Economic Boom - Blessing or Curse?

This paper focuses on the environmental impact of China's dynamic economic development and discusses the relation between the economic boom and the increasing deterioration of the environment. Hereby, models like the Environmental Kuznets Curve, Genuine Progress Indicator and the Economic Cycle are presented and put into connection with an indicator analysis. Due to the complexity of the topic as a whole, this thesis exclusively deals with the relation between economic development and the status of China's water resources. Two sample regions, Tianjin and Jiangsu province, are examined because of their representativeness in terms of water scarcity and water pollution.