The paper analyzes coupling mechanisms and the evolution between industrial restructuring and environmental pollution. We empirically examined a case study from Gansu Province and found that industrial restructuring had promoted economic development but increased pressure on the environment. Given that heterogeneous industries generate different kinds of pollution, optimizing industrial structure is a feasible solution to fully realizing sustainable development.
Water shortage is an important constraint factor in the construction of the Three-North Shelterbelt （TNS）. Here, we analyzed temporal-spatial patterns in water resources and trends in the Three-North region. We evaluated the water resource carrying capacity （WRCC） of 623 counties in the project area during the fifth phase of the TNS Development Program. Results show that 387 counties are appropriate for forestation, 185 counties can be planted, and 60 counties are inappropriate for forestation because of water resource constraints.
Energy is an important production factor. When more energy is put into production activities, labor productivity increases and the economy and social development improve. Industrial structural change is an important factor that affects the growth of regional energy efficiency. In modern development, industrial structural improvement is closely related to regional energy efficiency and the status of industrial structure. Energy efficiency can together reflect a country＇s development level, sustainable development and the direction in which its economy will head. This paper discusses the contribution of industrial structural adjustment to regional energy efficiency growing with a spatial perspective. This study based on 31 mainland provinces in China, uses statistics of industrial structure and corresponding energy utilization data, adopting mathematic model and spatial analysis approaches, reveals that the 31 provinces in China differed in their contribution to industrial structural adjustment to regional energy efficiency. The outcome reflected contribution is obvious in those provinces with appropriate industrial structure and good economies or the ones developed late as well as the undeveloped middle and western provinces that are in initial stage of industrial restructuring. But that is not obvious in those provinces with the undeveloped leading industries, with weak economic basis, and with a relatively low level of industrial structure.
