Strategic measures for an integrated approach to sustainable development in Lijiang City

Abstract

Lijiang City has undergone rapid economic development, and it is important to evaluate factors that will contribute to future development and how to make that development more sustainable. In this paper, we used ecological footprint (EF) and ecological carrying capacity (ECC) to assess economic development in Lijiang City from 1995 to 2007. The results show that there was a sharp increase in EF and a minor decrease in ECC. The large increase in EF might be caused by rapid economic development, which consumed energy and other resources but did not cause serious observable damage to ECC. In the final analysis, this is because the tourism industry plays a prominent role in economic growth in Lijiang City, and is far more important than the two sectors that have a more severe environmental impact: agriculture and general industry. The economic development of Lijiang City depends mainly on comprehensive development of tourism; cultural resources and ethnic cultures are the critical drivers of tourism development in the city. Vigorously developing integrated tourism, combined with addressing concerns over sustainability and protective development of ethnic cultures, is the best approach to sustainable development of Lijiang City. To assure the success of this approach, we proposed a number of strategic measures, such as payment for both ecological and cultural services.