A Study on Sustainable Development of Water Resources and Social Economy in Liaoning Coastal Economic Belt
辽宁沿海经济带水资源-社会经济可持续发展研究

Water resources are the key factor to the development of society, economic growth, the improvement of living standard of people, and the improvement of the environment. The shortage of water resources has become one of the important factors hampering the sustainable development of social economy in Liaoning coastal economic belt, which is one of areas falling severely short of water resources in the region. The contradictions between water supply and demand are becoming increasingly significant. In addition, the study would be beneficial in the formulation of strategy for the old industrial base in northeastern China. In this paper, the current situations of sustainable development of water resources and social economy in Liaoning coastal economic belt were analyzed. Based on special conditions of water resources and social and economy in Liaoning coastal economic belt, an assessment index system involving 24 indices for sustainable development of water resources and social economy was established. These indicators depict three major aspects including water resources, society, and economy. The assessment index grades were calculated. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was used to determine the weight of each assessment index. Data of cities in Liaoning coastal economic belt were used. As a result of the complexity and uncertainty of the water resources system, the variable fuzzy recognition model was chosen to evaluate the assessment index system quantitatively for each layer. The average value of the past four years was taken as the current situation of sustainable development of water resources and social economy in Liaoning coastal economic belt. Results show that the levels of the sustainable development of water resources, society, and economy for Dandong and Dalian were slightly higher than the moderate level. Those of Huludao, Yingkou, and Jinzhou were low to intermediate. Panjin lay in a low grade. The whole study area exhibited a low to an intermediate level. The evaluating results seem to be reasonable.