SEA on the 11th five‐year plan for national economic and social development of Wuhan City in China

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to address a pilot case study of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) on the 11th five‐year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of a city located in central China.

Design/methodology/approach

A three‐tiered evaluation process was adopted during this study. First, the resources and environmental capacities of the city were evaluated in terms of the capacities of land use, energy transportation and water resources. Second, the draft plan was examined to assess the extent of potential ecological impacts and environmental impacts on air, water, noise and the increment of solid waste, and resulted potential hazards to the proximity of new development. Following the integrated assessment, several partial evaluations were carried out to estimate the relative performance of individual elements of each module of the draft plan.

Findings

It is necessary to integrate SEA into the five‐year plan. It was recognized that some key issues should be addressed in the SEA for five‐year plan and recommended indicators should be considered in the SEA.

Originality/value

This pilot study reflects the latest progress of SEA in China in both the development of concepts and evaluation methods.

Citation

Wu, J. and Xu, H. (2007), "SEA on the 11th five‐year plan for national economic and social development of Wuhan City in China", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 340-352. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777830710731789