Abstract: Based on the establishment of an urban input-output index system,a DEA(data envelopment analysi)model for sustainable development of the urban economic-ecological-social system of Wuxi City in 2000-2007 was bulit up to appraise comprehensively the city's capability of sustainable development,to quantify differences between years in input/output ration and to evaluate effectivenss of the two input indices,environmental input and ecological consumption,separately.Results show that during the period from 2000 to 2007,the city's ecological input was quite high in efficiency compared to that of the environmental input.There was still much room for improvement in efficiency of the utilization and allocation of environmental funds.On the whole,the city followed a fairly sound track in sustainable development and was capable of maintaining sustainable development.However,Wuxi needs to further accelerate its industrial restructuing,improve the efficiency in its environmental and ecological protection,rationalize its allocation of funds,and go on promoting the construction of an ecologically inhabitable city.

Key words: sustainabale development, data envelopment analysis(DEA), ecological construction, Wuxi City