Spatial characteristics of physical environments for human settlements in Jinsha River watershed (Yunnan section), China

Abstract

In recent years, natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, mudslides, collapses, drought, and extreme temperature occur frequently in Yunnan Jinsha River watershed, causing deterioration of physical environments for human settlements in some areas of the watershed. Although several studies have addressed individual environmental elements in the study area, efforts for integrated analysis of environmental factors and human settlements are still lacking. Therefore, it is important to identify the spatial distribution of physical environments for human settlements to support population distribution planning. This study includes 10 factors (topography, landform, vegetation, elevation, fault, rock, soil, earthquake intensity, temperature, and precipitation) as indicators for the assessment of human settlement suitability based on the analytic hierarchy process and grey correlation methods. Geographic information system functions were used to help understand the spatial distribution of human settlements and the causal factors. This study reveals different spatial units of the watershed suitable for human habitation from the viewpoint of physical environment and provides recommendations for urban planning and siting, land use planning, and disaster mitigation in the watershed.

Disaster Chain Analysis of Avalanche and Landslide and the River Blocking Dam of the Yarlung Zangbo River in Milin County of Tibet on 17 and 29 October 2018

“…Possible river blocking and risk assessment should be undertaken. It is also recommended that there should be construction of a high-standard automatic water level monitoring station in the vicinity of the upper reaches of the damming body for hydrological emergency monitoring and early warning work [40,41].…”

“…The median value of the average displacement of the landslides was 5.4 m from March to May 2018, 9.3 m from May to July, and 11.8 m from July to September. The top of the Yarlung Zangbo River landslide dam had a large landslide from 5 January 2016 to 8 June 2018 [37,40]. The snow-covered sediment was transported to the Yarlung Zangbo River, partially deposited in the middle of the mountain.…”

“…There are many barrier lakes at different scales in China’s mountainous areas, and breaches from some of these dammed lakes have resulted in serious environmental disturbances. China’s barrier lakes are mainly distributed in alpine valleys and alpine regions, and some large earthquakes have resulted in the failure of these barrier lakes [38,39,40,41]. In particular, high mountain and canyon areas with steep and rugged terrain, which experience new tectonic movements, including earthquakes, are active, such that landslides and mudslides have become more frequent [42].…”

Promoting the sustainable development of traditional villages: Exploring the comprehensive assessment, spatial and temporal evolution, and internal and external impacts of traditional village human settlements in hunan province

“…Through constructing scientific and systematic evaluation systems, this research not only provides robust support for current urban construction but also makes reasonable predictions about future trends. In China, Academician Wu Liangyong proposed the establishment of a science of HS in the early 1990s, leading to a significant number of scholars beginning to engage in research on various aspects of HS, primarily focusing on urban HS construction evaluation [ 10 ], sustainable development of urban HS [ 11 ], and livability of urban HS [ 12 ]. The publication of 'Convenient Urban Science Evaluation Standards' demonstrates that China has established a scientific index system for evaluating urban residential areas.…”