Abstract:

Metropolitan areas are the regions with high level of socioeconomic development, as well as dense populations. However, along with the fast growth of population size, the amount of resource consumption and pollutant emission is constantly increasing, accompanied with declining environmental capacity. These have led to a series of social problems including traffic congestion, crowded space and inequality in public service delivery. These problems have become major constraints of regional sustainable development. In order to coordinate the relationship among economic development, environment and population allocation, many countries and areas have taken different measures, such as total population control and regional regulation policies. Based on the traditional geographic zoning approach, we explored suitability zoning method of spatial population allocation, with respect to constraint and suitability of human settlement. By considering various factors (such as environment, natural resources, and socioeconomic development), we constructed an indicator system of suitability assessment of population allocation and explored the methods of unit division, indicator quantification and comprehensive assessment. The indices of suitability assessment of population allocation were calculated from a modified matrix vector model. Based on the indices, a spatial model of population allocation is constructed. Using Wuxi City as a case, the result from the optimization model showed that: the old town, which has been overpopulated and presented supersaturated environmental capacity, need to reduce its population; while the new city and development zones, are expected to be population centers in the future, due to the low population density and proper population spatial allocation. Population controlor even emigration is to be implemented in the areas along the Wangyu and Zhihu River and those in proximity to the airport, because of high ecological sensitivity and low suitability. The optimization schemeprovides an important scientific basis for coordinating among industrial development, regional population allocation and water environment protection, and for implementation of distinct population policies