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Regional Integration and Sustainable Development in the Yangtze River Delta, China: Towards a Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda

Author

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  • Jiawei Wu

    (Key Laboratory of Watershed Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China)

  • Wei Sun

    (Key Laboratory of Watershed Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China)

Abstract

Understanding the interactions between the human sphere and the natural sphere in key places and regions of the world is crucial for promoting sustainability science and achieving sustainable development. As one of the emerging global city-regions in China and the Global South, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) plays an increasingly nonnegligible role in the globalized economy and telecoupling social-ecological systems (SESs). Considering the well-known importance and representativeness, the YRD has been regarded as an appropriate experimental site of integrated research on geographical and sustainability science at the subnational scale. This paper tries to establish theoretical and practical linkages between regional integration and sustainable development at the subnational scale based on the sustainable development goals (SDGs), the Chinese contexts, and a literature review of relevant researches. We argue that future research should pay more attention to the interdisciplinary, transregional, and multi-scale attributes of issues related to regional integrated and sustainable development in the YRD. The following research agendas, such as linking SDGs to regional integrative development, analyzing the sustainability of regional SESs, assessing the integrated region at the subnational scale, investigating the YRD at different geographical scales, exploring applicable governance structures and institutions, as well as applying multi-source data and interdisciplinary methodologies, call for more scholarly attention. We hope that this paper could be an initial motion to expand and enrich relevant research.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiawei Wu & Wei Sun, 2023. "Regional Integration and Sustainable Development in the Yangtze River Delta, China: Towards a Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-20, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:470-:d:1067558
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Qikai Lu & Tiance Lv & Sirui Wang & Lifei Wei, 2023. "Spatiotemporal Variation and Development Stage of CO 2 Emissions of Urban Agglomerations in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-20, August.

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