Urban Development Strategies in China Based on Water Resource Constraints

Abstract

Water resources are the fundamental natural resources and strategic economic resources demanded by urban development, and are crucial for urban ecological environment. However, the unbalanced distribution of water resources, regional structural shortage of water, and water pollution have been hindering China’s urban development. Therefore, city-scale fullcoverage water resource diagnosis and deduction are urgently required to reveal the status of water environment and water use characteristics of different cities in China for more rational and specific strategy-making. The study analyzes the overall characteristics of water environment and the spatial distribution of key urban elements in 369 cities within eight comprehensive economic regions, reveals the dynamic interactive relationship among the 800 mm isopluvial, total precipitation, and total water resources in China, and predicts the water balance trends of the 369 cities by 2035. On this basis, according to the types of water demand and supply contradictions, the study categorizes Chinese cities into domestic water deficient cities, water – industry mismatching cities, and flood-prone cities. The study further reveals the spatial layout and water environment characteristics of these cities and proposes urban development strategies for Chinese cities to grow in accordance with their specific water resource conditions, including water resource-based urbanization, water resource-based industrial development, and water resource-based population development.

Keywords

• water resource
• domestic water deficient cities
• water – industry mismatching cities
• flood-prone cities
• water resourcebased urbanization
• water condition deduction