The Livelihood Vulnerability Of Residents About Small Towns In Northwest China

As one of the ten scientific research propositions for future geography,livelihood vulnerability has become an important component in research of human-environment relationship and regional sustainable development.In this study,we selected 6 small towns from Gansu provinces and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region as the study area,to assess the livelihood vulnerability degree in Northwest China in 2016,to identify the major influence factors of livelihood vulnerability,based on statistical data,meteorological data,remote sensing data,and social survey data,based on the sustainable livelihoods framework and vulnerability assessment framework,using the multi index comprehensive evaluation,Geo-detector and obstacle degree model,Our findings were as follows:(1)In the study of exposure-sensitivity in different types of towns,the exposure-sensitivity index of Shouyang town,representing the planting towns,and the Zhenbeibu town,representing the tourist towns,are 0.308 and 0.327 respectively,which are at a low level.The exposure-sensitivity index of Tuqiao town,representing the comprehensive town,is 0.405,which is at a middle level.The exposure-sensitivity index of Shichuan town,representing the suburban leisure towns,and the Dingtang town,representing the ethnic compact towns,and the Zaojiao town,representing the traditional agricultural towns,are 0.642 ? 0.648 and 0.780 respectively,which are at a high level.Accordingly,the exposure-sensitivity of each sample small town in the northwestern region is moderate,showing moderate exposure-sensitivity.(2)There are obvious differences in the livelihood capital and livelihood vulnerability between different types of residents in small towns in the northwest China.Non-agricultural residents have the highest living capital index,followed by non-agricultural oriented residents,agricultural oriented residents,and agricultural residents.Non-agricultural oriented residents and agricultural oriented residents lack financial capital,non-agricultural oriented residents and non-agricultural residents lack of natural capital,and non-agricultural residents lack of social capital extremely.Overall,the higher the exposure-sensitivity index,the lower the resident's livelihood adaptability,and the higher the resident's livelihood vulnerability.The livelihood vulnerability of different types of residents in small towns from high to low is: agricultural residents,agricultural oriented residents,non-agricultural oriented residents,non-agricultural residents.(3)In the study of residents' livelihoods in different types of towns,the livelihood adaptability and vulnerability of different types of urban residents are quite different.The livelihood adaptability index of Zhenbeibu town,representing the tourism towns,and Shouyang town,representing the planting towns,are at the comparatively high level.The livelihood adaptability index of Tuqiao town,representing the local comprehensive towns,and Shichuan town,representing the suburban leisure towns,are at the medium level.The livelihood adaptability index of Dingtang town,representing the ethnic compact towns,and Shichuan town,representing the traditional agricultural towns,are at the low level.In general,the livelihood vulnerability index of residents in Shouyang town,Zhenbeibu town and Tuqiao town are at the low level,and the livelihood vulnerability index of residents in Shichuan,Dingtang and Zaojiao towns are at the high level.(4)The exposure-sensitivity of the geographical environment of small towns is the main factor affecting the livelihood vulnerability of residents in small towns.The influence of the surface slope,the distance to the main road,and the distance to the center of the county on the exposure-sensitivity of small towns is significant.(5)The lack of necessary capital in some small towns is a deep-seated reason for their livelihood vulnerability.Average per capita income has a higher impact on the livelihood vulnerability of various types of residents,and the average per capita economic output value is the main factor limiting the reduction of the livelihood vulnerability of agricultural residents and agricultural-oriented residents.The average per capita income and the proportion of non-agricultural employment have a relatively large impact on the livelihood vulnerability of non-agricultural and non-agricultural oriented residents.