City profile: Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a water tower city toward sustainability

• Published in: Cities 2023-03, Vol.134, p.104198, Article 104198
• Main Authors: Yang, Zhongqi, Xue, Bin, Liu, Bingsheng, Tian, Junfeng, Sun, Xinzhang, Huo, Qing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture; Policy evaluation; Urban sustainability; Water tower cities
• ISSN: 0264-2751; 1873-6084
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2023.104198

Protecting water tower cities benefits human life, global ecosystems, and the development of agriculture and industry. Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a typical water tower city, is an important water conservation area on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This paper outlines the history of Hainan and demonstrates how different policies influence the development of its environment, economy, and society. To date, Hainan has made full use of climate and natural resources and cultural advantages to establish a model of sustainability in which economic, social, and cultural development dimensions have interactive relationships. The Hainan model can be described as a development path, which can be generalized to a universal version, the water tower cities model, that can be applied to other water tower cities, including “pan-third pole” areas worldwide. The model encourages water tower cities to deeply tap into the unique advantages of urban geographical and cultural development as the driving force of urban economic, social and environmental dimensions. Thus, high altitude, river resources, and other unique characteristics have mutual effects, which will underpin the movement of the water tower city toward more sustainable development. •Hainan Prefecture, water source of high-altitude mountains, is a water tower city.•How Hainan Prefecture achieves sustainable development is examined.•Transforming urban characteristics to endogenous power can enhance sustainability.•Urban sustainability relies on mutual supports from various industries.•An urban sustainability model for water tower cities is proposed.