Change of ecological footprint and analysis of ecological sustainability—Taking Zhangjiakou City as an example

Abstract

This paper researches the ecological sustainability of Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, China, using the ecological footprint model. According to the study we find that Zhangjiakou City was in the situation of ecological deficit from 1990 to 2000 and the deficit had the enlarging tendency. In 1990 the per capita ecological footprint was 0.964 and the per capita ecological capacity was 0.518, thus it can be calculated that the per capita ecological deficit was −0.446. However in 2000, the per capita ecological footprint increased to 1.068, at the same time the per capita ecological capacity decreased to 0.471, then the per capita ecological deficit in 2000 was −0.597. Furthermore, this paper studies the ecological sustainability of the city from the changes of the ecological footprint of per 10,000 yuan GDP and the productivity of ecological system. Finally the authors point out the shortage of the model and the way to improve it.