img

Wechat

Adv search

Journal of Desert Research ›› 2025, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (5): 194-208.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00105

Previous Articles    

Measurement of safe and just operating space for sustainable development of natural-social systems in provinces and autonomous region in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin

Feng Chen(), Xiangyu Qu   

  1. College of Resources and Environment,Shanxi University of Finance and Economics,Taiyuan 030006,China
  • Received:2025-02-19 Revised:2025-07-03 Online:2025-09-20 Published:2025-09-27

Abstract:

The middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin are an important economic core area and growth pole in China. However, the safe boundaries for the sustainable development of key elements of its nature-social system remain unclear. The application of the Safe and Just Operating Space (SJOS) theory is expected to provide a novel assessment perspective for the sustainable development of this region. This study is based on the SJOS theory, taking the four provinces and autonomous region in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Shaanxi Province, Shanxi Province, and Henan Province) as the research objects. Using environmental monitoring and socio-economic data available from 1990 to 2023, an indicator system for measuring the natural social systems in the region was constructed to assess the SJOS for sustainable development in the study area. The grey prediction model was used to judge its development trend. The results showed that the SJOS of the four provinces and autonomous region in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin showed an overall positive trend in time series, and the current ranking of sustainability in the four provinces and autonomous region from best to worst is: Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region>Shanxi Province>Shaanxi Province>Henan Province. However, currently there are still 29 indicators in the four provinces and autonomous region that have exceeded the threshold. The correlation analysis and prediction results show that there are a total of 6 key factors affecting SJOS in the region. Two natural systems, namely fertilizer usage and freshwater utilization; Four social systems, namely industrial innovation, gender equality, sustainable cities, and decent work and economic growth. In short, the natural-social systems in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin are currently facing many challenges, but it still has great potential for sustainable development.

Key words: the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin, natural-social systems, sustainable development, safe and just operating space

CLC Number: