1 Key laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education

ABSTRACT: The urbanization in China has a great impact on environment and the Chinese economic development. The sustainable development has been recognized as the key element to keep China’s development with success in the future. This paper uses ecological footprint and biological capacity as indicators to measure regional sustainable degree. The ecological footprint and the biological capacity of Chongqing municipality with 32 million populations have been calculated from 1999 to 2004. The ecological footprint and the biological capacity in Chongqing municipality had obvious changed from 1999 to 2004. The change degree of ecological footprint affected by social and economic development is more prominent than the change degree of biological capacity. The fossil energy land possesses the most proportion, which exceeds 50 % in average. The waste is also an important effect to ecological footprint, which achieves 21 % in proportion. The research results can inform the Chongqing municipality government in more detail to enhance the ecological and environmental protection in the balance of urban development with society, ecology, environment and resource. Key words: sustainable development, urbanization, ecological footprint, biological capacity