Abstract: Lingdingyang Bay at Pearl River Estuary has seen rapid development in recent years. It has such megalopoli as Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen along the banks and is recently defined as the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area”. This strategy will certainly greatly improve the economic status and development speed of Lingdingyang Bay at Pearl River Estuary, which in turn will greatly speed up the development of the greater Pearl River Delta (PRD). Focusing on how national and regional economic development policies enhance the advantages of the geographical locations surrounding Lingdingyang Bay and taking into the evolution characteristics of its natural history, this paper discusses the series of issues during the development of Lingdingyang Bay caused by rapid land reclaiming from the sea by building dykes and the predominant effects of human effects in landform evolution. The following conclusions are drawn: 1) Too rapid land reclaiming will surely speed up the change of Lingdingyang Bay to Lingdingyang Bend; 2) foundation settlement issues are emerging in the newly reclaimed area, which will bring hidden dangers to the natural environment of the region; 3) reduction in tidal prism caused by land reclaiming weakens tidal power, which has important effects on brackish aquaculture, river and stream sedimentation and sewage discharge, etc.; 4) the deterioration of eco-environment will have irreversible effects on regional biodiversity. Taking together, it is suggested that the development and management of Lingdingyang Bay at Pearl River Estuary be planned from the perspective of “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” and attention be paid to the macro-dispatch, scientific research first, and ecology first of the central government layer so as to build the region into a new “growth pole”.

Key words: estuary evolution, reclaiming land from the sea by building dykes, tidal prism, Pearl River Estuary, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Lingdingyang Bay