The population development functional zoning in Yunnan Province using the multi-factor superposition model based on GIS

This paper visualized the calculated results of all counties´ human residential environment index (HEI), the carrying capacity indexes of land resources (LCCI) and water resources (WCCI), the human matter accumulation index (HMI), and the human development index (HDI) of Yunnan Province in China applying GIS technology at a 5 km × 5 km grid size. Based on this, this paper further divided three types of the population development functional zone (PDFZ) in Yunnan Province using the multi-factor superposition model based on GIS at county level. The results show that the largest function zone of population development is population evacuating zone (PEZ), which covers almost all of Yunnan Province, the second largest is population development stabling zone (PSZ) and the smallest is population limiting zone (PLZ), but population assembling zone (PAZ) is missing in Yunnan Province. The PSZ takes urban areas as its main type, while the PLZ takes the prohibit development areas, such as the nature reserves, forest parks, geological parks, scenic spots, and other special areas. Some strategic choices and policy proposals were given for future population development.