Design and evaluation of ecological index for small and medium-sized cities in Yangtze River Delta

In order to strike the right balance between protection and development, we have established ecological index evaluation system and evaluated the ecological index for small and medium-sized cities of Yangtze River Delta by the entropy index method, and the driving forces of environment change and the mechanisms of their effects were revealed. The results have showed that: 1) the main driving factors affecting the environment change were air quality, urbanisation rate, income, number of vehicles, green coverage ratio; 2) the averages ecological index of 57 cities is 66.82, the average ecological index in Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui is 73.06, 66.01, 65.58, 56.21, respectively; there are significant differences in ecological indexes among regions; 3) the differences in the rankings of different sub-indexes in the same city are large, showing that each having its own advantages and disadvantages; 4) human activities have an increasing significant impact on the environment. Finally, countermeasures and suggestions for the functional maintenance were proposed. Copyright © 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.