Abstract: The waterfront resources along the Yangtze River are precious natural resources. It is important for the sustainable utilization of the waterfront resources to arrange the functions reasonably, such as port, manufacture, city life and ecological protection function, according to the natural condition, predefined principles and the suitability of each part of the waterfront. The function division of the waterfront resources should be based on the following principles: ensuring sustainable development, deciding the use according to the depth of the water, combining the intensive arrangement and inland development reasonably, harmonizing the use modes between the upper and lower reaches, the left and right banks, and making the intensity and schedule of the exploitation adapting to the development stage of the city and industry. To make the function division of the waterfront, the first step is to divide the evaluation unit, the second is to evaluate the waterfront resources conditions, the third is to analyze the status and demand of the waterfront utilization, and the last step is to study the suitability of each part of the waterfront resources and finish the function division. The paper introduced the resource evaluation process based on RS and GIS, and expatiated the suitability analysis method by constructing the uniontable. By these methods, the paper works out the function division of the waterfront resources of the Yangtze River within Nantong City.

Key words: the waterfront resources of the Yangtze River, function division, method