Author(s): Y. F. Huang; G. H. Huang; I. Maqsood; Yongyuan Yin
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: User choices; Sustainable development; River basin; Decision system
Abstract: Long-term integrated river basin planning is the key factor to achieve sustainable development of social-economic, environment and ecology of a river basin. As an alternative to traditional predictive approach to modeling the river basin development, the decision system proposed in this study does not rely exclusively on prediction, but simulates desired futures in order to evaluate various paths of region development. The decision support system (DSS) encourages thinking about sustainability by actually placing a user in the position of making decisions that impinge upon river basin development, and displaying the consequences of these decisions in an easy to understand way. In user input interface level, the user’s perspective related to behavioural change, advancement technological, and ecological resilience is determined. The sub-models in second level include urban growth submodel, macroeconomy submodel, government submodel, energy submodel, cost of living submodel, agriculture submodel, land use submodel, fisheries submodel, and water submodel. In the third level, the figures and tables can be displayed to show the users the consequences of their choices. Therefore, the decision system allows users to construct and evaluate future development strategy of socio-economic, environmental and ecological, and to explore the feasibility and implications of these alternatives. In this study, the developed modeling system will be applied for the regional development planning of the Xiangjiang River basin, which is the largest river basin in Hunan province, China.
Year: 2002