Sustainability assessment of urban ecological-economic systems based on emergy analysis: A case study in Simao, China

Abstract

The sustainable development of urban systems requires an understanding of interactions between the economic, social, and ecological systems within and beyond the urban systems. In this paper, emergy-based indicators in consideration of ecosystem services were built for evaluating urban systems’ sustainability performance through a case study of Simao, China. The emergy analysis results of Simao implied an unsustainable economic development pattern in the long term. Although the emergy of ecosystem services and the environmental performance indicators both showed a well-protected ecological environment, the low economic efficiency was a drag on Simao, resulting in a low emergy sustainability index (ESI). It is urgent for Simao that effective measures should be taken to achieve a more sustainable development pattern. Thus, policy recommendations including promoting green economy, optimizing local energy structure, developing ecological origin products and strengthen cultural ecosystem service were provided in order to improve the regional sustainability of Simao. This work provides valuable insight into urban systems' social, environmental, and economic performances, helping decision makers with urban development, especially when the decisions need to be made regarding sustainability.