Division scheme for environmental management regionalization in China

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Geography
• Regional Planning

Background:

• Environmental characteristics vary regionally, necessitating tailored management strategies.
• Existing environmental management approaches may not fully account for regional heterogeneity.
• A systematic approach to environmental management regionalization (EMRZ) can improve environmental quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To devise an Environmental Management Regionalization (EMRZ) scheme for China.
• To develop a novel methodological framework integrating qualitative and quantitative methods for EMRZ.
• To identify priority environmental problems within each delineated region.

Main Methods:

• Subdivided China into four environmental management domains based on physical geography.
• Quantified provincial environmental characteristics using a regionalization indicator system and one-dimensional Euclidean distance.
• Merged similar regions into preliminary Environmental Management Regions (EMRs).
• Refined EMRs based on natural boundaries and existing regional plans, resulting in eight distinct EMRs.

Main Results:

• Successfully developed a novel EMRZ scheme for China, delineating eight distinct Environmental Management Regions (EMRs).
• The identified EMRs include: Northeastern China, North China Plain, Loess Plateau, Southeast Coast, Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, Southwestern China, Northwestern China, and the Tibetan Plateau.
• Priority environmental problems for each EMR were discussed, laying groundwork for future policy development.

Conclusions:

• The developed EMRZ framework offers a novel methodological approach for regional environmental management.
• The study emphasizes the importance of spatial contiguity and administrative integrity in regionalization.
• Future research should focus on establishing specific environmental management policies for each EMR based on identified local issues.