PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2009, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (1): 63-70.doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2009.01.009

• Original Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Urbanization Process and Effects of Natural Resource and Environment in China: Research Trends and Future Directions

LI Shuancheng1, ZHAO Zhiqiang1,2, WANG Yanglin1   

  1. 1. College of Urban and Environmental Sciences,Peking University,Beijing 100871,China;
    2. The Key Laboratory for Environmental and Urban Sciences,Shenzhen Graduate School,Peking University, Shenzhen 518055,China
  • Received:2008-08-01 Revised:2008-12-01 Online:2009-01-24 Published:2009-01-24

Abstract:

The urbanization process in China is characterized by excessive development, significant regional difference, and obvious urban-rural dual structure, resulting in significant eco-environmental impacts on urban ecosystems. Those impacts include cultivated land loss,water scarcity, energy shortage, environmental pollutions, and increased ecological footprint in urban area, which are the main causes for retrogressive succession of ecosystem structures, processes and functions. Presently, related researches on urbanization process and corresponding eco-environmental effects focus on urban heat island,urban land use/land cover, urban hydrological effects, urban biodiversity, and urban water and soil resources, and show specific features and trends such as particular emphasis on single urbanization factor, single city case,and single scale descriptive analysis, especially those lacking of multi-scale researches on dynamical mechanisms of urban spatio-temporal development. Therefore,authors propose some perspective research issues on urban processes and their eco-environmental effects, and they can be concluded to three development directions: (1) analyzing multi-scale dynamical mechanisms of urbanization process in China and spatio-temporal patterns and characteristics; (2) explaining interactional mechanisms between physical and human process under urbanization effects; and (3) predicting future development trends and risk assessment of urbanization in China under different scenarios of the constraints imposed by natural resources and eco-environmental conditions.

Key words: China, effects of resources and eco-environment, research trends, urbanization process