Assessing the sustainability of socio-economic boundaries in China: a downscaled “safe and just space” framework

Abstract

AbstractThis study constructs a downscaled “safe and just space” framework consisting of 13 processes to evaluate China’s sustainability status of socio-economic sphere in 2020, with a focus on the impact of COVID-19. To minimize subjectivity in threshold setting, the study adopts the expected targets outlined in the national and sectorial official documents of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan. The results show that while overall employment and income have achieved satisfactory thresholds without deprivation, issues such as youth unemployment and wealth disparity have deteriorated. Social inequality and lack of trust remain prevalent despite high levels of self-reported life satisfaction. Developed areas exhibit a significantly higher average life expectancy than developing areas do, and gender imbalance persists as a chronic issue. The severity of energy deprivation compared with water is highlighted. In addition, this study confirms the validity of Hu Huanyong Line in dividing the spatial pattern of socio-economic sustainability status in China, as all the provinces meeting more than eight thresholds are located in the eastern part of the country. Based on these findings, the interactions between the socio-economic processes as well as their resilient behaviors to climate change under the COVID-19 impact are discussed. Finally, the study suggests future research directions to enhance the theoretical and methodological defects of the framework.