Appraisal of ecological carrying capacity of regional urban-rural system aiming at Ecological Province — A case study of Hainan Province

As the development is the mainline of ecological carrying capacity connotation evolution, it is vital to incorporate regional development into ecological carrying capacity research. This can enhance legislation of regional development policies for coordinated regional urban-rural development, environment protection and construction. In this paper, an evaluation index system was developed base on element characteristics and driver-mechanism of the regional urban-rural system to assess its ecological carrying capacity. The factor analysis method was applied, and Hainan Province, the first defined Ecological Province by the State Environment Protection Administration of China, for the period of 1996~2007 was as a case study. The results indicate an obvious fluctuation of the ecological carrying capacity of the regional urban-rural system in Hainan Province for 1996~2007. Ecological carrying capacity is relatively high for 1996, hitting the lowest level in 1998, and then generally steadily increases since the 21st century. Policy factors, especially Ecological Province strategy implementation, are important drivers of ecological carrying capacity in the region. Urban-rural system ecological carrying capacity of the province is remarkably promoted by socio-economic development, especially the economic growth and technology application. The province should seize advantage of the special economic zone policies. Moreover, eco-agriculture, eco-tourism and eco-industrial models should be emphasized in the region. Only in these ways would there be rapid economic and societal development as well as higher regional ecological carrying capacity in Hainan Province.