Eco-environmental Quality Evaluation of Manasi River Basin in Recent 30 Years

Taking the Technical Specifications of Eco-environmental Quality Assessment enacted by the State Environmental Protection Administration in 2006 as the conceptual framework model and improving some indices and weights in the regulation,the eco-environmental assessment index system for Manas River Basin was established,and the eco-environmental quality index (EQI) of this basin from 1976 to 2005 was assessed based on the related data.The results indicated that the ecological quality index increased to 48.26 from 34.44 during 1976-2005.The biologic abundance index,vegetation coverage index and land deterioration index decreased,while there was an increase in water reticulation density index,environmental quality index and pollution load index,so the improvement and deterioration of the ecological environment coexisted in the basin.On the whole,the poor state of the basin ecological environment had turned into a general state,and the eco-environmental quality was developed towards favorable circle.The results also showed that the improved calculating method of EQI accorded with the actual situation of the research area.

The eco-environmental guarantee for China's urbanization process

Studying the change of resources consumption and eco-environmental carrying capacity are of importance to the sustainable development of urbanization.Based on the China's economic and social statistical data from 1950 to 2006,the ecological footprint,eco-logical footprint intensity,ecological deficit and surplus,and eco-environment quality com-prehensive index are calculated,the correlation between urbanization and eco-environmental change is analyzed and the eco-environmental guarantee for China's urbanization in 2030 is forecasted.The major results could be summarized as follows:(1) there is a positive linear relation between urbanization and ecological footprint,negative linear relation between ur-banization and ecological footprint intensity,ecological deficit and surplus and the negative exponential relation between urbanization and eco-environment quality comprehensive index.(2) By 2030,the urbanization level will reach 61.32%,the ecological deficit will increase to 42.2866×108 hm2 and the eco-environment quality comprehensive index will drop to 0.3016 on the condition that the total quantity ecological footprint achieves 55.9348×108 hm2.(3) Under the existing urban development pattern,the ecological overload will be more serious in the next 24 years.Constructing the reasonable industrial structure and establishing the intensive resources utilization system to alleviate the eco-environmental pressure are the tough challenges in China's urbanization process.

Land cover change and eco-environmental quality response of different geomorphic units on the Chinese Loess Plateau

Land cover in the Chinese Loess Plateau has undergone dramatic changes since the late 1980s.Revealing the trend in land cover change and eco-environmental quality response of different geomorphic units in this stage is a realistic requirement for promoting sustainable development of the Chinese Loess Plateau.Based on the data of geomorphic units and land cover in 1990,2000,2010 and 2018 of the Chinese Loess Plateau,we studied the trend of land cover change and eco-environmental quality response of different geomorphic units by using a significance index of land cover change,a proportion index of land cover change and an eco-environmental response model.The results indicated that from 1990 to 2018,the areas of forestland and construction land substantially increased,whereas those of cropland,grassland,wetland and unused land considerably decreased.Land cover change exhibited large geomorphic differences,and the main conversion of land cover was from cropland into other land types.Unstable trend of land cover change in the loess tablelands and sandy loess hills declined,whereas the unstable trends in the other geomorphic units enhanced.Eco-environmental quality varied among different geomorphic units.The expansion of construction land and degradation of forestland,grassland and wetland resulted in the deterioration of eco-environmental quality.The conversion of cropland and unused land into forestland and grassland,and the conversion of grassland into forestland were the main factors that drove the improvement of eco-environmental quality.The findings of this study may provide theoretical reference and support decision making for the optimization of land use structure and the improvement of eco-environmental quality on the Chinese Loess Plateau.

Dynamic Assessment on Regional Eco-environmental Quality Using AHP-Statistics Model—A Case Study of Chaohu Lake Basin

An indicator system closely connected with eco-environment, in which indicator involves in such fields as society, economy, resources, environment and ecology, is first proposed for eco-environmental quality assessment. Then, a hierarchical model with four levels is established by virtue of these indicators and attributes. In the model, weights of indicators and attributes are determined by combining Delphi method with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and a statistic method is used to eliminate the influences arising from the differences in dimension and magnitude of indicators. On these grounds, an AHP-statistics model is provided for regional eco-environmental quality assessment. As a case, such AHP-statistics model is utilized in the dynamic analysis of regional eco-environmental assessment in Chaohu Lake basin. Study results show that natural environmental quality in the watershed was in the declining state while social environmental quality was in a markedly improved situation from 1996, and the synthetic eco-environmental quality was gradually and slowly improved under the common influences of both natural and social environmental factors. Example of application testified the capacities of above methodology to evaluate the real and dynamic state of regional eco-environmental quality.

Spatial-temporal changes and driving factors of eco-environmental quality in the Three-North region of China

Eco-environmental quality is a measure of the suitability of the ecological environment for human survival and socioeconomic development.Understanding the spatial-temporal distribution and variation trend of eco-environmental quality is essential for environmental protection and ecological balance.The remote sensing ecological index(RSEI)can quickly and objectively quantify eco-environmental quality and has been extensively utilized in regional ecological environment assessment.In this paper,Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)images during the growing period(July-September)from 2000 to 2020 were obtained from the Google Earth Engine(GEE)platform to calculate the RSEI in the three northern regions of China(the Three-North region).The Theil-Sen median trend method combined with the Mann-Kendall test was used to analyze the spatial-temporal variation trend of eco-environmental quality,and the Hurst exponent and the Theil-Sen median trend were superimposed to predict the future evolution trend of eco-environmental quality.In addition,ten variables from two categories of natural and anthropogenic factors were analyzed to determine the drivers of the spatial differentiation of eco-environmental quality by the geographical detector.The results showed that from 2000 to 2020,the RSEI in the Three-North region exhibited obvious regional characteristics:the RSEI values in Northwest China were generally between 0.2 and 0.4;the RSEI values in North China gradually increased from north to south,ranging from 0.2 to 0.8;and the RSEI values in Northeast China were mostly above 0.6.The average RSEI value in the Three-North region increased at an average growth rate of 0.0016/a,showing the spatial distribution characteristics of overall improvement and local degradation in eco-environmental quality,of which the areas with improved,basically stable and degraded eco-environmental quality accounted for 65.39%,26.82%and 7.79%of the total study area,respectively.The Hurst exponent of the RSEI ranged from 0.20 to 0.76 and the future trend of eco-environmental quality was generally consistent with the trend over the past 21 years.However,the areas exhibiting an improvement trend in eco-environmental quality mainly had weak persistence,and there was a possibility of degradation in eco-environmental quality without strengthening ecological protection.Average relative humidity,accumulated precipitation and land use type were the dominant factors driving the spatial distribution of eco-environmental quality in the Three-North region,and two-factor interaction also had a greater influence on eco-environmental quality than single factors.The explanatory power of meteorological factors on the spatial distribution of eco-environmental quality was stronger than that of topographic factors.The effect of anthropogenic factors(such as population density and land use type)on eco-environmental quality gradually increased over time.This study can serve as a reference to protect the ecological environment in arid and semi-arid regions.

Assessing the impacts of ecological-living-productive land changes on eco-environmental quality in Xining City on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China

The Ecological-living-productive land(ELPL)classification system was proposed in an effort to steer China's land pattern to an ecological-centered path,with the development model shifting from a single function into more integrated multifunction land use.The focus is coordinating the man-land contradictions and developing an intensive,efficient and sustainable land use policy in an increasingly tense relationship between humans and nature.Driven by socioeconomic change and rapid population growth,many cities are undergoing urban sprawl,which involves the consumption of cropland and ecological land and threatens the ecological balance.This paper aims to quantitatively analyze the critical effects of ELPL changes on eco-environmental quality according to land use classification based on leading function of ecology,living and production from 1990 to 2015 with a case study of Xining City.Also,four future land use scenarios were simulated for 2030 using the Future Land Use Simulation(FLUS)model that couples human and natural effects.Our results show a decrease in productive land(PL)and an increase in ecological land(EL)and living land(LL)in Xining City.Forestry ecological land(FEL)covered the top largest proportion;agriculture productive land(APL)showed the greatest reduction and urban and rural living land(U-RLL)presented a dramatic increase.The eco-environmental quality improved in 1990-2010,mainly affected by the conversion of APL to FEL and GEL.However,the encroachment of U-RLL into APL,other ecological land(OEL)and FEL was the main contributor to the decline in eco-environmental quality in 2010-2015 as well as the primary reason for the increase area of lower-quality.The Harmonious Development(HD)-Scenario,characterized by a rational allocation of LL and PL and a better eco-environment,would have implications for planning and monitoring future management of ELPL,and may represent a valuable reference for local policy-makers.

Spatiotemporal changes of eco-environmental quality based on remote sensing-based ecological index in the Hotan Oasis,Xinjiang

The rapid economic development that the Hotan Oasis in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,China has undergone in recent years may face some challenges in its ecological environment.Therefore,an analysis of the spatiotemporal changes in ecological environment of the Hotan Oasis is important for its sustainable development.First,we constructed an improved remote sensing-based ecological index(RSEI)in 1990,1995,2000,2005,2010,2015 and 2020 on the Google Earth Engine(GEE)platform and implemented change detection for their spatial distribution.Second,we performed a spatial autocorrelation analysis on RSEI distribution map and used land-use and land-cover change(LUCC)data to analyze the reasons of RSEI changes.Finally,we investigated the applicability of improved RSEI to arid area.The results showed that mean of RSEI rose from 0.41 to 0.50,showing a slight upward trend.During the 30-a period,2.66% of the regions improved significantly,10.74% improved moderately and 32.21% improved slightly,respectively.The global Moran's I were 0.891,0.889,0.847 and 0.777 for 1990,2000,2010 and 2020,respectively,and the local indicators of spatial autocorrelation(LISA)distribution map showed that the high-high cluster was mainly distributed in the central part of the Hotan Oasis,and the low-low cluster was mainly distributed in the outer edge of the oasis.RSEI at the periphery of the oasis changes from low to high with time,with the fragmentation of RSEI distribution within the oasis increasing.Its distribution and changes are predominantly driven by anthropologic factors,including the expansion of artificial oasis into the desert,the replacement of desert ecosystems by farmland ecosystems,and the increase in the distribution of impervious surfaces.The improved RSEI can reflect the eco-environmental quality effectively of the oasis in arid area with relatively high applicability.The high efficiency exhibited with this approach makes it convenient for rapid,high frequency and macroscopic monitoring of eco-environmental quality in study area.

Grey Clustering Evaluation on Regional Eco-environmental Quality Based on Normalized Index Value

[Objective] The aim was to assess regional eco-environmental quality by means of grey clustering method based on normalized index value. [Method] Eco-environmental quality in Chaohu basin was assessed by using grey clustering method based on normalized index value, and the evaluation results were compared with those of unascertained measure method to verify the feasibility of grey clustering method used to evaluate regional eco-environmental quality. [Result] In the grey clustering assessment method based on normalized index value, indices whose standard normalized values in the same grade were close to each other were classified into one class and had the same whitening function, which reduced the number of whitening functions. Grey clustering method based on normalized index value was used to assess eco-environmental quality in Chaohu basin, and the evaluation results were basically in accordance with those of unascertained measure method, namely eco-environmental quality in Hefei, Chaohu and Lu’an belonged to the third (pass), fourth (worse) and fifth grade (bad), except for one grade difference in overall basin, and the results showed that the method had practicality and could be applied to assess regional eco-environmental quality. [Conclusion] The study could provide theoretical foundation for the establishment of comprehensive management countermeasures of regional ecological environment.

Dynamic Development Characteristics and Driving Factors of High Quality Development Level in China’s Five Major Urban Agglomerations

High-quality development is the primary task of comprehensively building a socialist,modern country,as well as the primary task of building urban agglomerations in China.Based on the five development concepts,this paper used the entropy method to measure the High Quality Development Index(HQDI)of the five major urban agglomerations.The results showed that the HQDI of the five major urban agglomerations shows a fluctuating upward trend.First,using the Dagum Gini coefficient to explore the sources of HQDI development differences in urban agglomerations,we found that the main source of HQDI differences in urban agglomerations was inter-regional differences,while intra-regional differences were not important.Second,kernel density estimation was used to test the dynamic evolution trend of HQDI within urban agglomerations.There was a polarisation phenomenon in the HQDI of urban agglomerations,such as the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration and the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration.But overall,the degree of imbalance had decreased.Third,using geographic detectors to examine the driving factors of HQDI in urban agglomerations,we found that the main driving forces for improving HQDI in urban agglomerations were economic growth,artificial intelligence technology and fiscal decentralisation.All the interaction factors had greater explanatory power for the spatial differentiation of HQDI,which can be divided into two types:two-factor improvement and non-linear improvement.This study is conducive to improving and enriching the theoretical system for evaluating the high quality development of urban agglomerations,and provides policy references for promoting the high quality development of urban agglomerations.

Multi-agent Blind Model and Its Application to Regional Eco-environmental Quality Assessment

Through denoting each expert as an agent and viewing a multiple criteria decision-making as a synthesis problem of aggregating experts＇ ratings, a multi-agent blind model （MABM） is developed for regional eco-environmental quality assessment. In this model, the ratings of the evaluated object under an index, given by expert group, are first utilized to construct a series of blind numbers. In general, each index will correspond to different blind numbers. On the basis of aggregating index weights, the rank score in the form of a blind number is obtained for the evaluated object. Then, by means of calculating expected value of the above blind number, its rank score is further converted into a crisp value. By way of comparing the expected value with classification standards, eco-environmental quality of the evaluated sample could he identified successfully in the end. As a case, the MABM is used to evaluate the eco-environmental quality of Chaohu Lake basin. Study result shows that the MABM is a useful model for regional eco-environmental quality assessment.

Atmospheric Pollutants in a Commercial Region of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil: Integration of Health, Environment and Economy in Urban Planning to Improve Air Quality

The accelerated growth of the vehicular fleet, the modernization of large urban centers, and the few adjustments to the road network in Fortaleza have intensified the problems of traffic and emissions of atmospheric pollutants, highlighting the necessity for strategic urban planning initiatives to address the escalating issues of traffic and pollution. With the objective of analyzing the indices of concentrations of atmospheric pollutants and estimating how these levels can affect human health, this work consists of a study of the analysis of air quality in the intense trade region of Fortaleza. For this, the analysis zone was divided into three perimeters (Major - Medium - Minor), where each perimeter was analyzed at 7 am, 12 noon and 5 pm. Concentrations of the type of O3, particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), CO2 and HCHO were collected. Our results demonstrate that most of the analyses are within the limits of current legislation;however, at certain times and perimeters, the analyses of CO2 and HCHO exceeded the established limits. In view of the above, we conclude that public policies to control air quality are necessary to reduce the damage to human health and the environment caused by pollutants.

Universal Index Formula of Parameterized Combination Operator for Eco-environmental Quality Evaluation

[Objective] The aim was to evaluate the regional eco-environmental quality by using the universal index formula of parameterization combination operator based normalized index values.[Method] Through setting reference values and normalized transformation formulae for typical ecological environmental indexes appropriately,the difference among the standard normalized values would become very small after normalized transformation,and the ecological environmental indices expressed by normalized values can be equivalent to normalized indices.Under certain optimization conditions,shuffled frog leaping based on immune evolutionary particle swarm optimization algorithm was applied to optimize the parameters in parameterization combination operator formula,and the universal index formula suited to eco-environmental quality assessment was established finally.[Result] The universal index formula of parameterization combination operator,appropriate for any m(1≤m≤23) ecological environmental indices,was used to assess the eco-environmental quality of towns surrounding Headland Reservoir,and the results were in full accordance with those of unascertained measure method,that is,the eco-environmental quality of five towns around Headland Reservoir was the fourth grade.[Conclusion]The universal index formula of parameterization combination operator,suited to eco-environmental quality evaluation,is simple and intuitive in form,easy in computation and universal in application.

A Theoretical Analysis of Interactive Coercing Effects Between Urbanization and Eco-environment

Objectively, a complex interactive coercing relationship exists between urbanization and eco-environment, and the research of this relationship is primarily divided into three schools, i.e., interactive coercion theory, interactive promotion theory and coupling symbiosis theory. Harmonizing the relationship between urbanization and eco-environment is not only an important proposition for the national development plan but also the only way to promote healthy urbanization. Based on an analysis of urbanization process and its relationship with the eco-environment, this article analyzes interactive coercing effects between urbanization and eco-environment from three perspectives of population urbanization, economic urbanization and spatial urbanization, respectively, and analyzes risk effects of the interactive coercion. Further, it shows six basic laws followed by interactive coercion between urbanization and eco-environment, namely, coupling fission law, dynamic hierarchy law, stochastic fluctuation law, non-linear synergetic law, threshold value law and forewarning law, and divides the interactive coercing process into five stages, namely, low-level coordinate, antagonistic, break-in, ameliorative and high-grade coordinate. Based on the geometric derivation, the interactive coercing relationship between urbanization and eco-environment is judged to be non-linear and it can be explained by a double-exponential function formed by the combination of power and exponential functions. Then, the evolutionary types of the interactive coercing relationship are divided into nine ones: rudimentary coordinating, ecology-dominated, synchronal coordinating, urbanization lagging, stepwise break-in, exorbitant urbanization, fragile ecology, rudimentary break-in and unsustainable types. Finally, based on an interactive coercion model, the degree of interactive coercion can be examined, and then, an evolutionary cycle can be divided into four phases, namely rudimentary symbiosis, harmonious development, utmost increasing and spiral type rising. The study results offer a scientific decision-making of healthy urbanization for achieving the goal of eco-environment protection and promoting urbanization.

Measurement and Spatio-temporal Distribution of Urbanization Development Quality of Urban Agglomeration in China

Urbanization development quality(UDQ) of urban agglomeration(UA) is one of the important indexes to evaluate if the UA urbanization speed is reasonable,if the population urbanization process is sound,if the economic urbanization process is efficient,if the social urbanization process is harmonious and fair,which is generally composed of three parts,including economic urbanization development quality,social urbanization development quality and spa-tial urbanization security quality.With the research of evolution rules of UDQ,through the analysis on the interactive coordination relation between UDQ and urbanization level,the paper proposes three dimensional index ball and stan-dard value of comprehensive measures of UDQ,which is composed of three categories of indexes.By introducing At-kinson model,this paper constructs the sub-element measure model and segmental measure model of UDQ,and fur-ther makes an overall evaluation on the characteristic of UDQ of UAs in China.Results show that:1) UDQ of UAs lied at optimization and upgrading phase during 1995-2008 and the quality was low.Population urbanization level did not reflect the UDQ of UAs;2) the improving speed of the spatial urbanization security quality was higher than the so-cial urbanization development quality,and the improving speed of economic urbanization development quality was the lowest;3) the coordination between UDQ and urbanization level was not so good;4) there was a weak correlation re-lation between UDQ and UA scale,and it was not true that the bigger the UA was,the better the UDQ was.

Impact of Urbanization on Shanghai's Soil Environmental Quality

Heavy metal contents in the soils in the Baoshan District of Shanghai were monitored to evaluate the risk of soil environmental quality degradation due to rapid urbanization and to reveal the ways of heavy metal accumulation in soil during rapid urban sprawl. It was found that the soils in this district were commonly contaminated by Pb, Zn and Cd. Evaluated with a geo-accumulation index (Igeo), the rate of Pb contamination in soils was 100% with 59% of these graded as moderate-severe or severe; Zn contamination reached 59% with 6% graded as moderate-severe or severe; and Cd contamination was over 50%, with one site graded as moderate-severe and another severe-extremely severe. Metal contamination of soils around the Shanghai metropolis was mainly attributed to traffic, industrial production, wastewater irrigation and improper disposal of solid wastes. Because of continuing urbanization, the cultivated land around the metropolis should be comprehensively planned and carefully managed. Also the soil environmental quality of vegetable production bases in this area should be monitored regularly, with vegetables to be grown selected according to the degrees and types of soil contamination.

Quantitative Analysis of the Coupling Coordination Degree Between Urbanization and Eco-environment in Mongolia

Mongolia is an important country in the Economic Corridor of China-Mongolia-Russia, a deep understanding of the coupling relationship between urbanization and the eco-environment in Mongolia is meaningful to achieve green development of the Belt and Road. The entropy method and coupling coordination degree model were integrated to evaluate the coupling coordination degree between urbanization and the eco-environment in Mongolia during 2000-2016. The results showed that the coupling coordination degree between urbanization and the eco-environment in Mongolia was generally at the stage of seriously unbalanced development, and that the main contributor of the urbanization and the eco-environment subsystem were demographic urbanization and eco-environment endowment, respectively. The southern part of Mongolia central zone should be paid more attention due to the lower degree of coupling coordination between urbanization and the eco-environment. To promote the healthy urbanization development in Mongolia, six-layer eco-city establishing green development pattern is proposed to provide scientific support for Mongolia.

SCENARIOS SIMULATION OF COUPLING SYSTEM BETWEEN URBANIZATION AND ECO-ENVIRONMENT IN JIANGSU PROVINCE BASED ON SYSTEM DYNAMICS MODEL

By means of ISM (Interpretative Structural Modeling) and SD (System Dynamics) methods, this paper made a system dynamics model of urbanization and eco-environment coupling in Jiangsu Province according to the implication and PSR (Pressure State Response) framework of urbanization and eco-environment coupling. Moreover, five typical scenarios during 2000-2015 have been simulated and analyzed based on the time serial statistical data during 1990-2003 in Jiangsu, which indicates: firstly, there are significant differences between the results and the scenarios, and the five coupling models all have comparative advantages and drawbacks; secondly, in terms of the characteristics and regional development disparities of Jiangsu and the general rule of world urbanization process, this paper reveals that only when either population urbanization model or social urbanization model to be correspondingly adopted, the sustainable development among population, economy, urbanization and eco-environment can be realized.

Exploring harmonious development between urbanization and eco-environment based on climate analysis—A study in Changsha, China

The process of urbanization affects the urban warming.The change of urban warming was investigated by several urbanization factors in Changsha,China.The data of surface temperature(minimum,maximum and mean) of Changsha were analyzed to understand the possible effects of urbanization on the climate of this region owing to the population growth,built-up area expansion and energy consumption increases.The weights of these three factors were calculated by the analytical hierarchy process(AHP).Then,three weights were simulated with nonlinear method to obtain the urbanization development rate which was utilized to reveal the influence of the urbanization factors on the surface temperature.The result shows that there is a significant upward trend in the urban temperatures of Changsha.The temperature increase seems to be closely related to the rate of urbanization between 1993 and 2008,and there is an evidential increase trend of the influence on urban temperature by urbanization during 16 years.It is a quantifiable approach measuring the relationship between urbanization and urban eco-environment,and can be applied for the urban sustainability.

Relationship between urban eco-environment and competitiveness with the background of globalization: Statistical explanation based on industry type newly classified with environment demand and environment pressure

Within the global urban system, the statistical relationship between urban eco-environment(UE) and urban competitiveness(UC)(RUEC) is researched. Data showed that there is a statistically inverted-U relationship between UE and UC. Eco-environmental factor is put into the classification of industries, and gets six industrial types by two indexes viz. industries' eco-environmental demand and pressure. The statistical results showed that there is a strong relationship, for new industrial classification, between the changes of industrial structure and evolvement of UE. The drive mechanism of the evolvement of urban eco-environment, with human demand and global work division was analyzed. The conclusion is that the development stratege, industrial policies of cities, and environmental policies fo cities must be fit with their ranks among the global urban system. At the era of globalization, so far as the environmental policies, their rationality could not be assessed with the level of strictness, but it can enhance cities' competitiveness when they are fit with cities' capabilities to attract and control some sections of the industry's value-chain. None but these kinds of environmental policies can probably enhance the UC.

Evaluation of Urban Development Quality Based on the Connotation of High-Quality Development: A Case Study of Guangdong Province

In this paper, based on the interpretation of the connotation of high-quality development, an urban development quality evaluation index system was established from six aspects of economic strength, the level of science and education, government management, resources and environment, the level of openness, and infrastructure, the entropy method and cluster analysis were used to conduct an empirical analysis of the quality of urban development in Guangdong Province, and relevant suggestions were proposed accordingly. The results showed that:(1) the level of science and education was the most important factor affecting the quality of urban development in Guangdong Province;(2) the quality of urban development in Guangdong Province was extremely uncoordinated;(3) cities with stronger economic strength had lower resource and environment evaluation;(4) cities of Guangdong Province could be divided into three categories: cities in a quality optimization stage, cities in a quality improvement stage, and cities in a quality lagging stage that could be further divided into three categories.