Suitability analysis of ski areas in China: an integrated study based on natural and socioeconomic conditions
The successful bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics (Beijing 2022, officially known as the XXIV Olympic Winter Games) has greatly stimulated Chinese enthusiasm towards winter sports participation. Consequently, the Chinese ski industry is rapidly booming due to enormous market demand and government supp...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2149-2019 https://doaj.org/article/02616bfc99254291a582b9049f56b229 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:02616bfc99254291a582b9049f56b229 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:02616bfc99254291a582b9049f56b229 2023-05-15T18:32:24+02:00 Suitability analysis of ski areas in China: an integrated study based on natural and socioeconomic conditions J. Deng T. Che C. Xiao S. Wang L. Dai A. Meerzhan 2019-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2149-2019 https://doaj.org/article/02616bfc99254291a582b9049f56b229 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/2149/2019/tc-13-2149-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-13-2149-2019 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/02616bfc99254291a582b9049f56b229 The Cryosphere, Vol 13, Pp 2149-2167 (2019) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2149-2019 2022-12-31T11:49:11Z The successful bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics (Beijing 2022, officially known as the XXIV Olympic Winter Games) has greatly stimulated Chinese enthusiasm towards winter sports participation. Consequently, the Chinese ski industry is rapidly booming due to enormous market demand and government support. However, investing in ski areas in unreasonable locations will cause problems from an economic perspective (in terms of operation and management) as well as geographical concerns (such as environmental degradation). Therefore, evaluating the suitability of a ski area based on scientific metrics has become a prerequisite for the sustainable development of the ski industry. In this study, we evaluate the locational suitability of ski areas in China by integrating their natural and socioeconomic conditions using a linearly weighted method based on geographic information system (GIS) spatial analysis combined with remote sensing, online, and field survey data. The key indexes for evaluating natural suitability include snow cover, air temperature, topographic conditions, water resources, and vegetation, whereas socioeconomic suitability is evaluated based on economic conditions, accessibility of transportation, distance to a tourist attraction, and distance to a city. As such, metrics ranging from 0 to 1 considering both natural and socioeconomic conditions are used to define a suitability threshold for each candidate region for ski area development. A ski area is considered to be a dismal prospect when the locational integrated index is less than 0.5. The results show that 84 % of existing ski areas are located in areas with an integrated index greater than 0.5. Finally, corresponding development strategies for decision-makers are proposed based on the multicriteria metrics, which will be extended to incorporate potential influences from future climate change and socioeconomic development. However, the snowmaking model with local data should to be used to further analyze the suitability for a specific ski area. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles The Cryosphere 13 8 2149 2167 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 J. Deng T. Che C. Xiao S. Wang L. Dai A. Meerzhan Suitability analysis of ski areas in China: an integrated study based on natural and socioeconomic conditions |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The successful bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics (Beijing 2022, officially known as the XXIV Olympic Winter Games) has greatly stimulated Chinese enthusiasm towards winter sports participation. Consequently, the Chinese ski industry is rapidly booming due to enormous market demand and government support. However, investing in ski areas in unreasonable locations will cause problems from an economic perspective (in terms of operation and management) as well as geographical concerns (such as environmental degradation). Therefore, evaluating the suitability of a ski area based on scientific metrics has become a prerequisite for the sustainable development of the ski industry. In this study, we evaluate the locational suitability of ski areas in China by integrating their natural and socioeconomic conditions using a linearly weighted method based on geographic information system (GIS) spatial analysis combined with remote sensing, online, and field survey data. The key indexes for evaluating natural suitability include snow cover, air temperature, topographic conditions, water resources, and vegetation, whereas socioeconomic suitability is evaluated based on economic conditions, accessibility of transportation, distance to a tourist attraction, and distance to a city. As such, metrics ranging from 0 to 1 considering both natural and socioeconomic conditions are used to define a suitability threshold for each candidate region for ski area development. A ski area is considered to be a dismal prospect when the locational integrated index is less than 0.5. The results show that 84 % of existing ski areas are located in areas with an integrated index greater than 0.5. Finally, corresponding development strategies for decision-makers are proposed based on the multicriteria metrics, which will be extended to incorporate potential influences from future climate change and socioeconomic development. However, the snowmaking model with local data should to be used to further analyze the suitability for a specific ski area. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. Deng T. Che C. Xiao S. Wang L. Dai A. Meerzhan |
author_facet |
J. Deng T. Che C. Xiao S. Wang L. Dai A. Meerzhan |
author_sort |
J. Deng |
title |
Suitability analysis of ski areas in China: an integrated study based on natural and socioeconomic conditions |
title_short |
Suitability analysis of ski areas in China: an integrated study based on natural and socioeconomic conditions |
title_full |
Suitability analysis of ski areas in China: an integrated study based on natural and socioeconomic conditions |
title_fullStr |
Suitability analysis of ski areas in China: an integrated study based on natural and socioeconomic conditions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Suitability analysis of ski areas in China: an integrated study based on natural and socioeconomic conditions |
title_sort |
suitability analysis of ski areas in china: an integrated study based on natural and socioeconomic conditions |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2149-2019 https://doaj.org/article/02616bfc99254291a582b9049f56b229 |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 13, Pp 2149-2167 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/2149/2019/tc-13-2149-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-13-2149-2019 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/02616bfc99254291a582b9049f56b229 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2149-2019 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
2149 |
op_container_end_page |
2167 |
_version_ |
1766216522508795904 |