Evolution of sustainability and its driving characteristics in typical energy-rich counties in underdeveloped Northwest China

Honghua Li (), Xingang Fan (), Meiling Yang (), Xueli Chen () and Manman Zhao ()
Additional contact information
Honghua Li: Ningxia University
Xingang Fan: Ningxia University
Meiling Yang: Ningxia University
Xueli Chen: Ningxia University
Manman Zhao: Ningxia University

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2025, vol. 27, issue 5, No 74, 11743-11771

Abstract: Abstract The aim of this study is to measure sustainability and identify its drivers in Pengyang County, which is a typical energy-rich, underdeveloped county in Northwest China. According to thermodynamic theory, an emergy and exergy coupling analysis model is used to identify the sustainable development stage and calculate the 1985–2020 sustainable development capability index (SC). The “pressure-state-response” framework is then used to identify the driving forces of such sustainable development through cointegration analysis. The findings suggest that the county’s sustainability level has fluctuated downward over the past 35 years and is significantly lower than the average level in Chinese. The county moved from a stage of “low self-organizing capacity and low ecological pressure” to that of “low self-organizing capacity and high ecological pressure” in 2014. As its economy grew, the county became more dependent on energy industries, which increased the pressure placed on the environment and made the county’s development less sustainable. Additionally, sustainability is negatively influenced by the proportions of per capita disposable income, secondary industry, and tertiary industry but positively influenced by grassland area and fixed asset investment. The slow economic development and lack of investment in the energy industry, as well as China's recent policies on ecological construction and environmental protection and the major function-oriented zoning strategy, have slowed the exploitation of energy resources in the region. Finally, based on the findings, this research offers some managerial implications for those underdeveloped resource-based regions.

Keywords: Sustainable development; Economically underdeveloped areas; Energy abundance; Emergy and exergy coupling analysis model; Cointegration test (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-023-04378-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:endesu:v:27:y:2025:i:5:d:10.1007_s10668-023-04378-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10668

DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-04378-4

Access Statistics for this article

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development is currently edited by Luc Hens

More articles in Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().