Evaluation of Urban Sustainability Based on Development Structures and Economic Aggregates: A Case Study of Jiaxing, China

Abstract

Urban sustainability is the comprehensive manifestation of development structures and economic aggregates. The current sustainable evaluation of cities from a single aspect cannot comprehensively reflect urban sustainable development. Based on emergy, this study constructs an assessment method of urban sustainability from development structures and economic aggregates. Jiaxing is the case study explored as the sustainable development model of cities in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) of China. High sustainability of economic aggregates is found in Jiaxing, which is driven by the growth of green GDP. However, the urban development of Jiaxing primarily depends on the input of ecosystem resources, which hinders the sustainability of development structures within Jiaxing. These findings indicate that economic aggregates drive the development of Jiaxing and that the development structures within Jiaxing are unsustainable, resulting from the low sustainability of the natural subsystem and the economic subsystem. As such, it is proposed that industrial structures, development models, and management policies be adopted within cities in the YRD of China in order to promote sustainable development of cities in the YRD of China. This study, therefore, seeks to provide methodological guidance for urban sustainable evaluation.

Design and Application of an Early Warning and Emergency Response System in the Transboundary Area of the Taihu Lake Basin

“…It covers an area of 8280 km 2 and has a population of 10.69 million, accounting for 1/5 of the entire basin [12,13]. The transboundary area has high economic development and is densely populated [14][15][16][17][18][19]. It has more than 190 large and medium-sized rivers and more than 2000 small rivers, resulting in a complex river network with reciprocating flow [11].…”