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

Xufeng Zhang, Yanliang Liu, Akmaral Tleubergenova, Jin-Song Liu, Ru Fan, Yun-En Tang and Xiang-Zhou Meng ()
Additional contact information
Xufeng Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Yanliang Liu: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Akmaral Tleubergenova: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Jin-Song Liu: College of Advanced Materials Engineering, Jiaxing Nanhu University, 572 Yuexiu Road, Jiaxing 314001, China
Ru Fan: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Yun-En Tang: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Xiang-Zhou Meng: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 17, 1-16

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.

Keywords: emergy; green GDP; eco-environmental costs; sustainable development; the Yangtze River Delta; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (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)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/17/10683/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/17/10683/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:17:p:10683-:d:899286

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().