Coupling and metabolic analysis of urbanization and environment between two resource-based cities in North China

PeerJ

article

Hao Chen¹  Linyu Xu²  Qingqing Cao³  Miansong Huang⁴  Minghua Song⁵  Quan Quan⁶  Jian Liu¹ 

[1] Institute of Environmental Research, Shandong University;State Key Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University;School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shandong Jianzhu University;Ningxia Capital Sponge City Construction & Development Co., Ltd;Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences;State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi’an University of Technology

关键词: Urbanization;    Metabolism;    Coupling;    Emergy;    Environmental loading ratio;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.6869

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe complex relationship between urbanization and environment in resource-based cities is of increasing concern.MethodsAs typical examples of rapid economic growth, obvious urbanization, and successful transformed production models, the cities of Dongying and Binzhou in Yellow River Delta High-tech Economic Zone were chosen for research. First, this study examines the coupling relationship between urbanization and the environment over the last seventeen years using the coupling degree model. Second, the emergy analysis method is used to further study the energy metabolism and environmental load in the two cities to reveal these couplings.ResultsDongying and Binzhou were well-coupled and the coupling coordination degree was in the stage of mild coordination coupling showing an upward trend. The total metabolic energy of the two cities increased yearly from 2000 to 2016, and the emergy extroversion ratio data showed the cities’ dependence on external elements such as continuously increased imported resources. The total emergy used in the two cities showed an upward trend during 2000 and 2016, while the emergy per capita consumption increased significantly, suggesting that the society’s energy efficiency improved. During the same period, the environmental loading ratio increased gradually, and the elements causing the environmental load shifted from internal to external.DiscussionThe study shows that the factors of environmental load in developing cities are gradually shifting from internal to external, which is vital to understanding the impact of urban transformation and upgrading of resource-based cities on the environment.

【 授权许可】

CC BY