Evaluation Of The Middle And Lower Reaches Of The Yangtze River Mainstream Coastline Resources

Water-front resources, situated in the interface of river and land, is one of the most important land resources in China. Whilst there are few practical studies reported, especially theoretical studies. Supported by the '95' Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences, this dissertation discusses the theory and methods on evaluating water-front resources by analyzing typical water-resources along the lower and middle reaches of Yangtze River. It can be mainly divided into three parts: In first part,based on the discussion and analysis to the basic concepts, natural attributes and using-types, this paper illustrates the common definition and utilization classification of water-front resource, presents the basic programme and main steps of resource elevation, and then founds the principal theory of water-front resource research. In second part,at first by mean of geography information system(GIS), the total water-front resource are investigated and the lengths of various water-front types are measured. Secondly, the evaluation to nature setting and the exploration conditions of 300 sections are conducted by GIS tools, statistic methods and synthetic analysis, and then some suggestions on water-front utilization are presented. Thirdly, the water-front resource information system of the lower and middle reaches of Yangtze River is set up,which includes the databases of the water-front resources and port resources. Finally, based on the theory and methods of port-geography,ports scheme and port-group division are put forward. In third part,the author draws some conclusions: (1) There are not many high quality water-front resources because of the affection of stability and depth of the water-front resources. (2) The evident distinction appears in attributes, classification and area characters, which result in non-balance of areal water-front utilizations. (3) Therefore, more considerations should be paid to the assessment of the water-front resources, and the harness and protection measures should be strengthened by multi-mode utilization (mainly including port, industry, storage, tourism, etc.). At last, the author puts forward to measures of exploring the water-front resources along the lower and middle reaches of Yangtze River, that is, protection in whole, harnessing in stress, exploration step by step, union between north and south and co-operation among regions. These are the foundation of sustainable utilization to the water-front resources along the lower and middle reaches of Yangtze River.