Sustainable Development of Cities and Regions: Principles, Evaluation, and Design

Author: Liu Li
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: This book offers a unique perspective on the theoretical understanding and practical models of sustainable regional development, drawing on the theoretical analytical methods of urban ecosystems and industrial ecology to establish a research framework for the ecosystem of urban and regional sustainability. On this basis, considering the resource and environmental constraints of the sustainable development system, it incorporates material efficiency and ecological footprint assessment into the evaluation system for urban and regional sustainability. Furthermore, starting from the goal of improving material efficiency, it explores the planning and design of urban and regional material circulation systems. The book consists of four chapters:
Chapter 1 is an introduction to sustainable development. It systematically elaborates on the concept and theoretical analytical perspective of sustainable development, proposing a social material circulation goal for sustainable development from the perspective of industrial production.
Chapter 2 is an ecosystem explanation of urban sustainable development. Drawing on the analytical methods of urban ecosystems, it examines the structural and functional characteristics of urban ecosystems and their material metabolism pathways, establishing a theoretical analytical framework for the evaluation of urban and regional sustainable development with material efficiency as the goal.
Chapter 3 is the evaluation system for urban and regional sustainable development. It explores the different perspectives of the comprehensive evaluation system for sustainable development and the life cycle assessment method, with the material flow analysis of the national economic system as the object. It establishes a life cycle process analysis framework for material efficiency evaluation and analyzes the driving factors for improving material efficiency in the national economic system, thereby establishing a correspondence mechanism between material efficiency evaluation and macro policy regulation. It further delves into the application of material efficiency analysis in urban and regional sustainable evaluation through the ecological footprint assessment method, discussing the theoretical and practical significance of the ecological footprint assessment method.
The final chapter presents empirical research on domestic and international case studies.
Chapter 4 is the planning philosophy of urban and regional material circulation and the management theory issues. From the perspective of improving material efficiency, it proposes material circulation goals for urban and regional sustainable development, explores the planning and design concepts of urban and regional material circulation systems, and proposes the planning philosophy of the basic unit of urban and regional material circulation—the community material circulation system—as well as the planning model of the ecological industrial park. On this basis, it further discusses the macro management policy regulation issues for achieving urban and regional material circulation.
The readership of this book includes undergraduate and graduate students in urban planning and regional management, and it can serve as a teaching reference and extracurricular reading material for related disciplines such as urban economics and regional economics. It can also be used as a theoretical learning reference for personnel in comprehensive research departments for cities and regions, as well as government agencies and policy institutions.