The comprehensive evaluation on resource environmental bearing capacity of central cities in the Yellow River Delta-A case study on Dongying City

Dongying City, which is the most important central city in the Yellow River Delta, is located in the estuary of the Yellow River. With a short land formation time, ecological environment is very weak in this area. To realize the sustainable economic development of the Yellow River Delta, resource environment and resource environmental bearing capacity (REBC) must be improved. This study builds assessment system of regional REBC through resource and economic characteristics in Yellow River Delta and uses principal component analysis (PCA) method to evaluate REBC of five counties and districts in Dongying City in 2011-2015 on the dimensions of time and space. Results show that, on the time dimension, Guangrao County is ranked first, Dongying district second for four years and Hekou and Kenli districts with lower ranks in 2012-2015, indicating that more attention needs to be paid to REBC of Hekou and Dongying districts and these two districts should be included into key monitoring areas. From space scale, REBC in five counties and districts has been gradually improving. In order to further develop REBC in Dongying City, measures such as intensifying protection of urban ecological environment and developing circular economy, etc. should be implemented.