Studies on Land Carrying Capacity of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei Province

Abstract

In the studies of productive capacity of land resources in China, land carrying capacity means “the productive capacity of land resources in certain living conditions and supported population under certain standards of living.” It contains four key components: production conditions, land productivity, standard of living, and limits of the supported population. Lǚ Yifeng (2001) defined it as “a dynamic estimate of natural potentials of the land production in certain areas and the ratio of aggregate producible food in a certain input condition to the sum of a certain per capita consumption, namely the population carrying capacity of land.” Wang Shuhua and Mao Hanying (2001) defined integrated land carrying capacity as bearable scale of various human activities and intensity threshold on land resource in a period of time, region of space, in social, economic, ecological, and environmental conditions. The carrier is not only population, but also various human social and economic activities. The Chinese Academy of Land and Resources Economics (2005) noted it as, in a certain period of time, a certain space and a certain condition of economy, society, resources and environment, bearable scale and intensity of various human activities on land resources. It is obvious that land carrying capacity is a comprehensive concept, and has multiple objectives.