Abstract
The comprehensive land carrying capacities of seven cities in the Shandong Peninsula Blue Economic Zone between 2007–2014 were assessed using a multi-criterion comprehensive evaluation approach and an index of 27 indicators, and cluster analysis was conducted to identify the spatial-temporal variations of the cities’ comprehensive land carrying capacities. The results showed that the carrying capacity of the water and soil resources of the cities had declined except Dongying City; in contrast, the carrying capacities of the eco-environment, the social resources and the economy and technology of the seven cities had all arisen. The carrying capacities of social resources of Dongying and Weihai were markedly higher than the other five cities. The carrying capacities of economy and technology of Qingdao and Dongying were high, the capacities of Weihai and Yantai were moderate, and the capacities of Weifang, Rizhao, and Binzhou were low. In general, the comprehensive land carrying capacities of the eastern cities were higher than those of the western cities, which was similar to the spatial pattern of the economy development of those cities. In addition, positive correlations were identified between the comprehensive land carrying capacity and the per capita land for construction, areal proportion of wetland to total land, percentage of green space to build up area, per capita public green space, comprehensive utilization rate of industrial solid waste residues, urbanization rate, area of per capita urban road, per capita GDP, economy density, fixed-assets investment per area, etc. However negative correlations were discovered between the comprehensive land carrying capacity and the discharge of industrial waste water per 10,000 Yuan RMB GDP, as well as the proportion of added value of the primary industry to total GDP. Finally, we discussed measures to improve the comprehensive land carrying capacities of the cities, such as elevating the intensive land utilization and economic development, decreasing the proportion of added value of the primary industry to total GDP, promoting energy saving and emission reduction, etc.
Highlights
Population explosion and land resource shortage are two important constraints on current economic development of the world [1]
The research of land carrying capacity for Australia on the perspective of the restriction imposed on population by all types of resources [2], the determination of land population carrying capacity by using Agricultural Ecology Zone method proposed by FAO in 1997 [3,4]
The land carrying capacity of eco-environment of the seven cities rose significantly because the increase of percentage of green space to urban built up area, the public green space per capita, the forest coverage rate, the proportion of environmental protection investment to gross domestic product (GDP), the comprehensive utilization rate of industrial solid waste residues and the urban sewage treatment rate, as well as the decrease of discharge of industrial wastewater per 10,000 Yuan RMB GDP
Summary
Population explosion and land resource shortage are two important constraints on current economic development of the world [1]. By the early 19th century, scientists started to realize that the relationship of social economic activities with the land resources should be coordinated, and that is when the line of research on land carrying capacity began. During the period of 1970s to 1980s, research on land carrying capacity was mainly based on the ecological limiting factors, potential land capacity for natural production, grain yield and relationship of man and grain to confirm the land’s population carry capacity. The enhancement of carrying capacity options (ECCO) put forward by Slessor in the early 1980s took thorough consideration of the relation between population change and land carrying capacity [5]. Research of land resource production capacity, especially grain output and land’s population carrying capacity of China were carried out by the Commission for Integrated Survey of Natural Resources, China [6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
