Sustainable Urban Development and Land Use Change—A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta in China

Haiyan Zhang, Michinori Uwasu, Keishiro Hara and Helmut Yabar
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Haiyan Zhang: Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Michinori Uwasu: Center of Environmental Innovation Design for Sustainability, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Keishiro Hara: Center of Environmental Innovation Design for Sustainability, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Helmut Yabar: Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sustainable Environmental Studies, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan

Sustainability, 2011, vol. 3, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: This paper introduces a sustainability assessment method for the rapidly urbanizing Yangtze River Delta in China addressing the role of land use pattern. We first calculated the sustainability component scores of 16 cities in the area in 2000 and 2005. The results showed that socioeconomic and environmental conditions improved while the performance of resource-use degraded from 2000 to 2005. We then made a spatial analysis of land use change (LUC) using geographic information systems during 1990–2000. We found that diverse spatiotemporal transformation occurred among the cities and identified urban development cluster patterns and profiles based on development density. Finally, we examined the impact of LUC on sustainable urban development (SUD). Using regression techniques, we demonstrated that urbanization, infrastructure development, industrial structure and income significantly affected environmental performance and resource-use. These results suggest a moderate pace of LUC with steady economic growth being key to SUD.

Keywords: China; sustainable urban development; land use change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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