Acta Geographica Sinica ›› 2012, Vol. 67 ›› Issue (4): 444-454.doi: 10.11821/xb201204002

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Temporal and Spatial Differences of Resources Depletion Value & Environmental Cost of Xi'an City in China

REN Zhiyuan1,2, MA Caihong1,3   

  1. 1. College of Tourism and Environment Science, Shaanxi Normal University; Xi'an 710062, China;
    2. Center for Land Resource Research in Northwest China, Xi'an 710062, China;
    3. College of History Culture & Tourism, Shaanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong 723001, Shaanxi, China
  • Received:2011-10-18 Revised:2012-02-17 Online:2012-04-20 Published:2012-04-20
  • Supported by:
    Social Science Humanity Foundation of Education Ministry, No.2009JJD770025; National Natural ScienceFoundation of China, No.41071057

Abstract: This paper accounted the main components of resources depletion value & environmental costs (R-E cost) of Xi'an city in western China from 1997 to 2009 based on SEEA, analyzed temporal and spatial differences of R-E cost at city and county scales respectively, and calculated the ratio of R-E cost to GDP. The results are obtained as follows. (1) The R-E cost of Xi'an city has soared from 1.771979 billion yuan RMB to 3.960318 billion yuan RMB at comparable prices of 1990, with an annual rate of 10.29%, more than the GDP growth rate (7.25%) of the same period. (2) Resources depletion value is higher than environmental degradation cost. The proportion of resources depletion value reduced from 84.84% to 69.45%; (3) R-E cost proportion of each county was different. In 2009, Yanta District accounted for over 15%, Weiyang District, Lianhu District and Huxian County had 10%-15%, Chang'an, Baqiao and Lintong districts had 5%-10%; other counties took up less than 5%. 4) The R-E cost distribution can be divided into three circles according to cluster analysis of R-E density. Beilin, Xincheng and Lianhu districts are located in circle I, districts of Baqiao, Weiyang and Yanta are situated in circle II, and other counties are in circle III. The density of R-E cost in circle I is much higher than that in circles II and III. However, the amount of R-E cost in circle I is much lower than that in circles II and III. Energy consumption cost in circle I is lower than that in circles II and III. Land consumption cost occurred mainly in circles II and III. Pollution cost is listed in the order of circle I < circle II < circle III, and the ecological cost is mainly observed in circle III; 5) R-E cost accounted for 7.58% of GDP in 1997, this figure was up to 11.27% in 2005 and fell to 9.05% in 2009, presenting a "Kuznets curve" pattern; the ratio of R-E cost to GDP is listed in the order of circle I < circle II < circle III.

Key words: SEEA, resources depletion value, environmental degradation cost, temporal and spatial difference, Xi'an city