Temporal Variation of Water Environment Carrying Capacity in a Highly Urbanized Region of China

Abstract

China has experienced an unparalleled urbanization process in recent decades, which has dramatically changed the water environment. Quantification of the water environment carrying capacity (WECC) is crucial given its importance to sustainable development. Existing studies have typically focused on the overall WECC system and lacked analysis of its internal features. In this study, the concepts, calculations, and classifications of the WECC were further developed. Using Nanjing, China, as a case study, we developed a hierarchical evaluation indicator system including three system layers (social, environmental and economic subsystems). We applied the entropy weight and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method to evaluate the temporal variation tendency of WECC, and explored the deep-seated problems stemming from urbanization. The results indicated that WECC in Nanjing was 0.3045–0.5302 during 2006–2017, thus approaching a moderate grade with a relatively slow growth rate. Social, environmental, and economic subsystems increased by 29.3%, 83.1%, and 97.2%, respectively. Overall, Nanjing had a solid foundation regarding its economic subsystem, but its social and environmental subsystems were under pressure. Factors such as slow population growth as well as reduced energy and water use intensity improved WECC, whereas factors such as increased population density and excessive water consumption blocked WECC. Practical suggestions were proposed to resolve the primary problems of the WECC under urbanization. This holistic approach is urgently needed to achieve water environmental sustainability, both for Nanjing and for other emerging cities.

Study on Coupling Coordination Relationship between Urban Development Intensity and Water Environment Carrying Capacity of Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Circle

“…It forms an urban physical space and provides services that are compatible with urban functions through the investment of capital and labor and thus achieves economic, social and environmental benefits [38]. As a complex concept including a multilayer structure and multiple elements, the development intensity is the cumulative reflection of the regional carrying density [30]. On the basis of the current research on urban development intensity [39], this paper selected six indicators from three aspects to establish the UDI index system, namely population concentration, economic agglomeration and land use, as shown in Table 1.…”

“…The rational development of urban land is crucial to promote the healthy development of society and ensure the sustainable use of urban land resources [29]. The WECC has emerged as a key tool to evaluate the coordination between socioeconomic activities and water environment systems, which is playing an increasingly important role in decision making for sustainable development [30]. From the perspective of achieving sustainable development in a region, a positive and highly coupling coordination relationship between the UDI and WECC is necessary [31].…”

Renewable Energy Utilization and Environmental Pollution Control in the New City Area Mamminasata Metropolitan, Indonesia

“…Furthermore, changes in the environmental characteristics of the new city area are marked by the use of water catchment areas, land reclamation, and a decrease in the carrying capacity of the environment. Thus, it is necessary to assess the carrying capacity of the environment in order to support the sustainability of the development of new city areas in a comprehensive manner (Xu et al, 2020). This means that it is very important to restore the environmental quality of the new city area to be synergized with the use of renewable energy .…”