Assessment of Urban Agglomeration Ecological Sustainability and Identification of Influencing Factors: Based on the 3DEF Model and the Random Forest

Zhigang Li, Jie Yang (), Jialong Zhong and Dong Zhang
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Zhigang Li: College of Management Science, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Jie Yang: College of Management Science, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Jialong Zhong: College of Management Science, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Dong Zhang: College of Management Science, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: The evaluation of ecological sustainability is significant for high-quality urban development and scientific management and regulation. Taking the Chengdu urban agglomeration (CUA) as the research object, this paper combined the three-dimensional ecological footprint model (3DEF) and random forest to evaluate the ecological sustainability of the study area and identify the influencing factors. The study results indicate that: (1) From 2000 to 2019, the ecological sustainability of Chengdu urban agglomeration was divided into four types, and the overall ecological sustainability of this region showed a downward trend. The areas with higher ecological sustainability were mainly distributed in the northern part of the urban agglomeration (Mianyang City) and the southern part (Leshan City and Ya’an City), while the cities in the central region (Chengdu City, Meishan City, and Ziyang City) had lower ecological sustainability. (2) The main factors affecting the ecological sustainability of urban agglomerations are industrial wastewater discharge, industrial smoke (powder) dust discharge, and green coverage of built-up areas, followed by urbanization and population size. Through this study, we have two meaningful findings: (a) Our research method in this paper provides a new way to study the factors affecting the ecological sustainability of urban agglomerations. (b) The results of the identification of influencing factors might be the reference for urban environmental infrastructure construction and urban planning.

Keywords: 3DEF model; random forest; ecological sustainability; factor discrimination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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