A Comparative Study on Water and Land Resources Restriction in Urban Agglomerations of Beijing -Tianjin- Hebei, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta

Detailed comparative studies on the three urban agglomerations with their resources and development were rare. Here, we performed comparative studies on water and land resources restriction (WLRR) from the perspective of relationship among water resources, land resources, and urbanization with their spatiotemporal patterns of the three UAs in China, i.e., Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Pearl River Delta (PRD). Results showed that: The three UAs were suffering from WLRR, and the highly concentrated population and social and economic activities changed the natural resources restriction circumstances; Among the three UAs, a gradual decreasing trend of WLRR showed from north to south, with BTH the highest (40.62), followed by YRD (29.40) and PRD (24.68), mainly affected by WRR; WRR from high to low was BTH (63.92), YRD (24.29), then PRD (8.99), yet LRR from PRD (70.17), then YRD (39.26), to BTH (32.85), respectively; Spatial agglomeration was the main characteristics of WRR, LRR, and WLRR of the three UAs, yet with different spatial distribution patterns; Tran-regional-food allocation and strengthening water resources protection and pollution treatment, advocating and water-saving social construction were necessary solutions to improve WLRR of the three UAs.