Author(s): Peter Treuner; She Zhixiang

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Keywords: No Keywords

Abstract: There is a growing consciousness of the necessity to consider more seriously all aspects concerning natural resources, and especially all water-related aspects, in the context of preparing regional planning decisions in general, and of land use decisions in particular. However, the manifold inter-relations between the functioning of a concrete water system and the human activities within the area of such a system cannot yet be considered in a sufficiently systematic way, due to the persisting lack of methods of integration, despite the knowledge available in each of the relevant disciplines. The challenge to overcome the traditional disciplinary boundaries and to further interdisciplinary co-operation and integration is to be considered a necessity of greatest urgency with regard to recent developments in many of the fast growing urban areas of the world, and of the cities in the most fertile landscapes of East China in particular, where natural resources are being used and often destroyed to a great extent.“Sustainable development” that aims at preserving the natural resources, on the one hand, while satisfying immediate economic and social needs, on the other, has become the generally accepted overall objective of development world-wide, and this requires methods that can contribute to finding the best possible compromises between these competing objectives which lead to many real conflicts.

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Year: 2001