5.1. Results of the Coordinated Development Index from 2004 to 2010
Overall, the coordinated development levels and trends in Mainland China vary according to different provincial regions and years. We analyzed the values of the coordinated development index for the municipalities and provinces in the following three stages:
(1) 2004–2006: as shown in
Figure 3, in general, the coordinated development of the relatively developed northern and eastern coastal regions from Beijing to Zhejiang and the underdeveloped western regions of Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang were more stable than the coordinated development in the other areas of China. The coordinated development index increased in the southern regions of Yunnan, Guangxi, Hainan, however, there were also a few regions, such as Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan, Ningxia, that regressed in the coordinated development.
Figure 3.
The results of the coordinated development index from 2004 to 2006.
Figure 3.
The results of the coordinated development index from 2004 to 2006.
The regional disparities shown in the scores of coordinated development index are consistent with the development of those municipalities and provinces in the real world by and large, which mainly reflect the driving effects of economic growth. The coastal areas including the neighboring province in the Northeast developed more than other areas. In the early 1980s, Special Economic Zones covering the whole Chinese coast were created to attract overseas investment by exempting them from taxes and regulations. Since then, the coastal areas began to play a leading role in the country’s economic reform program, and the economic growth of these regions has been extremely rapid. During the period from 2004 to 2010, these coastal areas acquired more robust economics than other regions. In addition, they had better natural environments than most other areas in China. Therefore, the coordinated development of these regions has been ahead of the rest of the country.
(2) 2006–2008 (
Figure 4): the developed eastern regions of Beijing, Tianjin, Zhejiang and the underdeveloped western regions of Gansu, Qinghai, and Xinjiang still seemed to be stable in their coordinated development levels. However, the southern regions of Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan, and Ningxia showed a growth of coordinated development. What is more, the coordinated development in regions such as Yunnan, Guangxi, and Hainan that had increased from 2004 to 2006 started to decrease. In general, from 2006–2008, there were a lot of regions such as Liaoning, Shanghai, Hubei, and Sichuan that showed a better performance than before.
Figure 4.
The results of the coordinated development index from 2006 to 2008.
Figure 4.
The results of the coordinated development index from 2006 to 2008.
(3) 2008–2010 (
Figure 5): the trends of the coordinated development are greatly improved compared to the other two stages. Only a few regions showed an obvious decrease in their coordinated development index, instead, most of them showed an increase or stayed stable at a certain level. In general, the northeast and the southeast coast of China including as Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong were more developed in the coordinated development than Mainland China.
Figure 5.
The results of the coordinated development index from 2009 to 2010.
Figure 5.
The results of the coordinated development index from 2009 to 2010.
In conclusion, the trends of coordinated development for provincial regions improved from 2004 to 2010. The North and the West of China were more stable in the development of economy, society, and environment, while other regions presented fluctuations, but finally came back to a positive trend of growth. This shows that the coordinated development levels in Mainland China vary according to the geographic characteristics. For that reason, in the next section, we continue to analyze the regional disparities of the coordinated development in Mainland China.
5.2. Regional Disparities of the Coordinated Development in Mainland China
Figure 6 presents a map in which Mainland China has been classified into five zones according to the grading of CDI as “very high”, “high”, “medium”, “low”, and “very low”. The intervals of these grades are determined by equally dividing the gaps between the minimum and the maximum values of CDI among all the regions into five sections. Therefore, these grades indicate relative levels of the degrees, rather than absolute values. The maps are useful for identifying areas that have similar levels of these degrees.
As shown in the map, regions of “very high” and “high” grades of CDI are mostly located on the south coast, except for Beijing on the northern coast, according to the economic division of China. The economic growth in the coastal areas has been extremely rapid since special economic zones had been established across the whole coastal area of China in 1980 to attract overseas investment. Nowadays, economic growth based on the knowledge of economy and high technology industries has given these areas greater potential to become sustainable compared to other regions in China.
Regions of “Medium” CDI are mainly found from the north-eastern provinces to the northern coast of China and from the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to the south-western provinces. In the study years from 2004 to 2010, the north-eastern coastal areas had a more robust economy than the south-eastern coastal areas of China. However, the resources of water, cultivated land, and forest on the northern coast were relatively scarce compared to the south-eastern coast for which the development degree of Jiangsu and Tianjin lagged behind and influenced the coordinated development levels. Besides, the provinces in northeast China, the middle reach of the Yangtze River, and south-western China had similar economic developmental patterns and small gaps among their economic development levels. The economic developments in those regions mainly depended on the stable investments in heavy industries from the central government according to the national development strategies. It was more like a planned economy for which the economic growths in these regions had been very slow. From the perspective of sustainability, another negative influence of such a economic pattern was that the profits was realized by depleting the nonrenewable resources such as mineral ore and fossil fuel, which was unsustainable and seriously contaminated the environment.
Figure 6.
Assessment map of coordinated development index (CDI) in Mainland China.
Figure 6.
Assessment map of coordinated development index (CDI) in Mainland China.
Regions of “Low” and “Very low” CDI mostly occur in the north and the far west of China, such as Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Yunnan, and so on. To discuss the development of these provinces during 2004 to 2010, these regions show a huge diversity of natural resources. The environmental scores for them were very high, however, compared with the poor economic and social scores. As a result, the values of coordination degree for these regions were very low, as were their values of the development degree. The industrialization and urbanization in these provinces were still at the primary stages.
In general, there are obvious impacts of the economic driving force on the coordinated development of regional sustainability. We can see that the characteristics of the economical development mode vary according to the CDI level.
5.3. Discussion about the Regional Sustainability in Mainland China Based on the Level of CDI
By calculating the values of CDI of different provincial regions in Mainland China, we have evaluated the coordinated development levels of different regions and primarily analyzed the regional disparities among them. The validity and rationality of the evaluation results of CDI should be further examined according to the real situations. Therefore, we wanted to understand the stories and reasons behind the evaluated results, for which a more detailed discussion should be initiated. In this section, we discuss the economic, social, and environmental development of the typical provincial regions of “high”, “medium”, and “low” grade of CDI, respectively, in order to analyze the existing different development scenarios of regional sustainability in Mainland China.
5.3.1. The Municipality of “High” Grade of CDI, Shanghai
The eastern coastal regions like Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Shanghai performed very well in the assessment of regional sustainability by CDI. In the first discussion, we choose Shanghai, a famous metropolitan city of China to analyze the social and economic development, and the environment quality.
Shanghai (latitude 30°23′N–31°27′N and longitude 120°52′E–121°45′E) is one of the national central cities of China, located on the Yangtze River Delta in Eastern China and serving as one of the major trading ports and gateways to inland China. In the 1990s, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government opened the Pudong New Area in Shanghai to overseas investment. Since then, Shanghai has begun to play a leading role in the nation’s reform and opening movement. From 1978–2000, Shanghai’s GDP achieved a 6.5 times increase with an annual growth rate of 9.5%. Nowadays, promoting the adjustment of industrial structure and the industrialization of new and high technologies has become the new engine driving Shanghai’s economic development (
Table 3).
Table 3.
Selected economic and societal indicators of Shanghai and the national average of 30 provincial regions, 2004–2010.
Table 3.
Selected economic and societal indicators of Shanghai and the national average of 30 provincial regions, 2004–2010.
| GDP per capita | Proportion of gross output value of high-tech industry in GDP (%) | Number of Collage Student in each 10,000 people | Days of air quality up to the national standard of China in a whole year |
---|
| Shanghai | National Average | Shanghai | National Average | Shanghai | National Average | Shanghai | National Average |
2004 | 55,307 | 14079 | 43.75 | 11.5 | 239 | 112 | 311 | 294 |
2005 | 51,474 | 16203 | 42.66 | 11.2 | 249 | 129 | 322 | 305 |
2006 | 57,695 | 18662 | 43.15 | 11.6 | 257 | 142 | 324 | 307 |
2007 | 66,367 | 21973 | 46.20 | 11.7 | 261 | 151 | 328 | 314 |
2008 | 73,124 | 25780 | 43.08 | 10.9 | 266 | 160 | 328 | 318 |
2009 | 78,989 | 28737 | 36.94 | 10.3 | 272 | 169 | 334 | 321 |
2010 | 76,074 | 33427 | 40.20 | 10.7 | 224 | 170 | | |
Highly developed economics have been supporting the rapid improvement of social well-being, especially for indicators such medical care and education that are steadily increasing. There is a wide range of medical supplies available locally. Meanwhile, Shanghai has one of the best education systems in China. It is a major center of higher education in China with over 30 universities and colleges.
Further, the environmental conditions in Shanghai are superior to those in other areas due to its developed tertiary industry. Air pollution in Shanghai is relatively low, compared with other Chinese cities, but influenced by other neighboring provinces it still shows insufficient environmental conservation. In 2013, affected by the eastern China smog, Shanghai suffered a dense wave of smog, and the levels of PM 2.5 particulate matter rose above 600 micrograms per cubic meter.
For those relatively developed regions of sustainability, although they have accumulated sufficient physical and human resources which are driving a rapid socioeconomic development, the further transition to a sustainable development requires a deep reform of the traditional economic pattern and the development of technologies that can coordinate the relationship between human activities and the ecological environment.
5.3.2. The municipality of “Medium” Grade of CDI, Beijing
It was found that a lot of developed regions in China only achieved relatively low values of coordination degree. The most typical one is Beijing, the capital city and one of the most industrialized regions of China.
Beijing (latitude 39°56′N and longitude 116°20′E), located at the northern tip of the roughly triangular North China Plain, is the capital of the country and a world-renowned city of history and culture. It is one of few cities in the world that have served as the political headquarters and cultural center of the country for much of the past eight centuries. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the development of Beijing’s economy experienced a tough and transformative process from the economic strategy that mainly relies on heavy industries to the new industrial system of capital economy that depends on producer service industry, culture industry, high-tech industry, and modern manufacturing industry. Now, the scale of tertiary industry of Beijing ranks the first in mainland China. Beijing has completed its development process of industrialization and stepped into the post-industrial stage where the service sector has become the leading part in the economic paradigm and technical innovation serves as the main driver for its economic growth. From the perspective of quality of life, the income of citizens in Beijing has risen to a relatively high level and people begin to pursue life styles of high quality. The Engel's coefficient of Beijing’s urban residents reached 32.1% in 2010, declining by 5.1 percentage points compared to 2008 (
Table 4).
Table 4.
Economic and societal indicators of Beijing and the national average of 30 provincial regions, 2004–2010.
Table 4.
Economic and societal indicators of Beijing and the national average of 30 provincial regions, 2004–2010.
| Engel’s coefficient of urban households | Proportion of tertiary industry in GDP | Average urban income per capita (RMB/capita) | Proportion of gross output value of high-tech industry in GDP (%) |
---|
| Beijing | National Average | Beijing | National Average | Beijing | National Average | Beijing | National Average |
2004 | 32.18 | 38.2 | 60 | 37.5 | 17,116 | 9897 | 35.95 | 11.5 |
2005 | 31.83 | 37.3 | 69 | 40.4 | 19,533 | 11,004 | 30.99 | 11.2 |
2006 | 30.76 | 36.5 | 71 | 40.0 | 22,417 | 12,273 | 33.80 | 11.6 |
2007 | 32.18 | 37.2 | 72 | 39.8 | 24,576 | 14,168 | 34.07 | 11.7 |
2008 | 33.79 | 38.9 | 73 | 39.0 | 27,678 | 16,151 | 28.16 | 10.9 |
2009 | 33.18 | 37.5 | 76 | 41.6 | 30,674 | 17,864 | 22.69 | 10.3 |
2010 | 32.07 | 36.7 | 75 | 40.4 | 33,360 | 19,888 | 21.20 | 10.7 |
However, Beijing is again a new focus of attention due to its terrible smog. The pollution blanketing northern China is an extraordinary and unnatural phenomenon, which is possibly caused by (1) industrial pollution (
Table 5), a recent study on Beijing’s smog found that industrial pollution was the biggest source of the PM 2.5 problems. The heavily industrialized neighboring provinces also contributed to the air pollution in Beijing; (2) vehicle emissions, more than five million vehicles are currently registered in Beijing, and the number keeps climbing; (3) regional pollution, the Tianjin and Hebei provinces both have a large number of cement, steel, oil refining, and petrification industries and in fact when serious smog appears in Beijing, the nearby cities like Tianjin can also hardly escape from a heavy haze weather. It requires persistent efforts of all parties of the government, citizens, and neighboring provinces to combat air pollution.
The unbalanced situation usually occurs in the metropoles that have been on their way to industrialization for several decades when rapid accumulation of physical, financial, and human capital is acquired by excessive depletion and degradation of natural capital. The investments in the development of industries with low pollution and low energy density are very urgent.
Table 5.
Beijing environmental indicators and industrial waste treatment and the ranking of 30 municipalities and provinces, 2004–2010.
Table 5.
Beijing environmental indicators and industrial waste treatment and the ranking of 30 municipalities and provinces, 2004–2010.
| Days of air quality up to the national standard of China in the whole year (days) | Proportion of waste gas (SO2, Soot, Dust) removed in total waste generated (%) | Proportion of Industrial waste water meeting discharge standards in total volume (%) | Ratio of industrial solid waste utilized(%) |
---|
| Value | Ranking | Value | Ranking | Value | Ranking | Value | Ranking |
2004 | 229 | 27 | 93.6 | 3.0 | 98.61 | 2 | 73.7 | 9 |
2005 | 234 | 31 | 96.1 | 1.0 | 99.43 | 2 | 67.9 | 14 |
2006 | 241 | 30 | 94.5 | 1.0 | 99.29 | 2 | 74.6 | 9 |
2007 | 246 | 31 | 97.0 | 1.0 | 97.42 | 5 | 74.8 | 11 |
2008 | 274 | 28 | 97.2 | 1.0 | 98.26 | 5 | 66.4 | 15 |
2009 | 285 | 28 | 96.6 | 1.0 | 98.41 | 5 | 68.9 | 17 |
2010 | | | 96.7 | 2.0 | 98.76 | 2 | 65.8 | 17 |
5.3.3. The Municipality of “Very Low” Grade of CDI, Gansu
Gansu ranks among the bottom positions both in the ranking lists of the coordination degree and the development degree. It shows that the developments of environment, society, and economy are unbalanced and remain at poor levels.
Gansu is located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, northwestern China. As the land possesses nearly 3000 deposits of 145 kinds of minerals, five of which are the largest reserves in China, and considerable reserves of coal, Gansu’s economy heavily relies on the energy sector with intensive exploration and exploitation of the natural resources, especially minerals and coal. Pillar industries of Gansu include non-ferrous metals, electricity power, and petrochemicals.
In 2000, the West China Development Program (WCDP) was launched to stimulate the economic growth in western areas. Gansu was involved because of the abundant reserves of coal. Before the WCDP, from 1996 to 1999, the region’s GDP per capita grew at a slow 8.6%. However, after the WCDP, the region’s GDP per capita grew at a rate of 13.87% from 2000 to 2006, higher than the national average. Accompanied with the booming of heavy industries, the environment deterioration has been put on the verge of a breakdown. Industrial waste is an important source for the pollution issues. In addition, the pollution brought by heavy metals of the non-ferrous metal industry in Gansu, such as cadmium in irrigation water, has resulted in poisoning of many acres of agricultural land. Meanwhile, the region has fallen behind other regions in waste treatment, indicated by the rate of industrial waste water meeting discharge standards, and sulfur dioxide removal rate (
Table 6). In addition, Gansu is the major disaster area in China that has suffered serious droughts in recent years. Concerning its climate conditions, the annual amount of rainfall in Gansu changes dramatically, distributed unevenly among seasons. Meanwhile, the artificial factors such as groundwater overexploitation and arable land overcultivation that cause desertification, drought, and ecological deterioration can never be overlooked.
On behalf of Gansu, the west provinces have always shown to be relatively backward both in the coordination and development of the three subsystems, because the majority of their populations are poor and their livelihoods are mainly linked with exploiting fragile environments and ecosystems. The economic development in such regions must be extensive, socially inclusive, and pay more attention to reducing the environmental risks, because the life of local people is extremely vulnerable to the loss of natural capital.
Table 6.
Gansu industrial waste treatment and the ranking of 30 provincial regions, 2004–2010.
Table 6.
Gansu industrial waste treatment and the ranking of 30 provincial regions, 2004–2010.
| Proportion of waste gas (SO2, Soot, Dust) removed in total waste generated (%) | Proportion of Industrial waste water meeting discharge standards in total volume (%) | Ratio of industrial solid waste utilized |
---|
| Value | Ranking | Value | Ranking | Value | Ranking |
2004 | 82.6 | 22 | 73.20 | 26 | 32.6 | 26 |
2005 | 86.2 | 19 | 73.23 | 25 | 29.4 | 27 |
2006 | 84.8 | 22 | 79.08 | 24 | 27.1 | 30 |
2007 | 87.9 | 23 | 80.96 | 25 | 36.1 | 29 |
2008 | 90.4 | 24 | 58.95 | 29 | 34.1 | 29 |
2009 | 91.0 | 24 | 81.07 | 27 | 33.4 | 30 |
2010 | 91.3 | 25 | 83.32 | 26 | 46.3 | 29 |