SCIENTIA GEOGRAPHICA SINICA ›› 2015, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (11): 1419-1428.doi: 10.13249/j.cnki.sgs.2015.011.1419

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Environmental Effect of Tourism Waste in Ancient Town: Case Study of Zhouzhuang, Jinxi, Qiandeng

Hong ZHANG1,2(), Guo-lin HOU1,3(), Zhen-fang HUANG1, Ye-lin FANG4, Wei TU1,5   

  1. 1. College of Geographic Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
    2. Kunshan Open University, Suzhou 215300, China
    3.Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
    4. School of Business, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China
    5. Nanjing Institute of Tourism, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211100, China
  • Received:2014-06-15 Revised:2015-01-04 Online:2015-11-20 Published:2015-11-20

Abstract:

According to different life cycle stages of the three ancient towns (Zhouzhuang, Jinxi, Qiandeng), the article selects five variable indicators (waste water, excrement, solid waste, SO2 and NOx) and per capita income of monthly time series data from 2009 to 2013, uses Eviews 6.0 measurement software, and tests the environmental Kuznets curve fitting of tourism waste. The results are shown as follows. 1) There are differences between tourism waste emissions and per capita income in ancient town of different life cycle stages. The "U" curve relationship, "U" curve relationship and monotonically linear relationship existed between waste water, excrement and solid waste emissions and per capita income in the relatively mature stage of Zhouzhuang. The inflection point of "U" curve of waste water emissions is 28 197.63 t, the inflection point of "U" curve of excrement emissions is 10.82 t, and per capita income Ln(R) increased by 1%, solid waste emissions Ln(L) would increase by 0.051% of Zhouzhuang; Corresponding indicators showed the "inverted U" curve relationship, "N" type curve relationship and "N" type curve relationship in the stable development stage of Jinxi. The inflection point of "inverted U" curve of waste water emissions is 13 741.46 t, the two inflection points of "N" type curve of excrement emissions were 5.80 t and 5.54 t, the two inflection points of "N" type curve of solid waste emissions were 125.90 t and 124.81 t of Jinxi; Corresponding indicators showed the monotonically linear relationship, "inverted U" curve relationship and linear rise in the rapid development stage of Qiandeng. Per capita income Ln(R) increased by 1%, waste water emissions Ln(Ws) would increase by 0.124%, the inflection point of "inverted U" curve of excrement emissions is 12.15 t, per capita income Ln(R) increased by 1%, solid waste emissions Ln(L) would increase by 0.017% of Qiandeng; The environmental impact is small of waste gas in three ancient town. 2) One-way Granger causality relationship existed between tourism economic development and environmental quality change in the ancient towns with different life cycle stages. Per capita income was respectively the Granger cause of waste water, excrement and solid waste emissions, but waste water, excrement and solid waste emissions were not the Granger cause of per capita income in the three ancient towns. 3) The environmental impact of tourism waste are different in ancient town of different life cycle stages. Water environment index COD and NH3-N showed a trend of decline, there was no significant difference between the interannual of TP in Zhouzhuang. There were no significant differences between the interannual of COD and NH3-N in Jinxi. COD decreased significantly since 2009, NH3-N showed a trend of increase, TP showed a trend of decline in Qiandeng. 4) Strengthening tourism waste management is the key factor to realize sustainable development of ancient town tourism.

Key words: tourism waste, environmental impact, environmental Kuznets curve, tourist economy, ancient water town

CLC Number: 

  • F592.99