Abstract:
A quantitative study was undertaken to examine ecological footprint and ecological safety of Weinan City of Shaanxi Province,China,from 1985 to 2003.Per capita ecological footprint of Weinan gradually increases from 1.3792hm
2 in 1985 to 2.3516hm
2 in 2003.Per capita ecological capacity is between 0.4726hm
2 and 0.5917hm
2.An increase in per capita ecological deficit is noted from 0.8423hm
2 in 1985 to 1.8291hm
2 in 2003.Ecological tension index increases from 0.82 in 1985 to 1.29 in 2003.Ecological occupancy index increases from 0.63 to 1.08 over the same period with an ecological economic coordination index range of 0.58~0.88.Results show the current development model of Weinan to be unsustainable with ecological environment being at risk.Also,socio-economic development does not match ecological capacity.