Diagnosis and preventive treatment of impacts of human activities on nitrogen balance of urban ecosystem

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25340122
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Design and evaluation of sustainable and environmental conscious system
• Research Institution: Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (2014-2015); Nagoya University (2013)
• Principal Investigator: Chen LIU 公益財団法人地球環境戦略研究機関, その他部局等, 研究員 (70425495)
• Research Collaborator: WANG Qinxue 国立環境研究所, 地域環境研究センター, 主席研究員 ; Yoshitsugu Hayashi 名古屋大学, 大学院環境学研究科附属持続的共発展教育研究センター, センター長 ; Yasunari Tetsuzo 大学共同利用機関法人人間文化研究機構, 総合地球環境学研究所, 所長
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 都市化 / 窒素収支 / 水環境 / 生活・生産スタイル / 中国大都市

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The objectives of this study are to diagnose and prevent environmental problems that threaten urban sustainability, the impact of changes in lifestyle (diet, domestic sanitation, and motorization), and production style (agriculture, industry, and services) with the rapid urbanization on regional nitrogen (N) flows, and the water environment was quantitatively evaluated. The mega-city Shanghai and Peking in China was chosen as a case study to investigate the temporal changes in nitrogen flow during 1980 and 2008 by a multidisciplinary approach (a field survey, a regional nitrogen mass balance model, input-output analysis, etc.). Although the total potential of nitrogen load and water pollution problems seem to have improved, the problem has shifted and expanded to affect a wider area through the food/product chain and water/air movement. Further effective solutions that aim at material cycles are necessary and have to be implemented on a large scale.

Free Research Field

環境学