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Arid Land Geography ›› 2023, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (8): 1355-1365.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2022.562

• Regional Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Ecological-economic system and paradigms of “three water-related lines” area in northwest China

DANG Xiaohu1(),DENG Mingjiang2,3(),LI Peng3,4,CAO Xiaoshu5,6,SUI Boyang1,SHI Peng3,4,ZHANG Tian5,6,AI Zemin7   

  1. 1. College of Geology and Environment, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, Shaanxi, China
    2. Engineering Research Center of Water Resources and Ecological Water Conservancy in Cold and Arid Area of Xinjiang, Urumqi 830000, Xinjiang, China
    3. State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, Shaanxi, China
    4. Key Laboratory National Forestry Administration on Ecological Hydrology and Disaster Prevention in Arid Regions, Xi’an 710048, Shaanxi, China
    5. Northwest Land and Resources Research Center, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, Shaanxi, China
    6. Key Laboratory for Urbanization and Environment Simulator in Northwest China, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, Shaanxi, China
    7. College of Geomatics, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, Shaanxi, China
  • Received:2022-10-31 Revised:2022-11-27 Online:2023-08-25 Published:2023-09-21

Abstract:

In the contexts of the national strategies for ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, as well as of the new era of development in western China, it is necessary to alter the ecological conditions and resource endowment of the “three water-related lines” area in northwest China (an area occupying two distinct basins of the Yellow River and the inland rivers) and to innovate a framework and paradigms for coordinated ecological-economic development specific to the area. Based on existing ecological-economics theories, as well as on the developing philosophy of “a benign environment equal to wealth” and the concept of the “human-nature community”, we propose a conceptual ecological-economic framework for the “three water-related lines” area, in which we identify the interactions between subsystems and their mechanisms and suggest four paradigms and four eco-economic hub areas. Further, we propose a layout for modern agriculture and indicate the pathway to coordinated urban and rural development in the four suggested eco-economic hub areas. We conclude that the proposed “three water-related lines” ecological-economic framework represents a theoretical foundation on which to base decisions concerning the layout of socio-economic development and ecological-environmental protection, the construction of ecological-economic hubs, and the overall harmonious ecological-economic development of northwest China.

Key words: “three water-related lines” area in northwest China, ecological-economic system, regulation paradigms, regional ecological-economic harmonization