Resources and Environment Carrying Capacity, Social Development and Their Decoupling Relationship: A Case Study of Hubei Province, China

With the rapid urbanization in recent decades, resource shortage and environmental damage have hindered the process of urban sustainable development (SD). As a yardstick of sustainable development, the evaluation of resources and environment carrying capacity (RECC) and its decoupling relationship with social comprehensive development index (SCDI) are of great significance. In this paper, RECC and SCDI are taken as research objects to establish resource and environment system evaluation index system and social comprehensive development level evaluation index system, respectively. Then, the RECC and SCDI of 17 cities in Hubei province during 2009–2018 are calculated by the projection pursuit model based on genetic algorithm, and their spatial-temporal variance characteristics are analyzed. On this basis, the RECC-SCDI Tapio decoupling model is constructed to explore the decoupling relationship between RECC and SCDI. The result shows that: (1) The RECC of Hubei shows a V-shaped development trend during 2009–2018. The SCDI of Hubei rose steadily during 2009–2018. (2) RECC in western and eastern Hubei Province is higher than that in central Hubei Province. SCDI in eastern and central Hubei Province is higher than that in the west. (3) 11 of the 17 cities in Hubei Province have got rid of excessive dependence on resources environment for social development. The study could contribute to scientific and effective policies be formulated by government to promote urban sustainable development.