Resource-Saving and Environmentally-Friendly City Development in Nanchang
南昌市1991年至2010年“两型城市”发展的定量表达及其解析

Resource-saving and environmentally friendly development is the most effective road to sustainable development in China and presents a new idea in development for Chinese cities. This development model can address increasing problems such as resource shortages and polluted environments. The connotation of a resource-saving and environmentally friendly city is that it decouples resource consumption and emission outputs; but how to quantitatively analyze and evaluate the development of resource-saving and environmentally friendly cities remains an important issue. The decoupling analysis model has become an effective tool to measure the sustainability of the coordinated development between economic growth and environment pressure. To quantitatively evaluate the development level of the resource-saving and environmentally friendly city of Nanchang between 1991-2010, we constructed a decoupling analysis model to describe the relationship and decoupling status between increases in secondary industry GDP and energy consumption and waste discharge. The results showed that the increase in secondary industry GDP and energy consumption and waste discharge in Nanchang city maintained an expansive negative decoupling status between 1991-1995 and 2001-2005, a stronger decoupling status from 1996-2000, and a weak decoupling status between 2006-2010. Decoupling extent fluctuated strongly with changes in the macroscopic economic situation and policy regulation. The elevation of energy efficiency was the main cause for a weak decoupling in Nanchang city, but this could not offset the growth in energy consumption demands because of industrial development.The increase in secondary industry GDP and waste discharge across Nanchang city followed a weak decoupling status between 1991-1995 and 2001-2010, and had an especially strong decoupling status from 1996-2000. Methods of controlling environmental pollution in Nanchang have achieved excellent outcomes and effectively improved the urban ecological environment; but to achieve the overall goal of sustainable development Nanchang City should promote traditional industry skills and accelerate the development of a low-carbon economy by focusing on the development of semiconductor lighting, service outsourcing and photovoltaics.