Balancing conservation and development in Winter Olympic construction: evidence from a multi-scale ecological suitability assessment

Optimizing spatial patterns of land development and minimizing the ecological impact of concentrated construction is the key to realizing regionally sustainable development. The reasonable assessment of the ecological effects of the Winter Olympic construction on areas where the mountainous ecosystem is ecologically sensitive and vulnerable is urgent for responsible urban and regional development. Here, we assess the multi-scale suitability of ecologically compatible development in Winter Olympic regions using the ecological suitability assessment method based on GIS spatial analysis. We found the Chongli District had relatively high ecological structure and function resistances at a basin scale and that the towns where Olympic facilities located also had larger ecological resistance. The integrated suitability assessment showed the prior and moderate zones for suitable large-scale development and utilization in Chongli were smaller than those in other counties. The total loss area of natural ecological systems (forests, shrubs and meadows) for a new ski resort is 117.27 hm(2), which will lead to ecosystem function loss such as water and soil conservation and will potentially impact ecological systems. This research will be a useful reference for exploring the multi-scale balancing of conservation and development for Winter Olympic regions, and in turn, for concentrated global constructions.