The study assessed how much land resources were being used in Jiangsu province compared to how much was available. By using a model called ecological footprint and data from 2008, the researchers found that in 2007, the province was using more land than it could sustain. Each person in Jiangsu used about 2.94 hectares of land, but the province could only support 0.39 hectares per person. This meant there was a deficit of 2.55 hectares per person. The deficit increased by almost 6% from the previous year, showing that the province's development was not sustainable and putting its environment at risk. The study suggested some solutions to address this ecological footprint deficit.