Study on economic value of urban land resources based on emergy and econometric theories

Extensive economic growth, waste of land resources and low land value are common problems in many cities around the world. Therefore, it is necessary to calculate the value of urban land resources reasonably. An economic value accounting model of urban land resources was constructed based on emergy and econometric theory in this study. Among them, emergy theory served natural land resources (waterbody, forest land and grassland) and economic theory served non-natural land resources (road and building land). Taking Zhengzhou City, China, as the study area, the results showed that the economic value of waterbody, forest land, grassland, road and building land in 2012 was, respectively, ¥3.08 × 1010, 9.19 × 109, 5.48 × 109, 3.07 × 1010, 2.83 × 1012. Due to the characteristic of building land, both economic value and economic density were the largest, exceeding the total value of urban natural resources. This research may provide scientific management and decision-making basis for the government to develop general plans for land use. Moreover, the value research of urban land resources is the basis and precursor for urban flood disaster assessment.