STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN URBANIZATION PROCESS IN CHINA

This paper reviewed the development of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in China, expounded its functions and regional characteristics, and discussed the targets of SEA in the process of urbanization,and the main assessment indicators, procedures, techniques and methodologies of SEA. It concluded that SEA could be improved by the following recommendations: incorporating SEA in decision-making process, selecting experimental units for SEA trial run, and developing strategic evaluation tools and techniques. SEA can provide appropriate and up-to-date information on the impact of human activity on environment in the process of urbanization, and develop a plan of action targeting implementation of intervention for the rehabilitation and preservation of the ecological stability of a city. Therefore, SEA can be a supporting tool for decision-making toward achieving sustainable development.

Evaluation of Coordinated Development of Urbanization and Ecological Environment in the Efficient Ecological Economic Zone of the Yellow River Delta

Based on the statistical data of urbanization development level and ecological environment in the Yellow River Delta during 2009-2014,a comprehensive index system for the coordinated development of urbanization and ecological environment was established to evaluate the coordinated development level. The results showed that the coordinated development level of urbanization and ecological environment in the Yellow River Delta was generally high during 2009-2014. The development level of urbanization was higher than that of ecological environment on the whole,that is,the development of ecological environment lagged behind. The development of urbanization in the region was relatively slow during 2009-2011 but rapid during 2012-2014. The development level of ecological environment was relatively stable and always increased.

Digital Ecological Design of River Landscapes in Urbanization

By comparing landscape patterns of suburban and urban rivers in the same flow path, and analyzing patch indexes of urban river landscapes, corresponding sustainable eco-design strategies were proposed, ecodesign theory system and eco-restoration design techniques were coupled, so as to explore new digital eco-design means of urban river landscapes by targeting at regional ecological consistency.

Urbanization,economic development,and environmental changes in transitional economies in the global south:a case of Yangon

Background:Transitional economies in Southeast Asia—a distinct group of developing countries—have experienced rapid urbanization in the past several decades due to the economic transition that fundamentally changed the function of their economies,societies and the environment.Myanmar,one of the least developed transitional economies in Southeast Asia,increased urbanization substantially from 25%in 1990 to 31%in 2019.However,major knowledge gaps exist in understanding the changes in urban land use and land cover and environment and their drivers in its cities.Methods:We studied Yangon,the largest city in Myanmar,for the urbanization,environmental changes,and the underlying driving forces in a radically transitioned economy in the developing world.Based on satellite imagery and historic land use maps,we quantified the expansion of urban built-up land and constructed the land conversion matrix from 1990 through 2020.We also used three air pollutants to illustrate the changes in environmental conditions.We analyzed the coupled dynamics among urbanization,economic development,and environmental changes.Through conducting a workshop with 20 local experts,we further analyzed the influence of human systems and natural systems on Yangon’s urbanization and sustainability.Results:The city of Yangon expanded urban built-up land rapidly from 1990 to 2000,slowed down from 2000 to 2010,but gained momentum again from 2010 to 2020,with most newly added urban built-up land appearing to be converted from farmland and green land in both 1990–2000 and 2010–2020.Furthermore,the air pollutant concen-tration of CO decreased,but that of NO_(2)and PM_(2.5)increased in recent years.A positive correlation exists between population and economic development and the concentration of PM_(2.5)is highly associated with population,the economy,and the number of vehicles.Finally,the expert panel also identified other potential drivers for urbanization,including the extreme climate event of Cyclone Nargis,capital relocation,and globalization.Conclusions:Our research highlights the dramatic expansion of urban land and degradation of urban environment measured by air pollutants and interdependent changes between urbanization,economic development,and environmental changes.

Socio-economic development of countries based on the Composite Country Development Index(CCDI)

World experience indicates the existence of significant imbalances in the development of countries.The problem of assessing the rational development of the regional and national economy is becoming urgent,since such assessments can prevent development imbalances across countries.The aim of this study is to elaborate a methodology to assess the countries’socio-economic development by integraring 12 modern indices of socio-economic development into the Composite Country Development Index(CCDI).The methodology of this research was based on a set of key indices that described socio-economic development level in four fields(social development,digital development,economic development,and environmental security)and then these indices were integrated into the CCDI.The study further applied factor analysis and R-Studio software to define the gaps of social and economic development in 59 selected countries using the trigonometric function of the angle sine.The correlation analysis confirmed the existence of a close interrelation among the studied countries.This paper noted that due to the emergence of new priorities,it is necessary to revise the assessment methodology of socio-economic development level and expand them to cover the decisive factors.This was confirmed by the results obtained,demonstrating various combinations of the development level in the four fields and their impact on the CCDI.The scientific contribution of this research is to form a methodology(e.g.,the CCDI)for evaluating the socio-economic development level of countries in the world.

Assessment of vegetation cover changes and the contributing factors in the Al-Ahsa Oasis using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)

The abandonment of date palm grove of the former Al-Ahsa Oasis in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia has resulted in the conversion of delicate agricultural area into urban area.The current state of the oasis is influenced by both expansion and degradation factors.Therefore,it is important to study the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation cover for the sustainable management of oasis resources.This study used Landsat satellite images in 1987,2002,and 2021 to monitor the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation cover in the Al-Ahsa Oasis,applied multi-temporal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)data spanning from 1987 to 2021 to assess environmental and spatiotemporal variations that have occurred in the Al-Ahsa Oasis,and investigated the factors influencing these variation.This study reveals that there is a significant improvement in the ecological environment of the oasis during 1987–2021,with increase of NDVI values being higher than 0.10.In 2021,the highest NDVI value is generally above 0.70,while the lowest value remains largely unchanged.However,there is a remarkable increase in NDVI values between 0.20 and 0.30.The area of low NDVI values(0.00–0.20)has remained almost stable,but the region with high NDVI values(above 0.70)expands during 1987–2021.Furthermore,this study finds that in 1987–2002,the increase of vegetation cover is most notable in the northern region of the study area,whereas from 2002 to 2021,the increase of vegetation cover is mainly concentrated in the northern and southern regions of the study area.From 1987 to 2021,NDVI values exhibit the most pronounced variation,with a significant increase in the“green”zone(characterized by NDVI values exceeding 0.40),indicating a substantial enhancement in the ecological environment of the oasis.The NDVI classification is validated through 50 ground validation points in the study area,demonstrating a mean accuracy of 92.00%in the detection of vegetation cover.In general,both the user’s and producer’s accuracies of NDVI classification are extremely high in 1987,2002,and 2021.Finally,this study suggests that environmental authorities should strengthen their overall forestry project arrangements to combat sand encroachment and enhance the ecological environment of the Al-Ahsa Oasis.

Environmental influence of Wuhan urban agglomeration development and strategies of environmental protection

In Wuhan urban agglomeration （WUA）, the population growth and concentration, the industrial development and urban sprawl have been affecting the environment ftmdamentally. Comparing with Yangtze delta metropolitan region, the level of urbanization and industrialization of WUA has lagged behind for about 10 years; but the problems in environmental protection and rehabilitation are commonly serious. In the future, WUA should avoid unnecessary mistakes and seek a win-win strategy for economy and environment in its large-scale development stage. Based on the analysis of the changing of main environmental pollutants and the coupled curves in past decades, the paper discussed the important links among the urban environmental pollutions, industry growth and urban sprawl in WUA. It is concluded that the integration of economic and environmental policies in urban development is more required and significant at the large urban agglomeration region. Four proactive and long-term strategies need to be adopted to provide prior guidance and better protection for the development of WUA.

Sino British cooperation for urban environmental enhancement and sustainable development

This paper gives an overview of the presentations and discussions at the Sino British Workshop on Urban Environmental Enhancement and Sustainable Development held in Beijing from September 9—11, 1998. It summarises the contributions from both the Chinese and British sides to the four major themes of urban sustainability: integrated environmental assessment, water pollution and management, urban transportation and its impacts on air quality, and environmental technology. It also identifies many areas of common interest for further collaboration.

Life cycle assessment in the environmental impact evaluation of urbandevelopment--a case study of land readjustment project,Hyogo District, Japan

In this paper, the Life Cycle of Urban Development was firstly analyzed, and the phases of Life Cycle Assessment applied to Urban Development (ULCA) were described. As a case study, ULCA was applied in the environmental impact assessment of the land readjustment project of Hyogo District of Saga, Japan. In addition, mitigation proposals for reducing CO2 were also presented and the relevant environmental ef-fects were simulated.

我国企业ESG表现对其经济效益的影响研究——基于沪深上市企业

随着“碳达峰、碳中和”战略目标的提出,ESG投资概念成为资本市场关注的重点。在ESG信息披露成为企业刚需的时代背景下,企业环境表现与环境信息披露之间的因果关系变得更为复杂,ESG信息披露行为对企业经济效益的影响也有待讨论。为此,本文根据数据可得性筛选得到2008—2020年我国沪深板块上市的3685家企业上市公司作为研究样本,利用wind数据库、CSMAR上市公司环境研究等数据库,从企业ESG信息披露完整性及实际风险两个维度出发构建ESG发展指数,用于全面测度中国企业的ESG发展现状;同时尝试从债权人和股东投资信心等层面探讨企业ESG表现对其经济效益的传导机理。结果表明:企业ESG表现对于其经济效益呈现正向显著影响,且这种影响效应对于不同ESG表现水平和不同产权性质的企业具有异质性。影响路径分析结果显示,企业ESG表现能够提升投资者信心,进而显著改善了企业经济效益。

公众环境关注度促进了绿色金融发展吗?--来自中国284个城市的经验证据

基于2011—2019年中国284个城市的面板数据,实证检验了公众环境关注度对绿色金融发展的影响。研究结果表明,公众环境关注度对绿色金融发展存在显著正向影响,这一结论在经过一系列稳健性检验后依然成立。传导机制检验表明,公众环境关注度促进政府提高环境规制强度,进而推动绿色金融发展。调节性效应检验表明,地区经济发展水平、地区绿色创新水平能够正向调节公众环境关注度对绿色金融的正向影响。异质性检验表明,在中西部地区、教育水平较高、污染排放量较高、环境信息公开的地区,公众环境关注度对绿色金融的促进作用更加显著。推进绿色金融发展必须激发公众对环境的关注,完善公众参与机制,提升绿色创新水平,制定差异化发展战略。

中国省级城乡发展差距统计测度与演进——基于HDI的研究视角

不断缩小城乡发展差距,推进城乡融合发展,是中国实现共同富裕的必然选择。基于人类发展指数(HDI)分别编制2000—2020年中国各地区的城乡HDI,以此测度城乡发展差距,并从区域差异、收敛性、结构分解等方面对测度结果及其变动特征进行分析。研究发现:中国各地区的城乡差距均在逐步改善,城乡发展差距较大的省份主要集中在西部地区;各地区城乡发展差距指数随着时间变化呈现出明显的收敛特征,且差距越大的地区其差距缩小速度相对越快,存在一定的追赶效应;2010年以来,城乡教育差距是导致中国城乡发展差距最为重要的因素,城乡收入差距则是改善中国城乡发展差距最为重要的驱动因素。未来要更加重视加快缩小各地区的城乡教育差距,持续缩小城乡收入差距。

数字经济促进城市绿色发展的碳排放效应与影响因素研究

本文基于2010~2021年我国284个地级市面板数据,采用超效率SBM模型等方法,研究数字经济对城市绿色发展的碳排放效率及其影响机制。研究结果显示,数字经济发展有助于提升城市的碳排放效率。其中,财政支出绩效和环境规制强度起到中介作用;数字经济在经济发展速度和人力资本水平的调节下,更显著地促进城市的碳排放效率;同时,数字经济对城市碳排放效率的影响存在明显的异质性。因此,本文提出了加强数字经济发展与碳排放效率协同增长、优化政府财政支出、加快数字城市建设等建议。

CHALLENGES AND CORRESPONDING POLICIES FOR CHINA'S URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Since the late 1970s, China'S economy has been growing very fast with an average rate of over 8 percent annually. Urbanization has become the indicator of economic and secial deveopment in China. Rapid growth of oromy in China pushed the process of urbanization. Since 1978, China's urban non-agricultural population has grown from under 113.4 million in 1977 to 176.09 million in 1993. The number of cities increased from 188 to 617 in 1994. With urban economic activities making up an increasing share of GDP, preductivity of urban economy will heavily influence economic growth. In eastern coastal area, because economy of larger scale and agglomeration has been made more productive, the forces contributing to urban growth bome stronger.The number of cities has increased from 78 to 247 since 1980. Urban population was over 90 million. The urbanization level reached 31.5 peed. Four megalopolises have been emerged, they are : the Shanghai -Nanjing-Hangzhou region, the Pearl River Delta region, the Beijing-Tianjin- Tangshan region and the Shenyang-Dalian region. According to statistics, the area of these four regions occupies about 2.6 perat of China's total territory, but their GDP has exceeded 35 percent of the country's total. However, the rapid urbanization also resulted in a series of problems on deveopment and environment.

财政环保支出对城乡收入差距的影响研究——基于健康人力资本的实证检验

在健康人力资本的视角下,通过构建城乡二元经济模型,分析财政环保支出对城乡收入差距影响的理论关系,并基于2007—2020年我国省际面板数据,运用面板数据模型和PVAR模型对财政环保支出与城乡收入差距间的理论关系进行实证检验。研究表明:财政环保支出对城乡收入差距有着先扩大后缩小的影响,最终抑制城乡收入差距,并且方差分解表明财政环保支出是影响城乡收入差距的一个重要因素;同时PVAR模型检验结果表明经济增长与城乡收入差距间有着非线性影响关系,财政环保支出能够促进经济增长,表明缩小城乡收入差距、实现经济的增长可以以绿色的方式来实现,环境保护与经济增长并不是相互冲突的;合理使用财政环保支出这一工具,能够有效实现环境保护与城乡收入分配差距缩小的目标。

双碳目标驱动下环境规制对我国工业绿色发展的影响

本文构建SBM-ML模型,从实证视角对我国工业发展过程中的绿色全要素生产率实际情况进行测算,在此基础之上,进一步进行面板模型的构建,围绕3种不同类型的规制工具(分别为命令控制型、市场激励型以及公众参与型)展开,研究与探讨其在工业绿色发展进程中产生的具体影响,最后,通过Sobel调节因子检验模型揭示绿色技术创新这一指标在上述影响中所发挥的主要调节作用。结果显示我国整体工业绿色全要素生产率以年均56%的增长率在不断增加,中部、东部、西部依次递减,其中工业绿色进步值发挥着主导作用;从3种不同类型的环境规制工具上来看,命令型和市场型均会在相应程度上形成对工业绿色发展的制约,与之相对应的,公众参与型产生的影响则有所不同,具体以先促进后抑制为体现;采取相应手段及措施创新绿色技术,发挥环境规制的调节作用,对工业绿色发展具有实际应用价值。

基于熵值法的成渝城市群城市化水平综合评测

成渝城市群作为具有全国影响力的区域经济中心,其城市发展历程对中国城市化建设具有重要指引作用。基于区域城市化水平综合评测方法构建城市化综合测评体系,结合熵值法综合评估成渝城市群主要节点城市2000-2020年的发展状况,结果表明:(1)成渝城市群城市化的发展主要以经济城市化为主,空间城市化和社会城市化发展次之,人口城市化发展占比最低。(2)节点城市指标层分析发现,重庆市和成都市的发展质量远超其余城市,重庆市城市化演变表现为经济、人口、空间、社会共同发展,而成都市在人口城市化发展上稍显缓慢。(3)德阳、绵阳等大型城市在城市化发展上均有所提升,在社会城市化较强的基础上加速发展经济,空间和人口的城市化发展力度则有所减缓。

Population,development,and environment in India

High population growth and continued economic development have caused serious environmental damage in the Asia Pacific region.However,the recent experience is that the pace of environmental degradation is faster in developing countries than in developed countries.To this end,the study seeks to assess the impact of population pressure on India's environment,with particular reference to the degradation of natural endowments like land and water resources and the resultant environmental pollution in the six regions of India.The rapid economic growth and expansion of infrastructure development in recent decades have not come without serious environmental consequences particularly in the southern,northern,and western regions.But in the eastern,north-eastern,and central regions of the country,environmental damage has been mainly due to rapid population growth.

全过程管理视角下的城市低碳生产效率研究——以我国36个重点城市为例

在全球气候变化的背景下,城市低碳建设成为实施可持续发展战略中的关键一环,提升城市生产效率可以从源头帮助城市降低碳排放,从而实现节能减排。文章在PDCA循环管理法的基础上引入结果(Outcome)环节,构建了包含规划、实施、检查、结果、反馈(PDCOA)的全过程管理框架,形成城市低碳生产效率评价指标体系。研究对比了我国36个重点城市的生产效率水平,结果表明目前我国城市在低碳建设中的生产效率水平整体较低,得分均值为51.74分(总分为100分)。从环节视角分析,实施环节得分最高,反馈环节得分最低。从区域视角分析,短板环节与城市定位及类型相关联,建议在推进技术创新的同时,应针对不同城市类型制定具有针对性的政策。文章旨在从全过程管理视角出发,评价城市在低碳建设过程中的生产效率水平,为我国低碳城市的高效建设提供新视角,并为城市的可持续发展指明下一步努力方向。

中国城市数字经济发展基础的测度及空间格局分析——基于296个地级及以上城市的实证

构建城市数字经济发展基础的综合测度指标体系,采用熵值-突变级数法进行综合评分,采用空间分析法进行区域特征分析。结果表明:中国城市数字经济发展基础差异较大,66.89%的城市为较差和一般类别;发展基础存在空间极化特征,表现为“东部>中部>东北>西部”,基础最好的主要为直辖市、省会及省内其他大城市;发展基础表现出显著的空间正向关联,且经济距离和行政距离下的关联性更强;发展基础的冷热点空间集聚明显。