Research On The Capacity For Sustainable Development Of Different Regions In Jiangsu

Regional sustainable development is a hot issue for current research on sustainable development. Against the backdrop of unbalanced economic and social development within a region, the key to regional sustainable growth lies in leveling the capacity for sustainable development among different localities within a region. Though Jiangsu province is a well-developed economy in the eastern coastal area of China, it is still confronted with imbalance in regional growth, a result of regional differences in conditions and levels of development arising from disparity in various elements within the province including natural qualities, geographical conditions, as well as historical and cultural backgrounds. This imbalance has become a drag on Jiangsu’s overall capacity for sustainable development. Based on the above considerations, this paper conducts empirical research on inter-regional differences in sustainable development capacity on the basis of differentiating uneven development within Jiangsu province. Moreover, this paper, from the perspective of regional synergy, makes analyses and proposals on measures and suggestions for Jiangsu’s regional sustainable development, hopefully as a reference for Jiangsu’s endeavor in this regard.The first part is a brief introduction of the background and content of my research as well as the structure, methodology and data sources of this paper. It also includes a summary of and comments on contemporary research on regional sustainable development at home and abroad.The second and third parts are mainly theoretical analyses, exploring ways to evaluate a region’s sustainable development by drawing upon fundamental theories of regional sustainable development. Generally speaking, sustainable development is defined by specific time and space. When time and space change, the issue varies. Therefore, it is of exceptional importance to apply the general concept to specific context along the evolution of regional development. A region is both the aim and outcome of sustainable development. A region is on one hand an integral part of the world or a country, and on the other hand an entity combining a number of smaller places, therefore, connecting spaces at larger and smaller scales. In this sense, regional sustainable development is the foundation of national or even global sustainable development, and also a consequence of sustainable development among smaller places within the region. Ultimately, the strategic thinking on and new models of mankind’s sustainable development should be put into the framework of regions. Not until regional sustainable development is realized will sustainable development embark on a higher level. Hence, research on regional sustainable development is of vital significance. Given technological conditions and the period of time are fixed, regional sustainable development refers to sustained, orderly, stable and coordinated socioeconomic development of a region within the constraints of population, resources and environment. Featuring sustainability, this concept has human development as its core and coordination as its key element. Evaluation of regional sustainable development consists of three parts, that is, the division of regions, assessment on capacity for regional sustainable development and assessment on inter-regional synergy.To shed light on disparity of regional economies in Jiangsu province, this paper takes the13municipalities under direct jurisdiction of Jiangsu Provincial Government as a sample, providing a real-world situation to following research. When it comes to categorization of the13municipalities, this paper abandons the conventional way of geographical locations (which fall into three categories, namely, Southern Jiangsu, Northern Jiangsu and Central Jiangsu). Instead, an index system is constructed to group the13cities into three categories according to their capacity for sustainable development. Group One includes Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou and Changzhou. Group Two consists of Yangzhou, Taizhou, Nantong, Zhenjiang and Xuzhou. Group Three has Lianyungang, Yancheng, Huai’an and Suqian. The three groups of cities represent three regions. Then five elements and their interdependence are identified to quantify the capacity for sustainable development of the three regions. The five elements are the capacity to support life, the capacity to support economic development, the capacity to support the ecosystem, the capacity to support social programs and the capacity to support intellectual advancement. It is found out that as a whole the composite index for sustainable development decreases from South to North Jiangsu. To be more specific, as for the economic index, a declining curve takes shape when cities move northward. Those cities that rank high on the list concentrates in Southern Jiangsu, including Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou and Changzhou, followed by Yangzhou, Taizhou, Nantong, Zhenjiang and Xuzhou. At the lowest level are Lianyungang, Yancheng, Huai’an and Suqian. When it comes to the environmental index, those score high are mainly in Northern Jiangsu, including Lianyungang, Yancheng, Huai’an and Suqian. In the middle are Yangzhou, Taizhou, Nantong, Zhenjiang and Xuzhou.At the bottom are Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou and Changzhou, which are economically more developed. Assessing the capacity to support life, the most competitive cities are Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou and Changzhou. Next come Lianyungang, Yancheng, Huai’an and Suqian, which boast sound ecological environment and rich natural endowments, land included. At the bottom are Yangzhou, Taizhou, Nantong, Zhenjiang and Xuzhou. The trend of inter-regional development features decreasing synergy. However, Group One and Group Two as well as Group One and Group Three are comparatively less coordinated. The reason is that in recent years the four cities in Group One, namely, Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou and Changzhou, because of their fast development, are gradually expanding their lead and Group Two and Group Three are left further behind. The calculation demonstrates that regions in Jiangsu have reversed the trend of coordination in sustainable development from diminishing to increasing, which signifies that sustainable development of different regions is moving towards equilibrium in the past few years.To promote Jiangsu’s regional sustainable development, this paper comes up with strategies on sustainability for the three regions, each with its own priority.(1) Group One is characteristic of a competitive economy and constraint of resources, environment and social development. This region is, therefore, should put protection, treatment and improvement of its ecosystem high on its agenda of sustainable development. First, environmental protection should expand from pollution treatment to pollution prevention and control as well as seamless pollution prevention in production process. Clean technologies should be further applied in production. Second, the mode of economic growth should be transformed and eco-industries should be further developed so as to build up an economic system that generates "Green GDP".(2) Group Two, as a whole, features economic development at the medium level in the province. On the scale of the indexes, its environmental score is relatively low while its resources and social development scores are at a high level. Accordingly, the top priority for this region is faster economic growth coupled with improved environmental protection. First, its industrial structure should be appropriately adjusted and a conservation-oriented economic structure should be put into place.(3) Group Three, though lags in economic growth, performs well in resources and eco-system evaluation. Therefore, this region should fully tap its advantages in resources to nurture the growth of suitable industries.As an internal factor of sustainable development, the institutional framework is an important incentive for collective action. To realize sustainable development, it is imperative that various relevant factors are subject to effective management, which depends on complete and rational institutional arrangements. This paper’s institutional design for Jiangsu’s sustainable development incorporates designs of economic, social, resource and environmental institutions.(1) Economic Institutional Design of Jiangsu’s Sustainable Development. First, draw a blueprint for development that accommodates fairness and efficiency. A basic mechanism for regional development should be established, including innovations in the legal framework, incentive and constraint arrangements. Second, a modern corporate system should be rebuilt so that enterprises can achieve sustainable growth. To this end, enterprises should be recognized its basic role in the ecological economy as the basis for protecting the environment and driving the modern economy as well as the entity to safeguard interests of the consumers. Third, industrial institutions should be designed in a way that aims at optimizing industrial structure. Fourth, Jiangsu’s institutional arrangements in banking, investment and financing should include differentiated regional policies concerning transfer and restructuring of factors of production, redistribution of investments and launching of major projects.(2) Institutional Design of Social Programs for Jiangsu’s Sustainable Development. First, innovations in the educational system should be conducive to coordinated development between education and other social programs, fair competition in educational opportunities, improved efficiency in allocation of human resources, wider access to education and increased supplies of educational resources. Second, it is imperative to foster a standardized labor market and relevant supporting employment mechanism so that accurate and timely employment information can be provided. Third, incentives for scientific and technological innovations should resort to motivations brought about by property rights and market mechanism as well as government polices. Fourth, it is necessary to construct a social security system that is suitable for the economic and social development of a region. Financed through various channels, this system will be able to provide multi-layer services. Within this system, rights come with duties. This system will have both its administration and services achieved through non-governmental means. Regulated by uniform standards, this system will be sustained and reliable.(3) Institutional Design of Resources and Environment for Jiangsu’s Sustainable Development:First, improve the administration and regulation mechanism of Jiangsu’s environment by fully implementing the license system of pollution discharge and improving the decision-making process during which opinions from experts and the general public are solicited. Second, introduce the mechanism of exploring and tapping natural resources, including better defined property rights, better use of natural resources and the establishment of an accounting system of sustainable capital.The last part of this paper puts forward suggestions on Jiangsu’s sustainable development, mainly from the perspectives of economic, social and environmental polices.