINABLE URBAN-RURAL RELATION IN RAPID URBANIZATION AREAS——Case of Transformation of “Urban Village” in Guangzhou

Many studies have been made concerning the problems, characteristics, formation, transformation measures, etc. of urban village from sociology, urban planning and geography, etc., which have made insightful analysis. However, most of these studies started mainly from the standpoint of the city govemment, drumming for the land- scape-oriented urbanization, namely pulling-down the urban village and constructing the splendid residence or business buildings. The article maintains that the most important thing the city government should do is to pay much attention to the sustainable living of urban villagers, who would lose their main income source, namely, the collective dividend and the family housing rent. The single method of compensation has been proved to be harmful to the villagers＇ community, in which some young villagers relying on rent were no longer to do anything but stay at home. On the other hand, considering the floating population has become the main stream of renters in urban villages, the emergence of urban villages was inevitable and would continue to exist in a long time under the socio-economic transition in urban China and globalization. Based on the analysis above, the transformation of urban village should take more concerns on the housing demands of floating population besides compensation for local villagers. Meanwhile, it is necessary to avoid the “landscape-oriented urbanization” without the “peasant-to-citizen” transformation.     

RESEARCHES ON SOIL ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND VALUES IN TIBET

ＲＥＳＥＡＲＣＨＥＳＯＮＳＯＩＬＥＮＶＩＲＯＮＭＥＮＴＡＬＢＡＣＫＧＲＯＵＮＤＶＡＬＵＥＳＩＮＴＩＢＥＴ￥ＺｈａｎｇＸｉａｏｐｉｎｇ（张晓平）ＫｅＹａｎｇｃｈｕａｎ（科扬川）（ＣｈａｎｇｃｈｕｎＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＧｅｏｇｒａｐｈｙ，ｔｈｅＣｈｉｎ...     

THE PROCESS AND STRATEGY OF URBANIZATION DEVELOPMENT IN NORTHWEST CHINA

ＴＨＥＰＲＯＣＥＳＳＡＮＤＳＴＲＡＴＥＧＹＯＦＵＲＢＡＮＩＺＡＴＩＯＮＤＥＶＥＬＯＰＭＥＮＴＩＮＮＯＲＴＨＷＥＳＴＣＨＩＮＡＺｈａｎｇＺｈｉｌｉａｎｇ（张志良）（ＰｉｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎＲｅｓｅａｒｃｈＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＬａｎｚｈｏｕＵｎｉｖｅｒｓｉ...     

西藏纳木错流域现代环境变化特征及影响

该文利用已有资料,综述了纳木错流域冰川湖泊对气候变暖的敏感响应。太阳辐射是气候变化的主要能量来源,西风和印度季风的不均匀分布对高原冰川和湖泊的影响具有区域差异性。在气候变暖背景下,1970年以来,纳木错流域的冰川呈退缩趋势,湖泊面积呈扩大趋势,湖泊结冰时间延迟,融化时间提前,平均降水量变化趋势不明显。以上指标的变化都不具有周期性,很难识别太阳黑子的活动周期。冰川融化是湖泊面积扩大的主要因素,冻土融化产生的水量也是湖泊面积扩大不可忽视的原因。     

Debris flow dam formation in Southeast Tibet

1 Introduction Debris flows in Southeast Tibet can carry a great deal of sediment into streams in a special way. They block mainstreams and form dams.This type of dam,not only dominates the interaction between water and sediment and changes in the riverbed, but also exerts a great influence on the ability of transportation of the river. When a debris-flow dam forms, the water level behind the dam will increase, and villages, fields and roads will beflooded.When the dam breakes,the resulting …     

IMPACT OF URBANIZATION ON STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF RIVER SYSTEM——Case Study of Shanghai, China

1INTRODUCTION Since the 1750s, promoted by Industry Revolution and the rapid development of science and technology, large-scale urbanization swept over the world. So far, it isestimatedthatmorethan60%oftheriversin the world have been experienced high levels of human modifica- tion (ALLAN, 1995). River systems have now become oneofthemostdeeplyhuman-affectedecosystemsinthe earth. To approach the impact ofhuman activitieson riv- ersystem as a multidiscipline topic has been a focus of res…     

西藏一江两河地区人口分布与地形要素关系分析

地形条件是影响区域人口分布的最基本的因素之一,本文基于1 km×1 km人口空间分布公里网格数据定量分析一江两河地区人口分布基本特征及其与高程、坡度、坡向、地形起伏度等地形要素之间的关系,有助于揭示西藏高原人口分布现状的本质、理解人口空间分布结构特征,对于今后宜居地选址、改善农牧民人居环境、制定区域经济发展政策,促进区域内人口、资源与环境可持续发展具有重要意义。研究结果表明：① 一江两河地区90%的区域人口密度不足10人/km²,80%的人口分布在不足5%的土地上,人口分布比较集中。当前一江两河地区有2个主要的人口集中区,分别是拉萨市城关区和日喀则地区日喀则市,拉萨市城关区尤其显著。② 一江两河地区人口沿河分布,80.46%的人口居住在距离河流10 km以内区域,人口总数、人口密度与距河流距离呈明显的指数关系,距离河流2 km以内的区域人口密度高于50人/km²;③ 近99%的人口分布在海拔4500 m以下,当高程超过3800 m时,人口密度随海拔升高呈下降趋势;④ 近70%的人口分布在坡度小于15°的区域,而且随着坡度越大,人口密度越小,人口分布受坡向的影响不明显;⑤ 地形起伏度对人口分布的影响显著,近85%的人口分布在地形起伏度小于800 m的区域,人口密度与地形起伏度之间为倒指数关系。     

Planation surfaces on the Tibet Plateau, China

A planation hypothesis is proposed to explain landform evolution of the Tibet Plateau. A denudation threshold （T）, the maximum potential denudation rate for a certain type of rock, is introduced to explain the combined effects of lithology and tectonics on landform evolution. If the tectonic uplifting rate （U） is equal to or less than the threshold rate （U ≤ T）, the tectonic uplifting and terrain denudation are in dynamic equilibrium, and landforms are in a steady state. The end product should be planation surfaces whether the original landforms are flat plains or deeply dissected mountains. If U 〉 T, uplift and denudation are not able to reach a dynamic equilibrium state. The plateau surface is mostly underlain by soft rocks, such as the Mesozoic epimetamorphic argillites and Tertiary sedimentary rocks, while the mountain ranges comprise hard rocks, such as granite, gneiss and limestone. In soft rock regions, hills are low with a relative relief of mostly less than 100 m and the slopes are gentle at a gradient of 〈200. In contrast, hills can maintain steep slopes in hard rock regions. The Tibet Plateau has been under an equilibrium condition between tectonic uplifting and denudation except for the mountain ranges. The plateau might have reached the present altitudes before the Quaternary.     

Evolution of population, resources, environment and integrated strategy of their development in Shanghai

Study on coordiantion among population(P), resources(R), environment(E), and development(D) (PRED) has comprehensive and extensive contents, which serves as the core of sustainable development. Since the 1980s, PRED has been becoming one of the most important regional studies in China. Based on existing research and collected data, this study analyses the course of the PRED evolution in Shanghai during 1978–1995. Seven indicators were selected to assess the evolution characteristics and interaction mechanism of Shanghai PRED, including growth rate of GDP, growth rate of population, growth rate of industry energy consumption etc. These indicators were designed to reflect representativeness, relativity and data availability. This study showed that there was obvious asynchronous among indicators and annual change of single indicator lacked of regularity, coordination between environment and economic remains the main challenge facing Shanghai, and the key readjusted factors will be population growth rate, GDP growth rate and per residential area growth rate. The study further pointed out that plan, structure and system power were equally important for the more coordinate development in Shanghai. Detailed dicussion on the systematic measurement in each aspect of P, R, E, D indicated that higher development level is the essential basis for Shanghai PRED coordination. Foundation item: Qimingxin Scheme Sponsored by Shanghai Science and Technology Committee. Biography: YUAN Wen(1965–), female, a native of Changzhou City, Jiangsu Prorince, Ph. D in environmental evolution and sustainable development, associate professor of East China Normal University.