Abstract
We used a multidisciplinary approach to assess the vulnerability of a coupled natural and human (CNH) system in Lanzhou, China. Lanzhou’s urban settlement and expansion depended highly on the waterway of the Yellow River and its surrounding geographic setting. Lanzhou’s dramatic fluctuation of population was linked with its position as a bordering city between different geographic regions and the controls of ethnic/cultural groups. During the modern phase (1949 to the present), Lanzhou experienced rapid urban expansion, especially after 1979, propelled by industrialization policies by the national government. However, Lanzhou’s environment degraded seriously with severe air, water, and soil pollution as well as low green coverage and affected urban climate, especially after the 1970s. We argue that geophysical factors, economic regimes, and institutional factors are all crucial in explaining the dynamics of the CNH system in Lanzhou.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Consumption-oriented city refers to a city that is dependent on and oriented around consumption, whereas production-oriented city refers to a city that is dependent on and oriented around production. During the socialist period (1949–1978), the Chinese government focused on converting cities into locations of manufacturing facilities, i.e., into production-oriented cities. The government considered that cities before the establishment of the People’s Republic of China were consumption-oriented as cities were locations mostly for services and for consumers to spend money on products and services; cities seldom were locations for manufacturing facilities.
The Chinese government uses an air pollution index (AQI) to indicate the air quality. The calculation is based on the concentration of SO2, NO2, and PM10. The air quality is evaluated by one of the five grades based on the AQI value. Grades I and II refer to excellent and fine air quality, whereas Grades III, IV, and V represent a light, medium, and heavy degree of air pollution, respectively (Qi et al 2012).
China Gansu Net 2013. The Lanzhou Civil Administration Bureau’s Statistics showed that the direct loss from natural disaster reached over $0.437 billion in 2012.
References
Adger N, Kelly M, Bentham G (2000) New indicators of vulnerability and adaptive capacity. Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Norwich, CT
Chen H, Rong H (2008) Analysis on water resources actuality and countermeasures of exploitation and utilization in Lanzhou Metropolitan Area. J Anhui Agric Sci 36(7):2880–2882
Chen J, Wan S, Henebry G, Qi J, Gutman G, Sun G, Kappas M (eds) (2013) Dryland East Asia (DEA): land dynamics AMID social and climate change. HEP and De Gruyter, Beijing and Berlin
Cheng S, Wang N (2004) Study on air temperature change in Lanzhou City in recent 70 years. Arid Land Geogr 27(4):558–563
Cutter S, Mitchell JT, Scott MS (2000) Revealing the vulnerability of people and places: a case study of Georgetown County South Carolina. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 90(4):713–737
Downing TE, Butterfield R, Cohen S, Huq S, Moss R, Rahman A, Sokaona Y, Stephen L (2001) Climate change vulnerability. Oxford Environmental Change Institute, Oxford
Fan P, Qi J (2010) Assessing the sustainability of major cities in China. Sustainabil Sci J 5(1):51–68
Fan P, Yue W, Messina J, Huang H, Li X, Verburg P, Qi J (2012) Urban expansion in Asia. Report for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Project “Urbanization in Asia”. ADB, Manila
Fan P, Qi J, Chen X, Messina J, Huang H, Li X (2013) Urban expansion and environment change in dryland East Asia. In: Chen J, Wan S, Henebry G, Qi J, Gutman G, Kappas M, Sun G (eds) Dryland East Asia (DEA): land dynamics AMID social and climate change. HEP and De Gruyter, Beijing and Berlin, pp 81–104
Friedman J (2005) China’s urban transition. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis
Gansu Bureau of Statistics (2011) Gansu statistical yearbook 2011. Gansu Bureau of Statistics, Lanzhou
He C (1980) The historical population data of Lanzhou City. Learn J Lanzhou 3:109
Janssena MA, Schoon ML, Ke W, Börner K (2006) Scholarly networks on resilience, vulnerability and adaptation within the human dimensions of global environmental change. Glob Environ Chang 16(3):240–252
Jin M (2005) A study of lanzhou city spatial structure evolution and sustainable development. Master Thesis. Lanzhou University, Lanzhou
Liu J, Hull V, Batistella M, DeFries R, Dietz T, Fu F, Hertel TW, Izaurralde RC, Lambin EF, Li S, Martinelli LA, McConnell WJ, Moran EF, Naylor R, Ouyang Z, Polenske KR, Reenberg A, de Miranda RG, Simmons CS, Verburg PH (2013) Framing sustainability in a telecoupled world. Ecol Soc 18(2):595–613
Metzger MJ, Leemans R, Schroter DA (2005) Multidisciplinary multi-scale framework for assessing vulnerabilities to global change. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf 7:253–267
Mumford L (1968) The city in history. Harvest Book Company, Fort Washington, PA
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) (1996–2013). China Statistical Yearbook, NBS, Beijing
Pickett STA, Cadenasso ML, Grove JM, Nilon CH, Pouyat RV, Zipperer WC, Constanza R (2001) Urban ecological systems: linking terrestrial ecological, physical, and socioeconomic components of metropolitan areas. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 32:127–157
Pratt C, Koshy R, Kaly U, Pal R, Sale-Mario E (2001) Progress report: environmental vulnerability index project. South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission, Report No 405
Rotmans J, van Asselt M (2001) Scaling issues in integrated assessment. Kluwer, Masstricht, The Netherlands
Schneider A, Seto K, Webster DR (2005) Urban growth in Chengdu, Western China: application of remote sensing to assess planning and policy outcomes. Environ Plan B Plan Des 32(3):323–345
Song C, Zhu Y (2008) Sustainable development of Lanzhou based on the ecological economics. Reform Strategy 24(4):96–99
Timmerman P (1981) Vulnerability, resilience and the collapse of society. Institute for environmental studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Turner BL II, Kasperson RE, Matson PA, McCarthy JJ, Corel RW, Christensen L, Eckley N, Kasperson JX, Luers A, Martello ML, Polsky C, Pulipher A, Schiller A (2001) A framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. PNAS 100(14):8074–8079
United Nations Population Division (UNPD) (2011) World population prospects: the 2011 revision. United Nations, New York
Wang X, Wang S (2008) Development direction of Lanzhou Jiuzhou economic development zone. Soc Sci Rev 23(2):18–20
World Economic Forum (WEF) (2002) Environmental sustainability index. Global Leaders of Tomorrow Environment Task Force, Geneva
Wu X, Li D, Wang G, Chen X (2007) A discussion on the evaluation of the quality of comprehensive ecology: a case study of Lanzhou City. J Arid Land Resour and Environ 21(2):23–26
Xian X, Zhang L, Ai N (1983) On relation between evolution of natural environmental and human factor and development of urban settlement. Scientia Geographica Sinica 3(4):311–320
Yang Y (2000) The research on the developing model of Lanzhou: a typical valley-basin city in the Northwest China. Hum Geogr 15(1):10–15
Yang Y (2001) The spatial model of land utilization in a balley-basin city-a case study of Lanzhou, a typical valley-basin city in the Northwestern China. J Lanzhou Univ (Natural Sci) 37(3):127–133
Yang Y, Yang X (2009) Research on urban spatial expansion and land use inner structure transformation of the large valley-basin cities in China from 1949 to 2005: A case study of Lanzhou. J Nat Resour 24(1):37–49
Yang Y, Zhang C, Liu Z (2004) Spatial integration and planning of the valley cities in the rapid agglomeration and development: a case study in Lanzhou city. Arid Land Geogr 27(4):603–609
Yang X, Yang Y, Zhang L, Qiao L, Xu X (2008) Dynamic evolution and driving force of the land use structure in Lanzhou City based on the information entropy. Arid Land Geogr 31(2):291–297
Zhang S, Zhang G (2008) Analysis on causation and state of water environment in Lanzhou section of the yellow river. Environ Sci Manag 33(3):52–55
Zhang Q, Ma J, Zhao C (2005) The change of land use and its progress in Lanzhou based on GIS and RS. J Arid Land Resour Environ 19(1):96–100
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the funding support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Land Cover and Land Use Program through a grant to Michigan State University (NNX09AI32G), the “Urbanization in Asia” Project at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the IceMe of NUIST. We thank Yongchun Yang from Lanzhou University for insights on the urban development of Lanzhou. We thank two anonymous reviewers for the constructive and helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NASA or ADB.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fan, P., Xie, Y., Qi, J. et al. Vulnerability of a coupled natural and human system in a changing environment: dynamics of Lanzhou’s urban landscape. Landscape Ecol 29, 1709–1723 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-014-0061-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-014-0061-8