Evaluation of Green Cities in the Drainage Area of China’s Beijing–Hangzhou Canal

• Main Authors: Fei Shi, Yuanyuan Lu, Fan Wu, Chengxiang Wang, Wei-Ling Hsu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Water
• Subjects: green city; sustainable development; evaluation indicators
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/16/2145

The phrase ‘green cities’ refers to an idealised and modernised urban development model that features harmonious development among the environment, ecology, society, culture, and the inhabitants of a city. Harmonious humanistic relations and green pathways have become predominant models in modern urban development. Green city construction has drawn considerable attention. However, the construction and development of green cities involves numerous problems. The various needs of different populations must be coordinated to foster the green development of a city. In this study, the analytic hierarchy process was used to classify factors related to green city construction into different levels. The scope of the empirical verification was eight cities alongshore the drainage area of the Jiangsu section of the Beijing–Hangzhou Canal. Data from 2009, 2014, and 2019 were selected for analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed using these data, and standards were established to serve as a reference for city administrators in the process of decision-making regarding green city construction.