摘要
This paper details an application of the Water Poverty Index (WPI), a holistic tool for water resources planning and management, to evaluate the water resources situation in urban and rural areas in China. In using the WPI, we selected twelve indicators and twelve variables to reflect the situation in these areas. The results of our analysis show that WPI varies widely in both urban and rural areas, suggesting the need for location-specific policy interventions. In addition, this paper establishes a harmonious and developmental (H-D) model to analyze the water poverty situation of urban and rural areas. Using a temporal-spatial perspective, this paper analyses the causes of variation in H-D ability, and defines four levels of H-D ability through the clustering method. These research findings are intended to provide a theoretical foundation for policies to resolve conflicts of water use in the context of China’s dualistic urban and rural structure.