Sustainable development assessment based on ecological footprint model:a case study of six different economic zones in Jiangsu Province

The ecological footprint variations of six different economic zones in Jiangsu Province from 1999 to 2008 were researched by using modified ecological footprint model,relevant statistic data of Jiangsu Province,and GIS technology;besides,the resource utility,eco-economic coordination,and socio-economic progress trend of these economic zones were further investigated in this study.The results show that currently there is ecological deficit of different levels respectively in the six economic zones.Based on the result of ecological footprint calculation,further introducing three indexes including 10000 Yuan ecological footprint,eco-economic elastic coefficient,and sustainable capability,and considering three aspects of resource utilization,eco-economic equilibrium,and overall social economic progress,we comprehensively evaluated the sustainable development of six economic zones.Results indicated that although the development was disparate among the zones,the overall sustainable development capability of Jiangsu Province kept upgraded,revealing a sound developing trend as a whole.Finally,on the basis of the current sustainable development of Jiangsu province,a proposal on coordinating more balanced development among different regions was put forward.