Striving for efficiency,harmony and vitality─A human ecological approach to urban sustainable development

Sustainability can only be assured with a human-ecological understanding of the complexinteractions among environmental,economic and social/cultural factors and with careful planningand management grounded in ecological principles. This paper will probe an integrative methodologyfor achieving environmentally sound, economically productive, and ecologically responsibledevelopment in urban and industrial areas of China through ecological regulation. The central objec-tive is to promote highly efficient resource use rather than high speed development,harmonious sys-tem′s relationship rather than inflexible compartmentalization, and robust and vital self-organizationrather than bureaucrstic control. This ecological order is to be regulated through technological inno-vation,institutional reform, and behavioral incentives that promote positive economic dcvelopmentwhile mitigating negative environmental impacts.