A Production–Living–Ecological Space Model for Land-Use Optimisation: A case study of the core Tumen River region in China

Spatial-temporal pattern of change in production-living-ecological space of Nanchong City from 2000 to 2020 and underlying factors

This study analyzed the spatial-temporal change pattern and underlying factors in production-living-ecological space (PLES) of Nanchong City, China, over the past 20 years using historical land use data (2000, 2010, 2020). A land use transfer matrix was calculated from the historical land use maps, and spatial analysis was conducted to analyze changes in the land use dynamics degree, standard deviation ellipse, and center of gravity. The results showed that there was a rapid spatial evolution of the PLES in Nanchong from 2000 to 2010, followed by a stabilization in the second decade. The transfer of ecological-production space occurred mainly in the Jialing and Yilong River basins, while the reduction of production space and the increase of living space were most prominent in the intersection of three districts (Shunqing, Jialing, and Gaoping districts). The return of production-ecological space was observed in the south and northeast of Yingshan, and there was little notable transfer of other types. The distribution of production space in Nanchong evolved in a north-south to east-west trend, with the center of gravity moving from Yilong to Peng'an County. The living space and production space expanded in a north-south direction, and the center of gravity position was in Nanbu, indicating a more balanced growth or decrease in the last 20 years. The changes in the spatial-temporal pattern of PLES in Nanchong were attributed to the intertwined factors of national policies, economic development, population growth, and the natural environment. This study introduced a novel approach towards rational planning of land resources in Nanchong, which may facilitate more sustainable urban planning and development.

Urban human settlements' resilience measurement and characteristics and their mechanism model in China

This study introduces the principle of resilience into the study of human settlements. In this study, a comprehensive evaluation model of urban human settlements' resilience based on the provincial region of China was constructed using the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response framework. The spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of urban human settlements' resilience was explored. The influencing factors were analysed by geographical detectors, and the driving mechanism was constructed. Results show that the following. (1) The resilience level of human settlements in China continued to increase, and the resilience level of each province and city changed significantly. The overall clustering effect showed a tendency to fluctuate and weaken. The distribution of cold spot areas became less and less, and the hot spots were moving from northeast China to southeast China. (2) Significant differences existed in the intensity of the impact of different indicators on the resilience system. The value of the impact factor showed an overall upward trend, and the number of key impact factors increased. (3) Improving the ability of scientific and technological innovation, accelerating the transformation and upgrading of the regional economy, increasing the training of talents and making financial inclination in scientific and technological development and industrial pollution control were all important ways for developing and maintaining the resilience of urban human settlements. This study not only introduces a new evaluation of urban human settlements from the perspective of resilience but also explores key impact indices and driving mechanisms, which provides new ideas for studying urban human settlements.

Research on the evolution and the driving forces of land use classification for production, living, and ecological space in China's Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve from 2000 to 2020

With the rapid development of the economy, problems such as resource depletion, environmental degradation, and increasingly strained human-land relations have become increasingly prominent. The rational layout of the production, living, and ecological spaces is the basis for solving the contradiction between economic development and environmental protection. This paper analyzed the spatial distribution pattern and evolution characteristics of the Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve based on the theory of production, living, and ecological space. The results show that the production and living function indexes are rising. The most advantaged areas are in the northern part of the research area, where the terrain is flat and transportation is convenient. The ecological function index rises, falls, then rises again. The high-value area is located in the south of the study area, and its ecological function is intact. The study area is dominated by ecological space. During the study period, the area of production space increased by 858.5 km² and the living space area increased by 341.12 km². The intensification of human activities has separated the continuity of ecological space. The area of ecological space has decreased by 233.68 km². Among geographical factors, altitude has a significant impact on the evolution of living space. Population density is the main socioeconomic factor in changing the areas of production space and ecological space. This study is expected to provide a reference basis for land use planning and sustainable development of resources and environment in nature reserves.

Spatial Simulation of Land-Use Development of Feixi County, China, Based on Optimized Productive–Living–Ecological Functions

Rural revitalization places higher demands on the productive–living–ecological (P-L-E) spaces of towns and cities. It is necessary, therefore, to identify, evaluate, and optimize P-L-E spaces to better guide spatial planning. Existing studies typically evaluate a single space, lacking a comprehensive consideration of whole-area integration. This study, therefore, developed a coupled spatial/developmental suitability evaluation system for Feixi County, Anhui Province, China, combining spatial quality evaluation, a coupled coordination model, and future land-use simulation (FLUS) model. The spatial quality of Feixi County in 2010, 2015, and 2020 was obtained by applying the evaluation system to the spatial development pattern. The results were analyzed and verified using the landscape pattern index and development suitability evaluation. The results showed the following: (1) The coupling coordination degree of the region increased from 0.131 to 0.372, changing from low to moderate coordination. (2) Based on the FLUS model to better capture the uncertainty and stochastic basis of the development in the study area. The kappa coefficient and Figure of Merit (FoM) index of the land-use simulation accuracy verification index were 0.7647 and 0.0508, respectively, and the logistic regression ROC values were above 0.75, thus meeting accuracy requirements. This demonstrated that the simulation model—based on a factor library of the evaluation of resource and environmental carrying capacity and suitability for development and construction—could better reflect future land-use changes. (3) The simulation showed that under the baseline development scenario, the area’s spatial layout is too concentrated in terms of construction land, ignoring P-L-E coordination. Under the ecological optimization scenario, high-quality ecological space is ensured, but other types of spaces are lacking. Under the comprehensive guidance scenario, lagging ecological space is optimized and P-L-E spatial development is enhanced through aggregation, clustering, concentration and integration. This way, the spatial quantity structure and distribution form can meet P-L-E spatial development needs in Feixi County. In this study, on the basis of scientific assessment of the current P-L-E space, the FLUS model was applied to carry out a scenario simulation according to different objectives. Moreover, based on the construction of the coupling system of human–nature system, the driving factors were improved to enhance the prediction accuracy of the FLUS model. This study’s findings can help improve the scientificity, flexibility and management efficiency of Feixi County’s P-L-E spatial layout, thereby supporting its sustainable development.

Analysis of Settlement Space Environment along China’s Grand Canal Tianjin Section Based on Structural Equation Model—Case Study of 44 Typical Settlements

The settlement space along China’s Grand Canal is an important part of cultural heritage, boasting high value of conservation and inheritance as a museum of local culture in an active state. The paper is aimed at revealing the current situation and satisfaction with the settlement space environment along China’s Grand Canal Tianjin Section from the perspective of resident perception. We set up a structural equation model to perform an empirical analysis of the inherent relation of the components of the settlement space environment along China’s Grand Canal Tianjin Section and the inherent law influencing its current state. The research results show that the ecological factor of life along China’s Grand Canal exerted a positive influence on the ecological factor of production and the path coefficient was 0.344. The ecological factor of life and the factor of accessibility were in a relation of positive influence and the former had the most prominent influence on the latter, with a path coefficient of 0.534, while the path coefficient of the influence of the latter on the former was 0.131. The factor of social culture exerted a positive influence on the ecological factor of life, with the path coefficient being 0.765. The research conclusion analyzed the realistic difficulties of the settlement space environment along China’s Grand Canal, revealed the inherent law between different surveyed factors and provided basic reference for feature extraction, evaluation and optimized development of the settlement space along China’s Grand Canal.

Land Use Change and Its Driving Factors in the Rural–Urban Fringe of Beijing: A Production–Living–Ecological Perspective

Production–Living–Ecological Space (PLES) is a useful tool to identify land use status patterns and optimize land resource allocation. In this study, the spatial econometric model was chosen to analyze the driving factors of land use change in Chaoyang District, part of the rural–urban fringe in Beijing, from the perspective of PLES evolution, from 2005 to 2020. The results showed the following: (1) Production Space (PS) to Living-Non-Farm Production Space (LNPS) has been the most significant conversion process of PLES since 2005, making LNPS the PLES type with the highest proportion in the study area. (2) With the spatial order from near-to-far from the city center, the scale of PS was reduced and concentrated, Ecological Space (ES) was formed in a green belt at the periphery of Beijing, Eco-Agricultural Production Space (EAPS) and Living-Agricultural Production Space were rapidly reduced, and LNPS was rapidly expanded in the point-line-plane order. (3) The PS to LNPS conversion was mainly driven by economic development and industrial structure upgrades, while the PS to ES conversion was mainly due to the distribution of population density and also industrial structures. The conversion of EAPS to LNPS was driven by the increase of the urbanization rate and economic growth. This study confirmed the policy-driven effect of the conversion from PS to ES. Due to the “Concentric Circle” spatial structure of Beijing, the conversion of PLES is generally related to the distance from the city center.

Spatial Transformation Characteristics and Conflict Measurement of Production-Living-Ecology: Evidence from Urban Agglomeration of China

The land development by human beings has changed from the initial small-scale and low-level transformation to the comprehensive utilization of large-scale and high-intensity implementations. The contradiction between production-living-ecology space (PLES) has become increasingly prominent while drawing land dividends. As one of the important birthplaces of Chinese civilization and the ecological barrier in the northern region, the rapid urbanization and industrialization of the Yellow River Basin (YRB) make the ecological environment very fragile, and the imbalance of land and space development is extremely serious. Therefore, according to the multifunctional characteristics of land use, this paper establishes a classification system of production space (PS), living space (LS) and ecology space (ES), and discusses the spatiotemporal evolution and conflict distribution characteristics of the PLES with the help of the transfer matrix and spatial conflict index (SCI). The results are as follows. In 1990–2020, agricultural production space (APS), grassland ecology space (GES) and other ecology space (OES) yielded the largest proportion of PLES in the YRB. However, compared with 1990, the area of these spatial types decreased in 2020, while the urban living space (ULS) expanded rapidly. The distribution pattern of PLES was generally consistent, and the transformation between PLES in Ningxia, central Inner Mongolia, Loess Plateau and downstream areas was relatively intense. The conflict index of PLES showed an upward trend, but it was generally in a controllable range. The stable and controllable areas were concentrated in the upstream of the urban agglomeration, and the midstream and downstream were basic out of control and seriously out of control, respectively.

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Regional Differences in the Production-Living-Ecological Space of the Urban Agglomeration in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River

The urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, which is the second largest urban agglomeration in China, represents a typical land space range of ecological vulnerability in China. Large differences occur in economic development mode between resource- and non-resource-based cities in this basin area. Accurate identification of the evolution and regional differences in the production-living-ecological space (PLES) is very important in order to elucidate the development and utilization of land space in the region. At present, relevant research has largely focused on the classification and determination of PLES temporal and spatial patterns. Temporal and spatial pattern research has mainly considered a single scale of administrative division, whereas fewer studies have analyzed the temporal and spatial patterns and regional differences in the PLES in ecologically fragile natural watersheds. Therefore, based on PLES classification, the regional differences in the PLES between two types of cities in the basin are measured via the Theil index and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA). First, the ecological space (ES) of these two types of cities in the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River is compressed by the production space (PS) and living space (LS), in which the ES of resource-based cities is compressed for a longer period, and the phenomenon involving PS compression by the LS and ES mainly occurs in non-resource-based cities within the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Second, the PLES of these two types of cities exhibits the characteristics of spatial aggregation, and high- and low-density areas of the PLES remain relatively stable. Third, the regional differences in the PLES of the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River mainly originate from intraregional differences. The PLES of these two types of cities in the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River is more sensitive to changes in economic development than to those in the population distribution.

Optimizing the Production-Living-Ecological Space for Reducing the Ecosystem Services Deficit

With rapid urbanization and industrialization, China’s metropolises have undergone a huge shift in land use, which has had a profound impact on the ecological environment. Accordingly, the contradictions between regional production, living, and ecological spaces have intensified. The study of the optimization of production-living-ecological space (PLES) is crucial for the sustainable use of land resources and regional socio-economic development. However, research on the optimization of land patterns based on PLES is still being explored, and a unified technical framework for integrated optimization has yet to be developed. Ecosystem services (ES), as a bridge between people and nature, provide a vehicle for the interlinking of elements of the human-land system coupling. The integration of ES supply and demand into ecosystem assessments can enhance the policy relevance and practical application of the ES concept in land management and is also conducive to achieving ecological security and safeguarding human well-being. In this study, an integrated framework comprising four core steps was developed to optimize the PLES in such a way that all ecosystem services are in surplus as far as possible. It was also applied to a case study in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin. A regression analysis between ES and PLES was used to derive equilibrium thresholds for the supply and demand of ES. The ternary phase diagram method was used to determine the direction and magnitude of the optimization of the PLES, and finally, the corresponding optimization recommendations were made at different scales.

Functional Assessment and Coordination Characteristics of Production, Living, Ecological Function-A Case Study of Henan Province, China

Multifunctional state assessment was the basis of time sequence design of territory spatial development and overall utilisation. This study aimed to identify the ecological-production-living (PLE) territory spatial function to provide a basis for territory spatial planning. It took Henan Province as the research area. This study developed a methodology to assess differentiation characteristics for PLE function, a method that integrates functional merging and geographic information technology. We used the coordination degree model and spatial autocorrelation analysis to reveal the coordination of spatial functions of the province. The results were as follows: (1) During the study period, the land production function of main grain-producing areas decreased slowly, and production and living function values of the Central Plains urban agglomeration with Zhengzhou as the centre were in an upward trend. The characteristics of urban-rural dualization were prominent, and ecological function value decreased year by year. (2) The laws of territorial spatial functions had different manifestations in different stages (1990–2005 and 2005–2018). By different characteristic laws, the change in production function in the later period was bigger than that in the previous period. The living function maintained a good continuity expansion characteristic before and after. The spatial regularity distribution characteristics of ecological function were weak, and the overall environment became worse than before. (3) The territory space of middle and low coordination function types was the most important type, and the aggregation was relatively weak. Xuchang County and Weihui City showed better states of functional coordination aggregation. Lushi County, Xinxian County, and Shangcheng County, which were in the western and southern mountainous and hilly areas, showed low-low aggregation characteristics. Thus, the government will strengthen targeted control over territorial space. This study provides a reference for the overall deployment of the development and utilisation of territory space in Henan Province.

Spatial Pattern Change and Ecosystem Service Value Dynamics of Ecological and Non-Ecological Redline Areas in Nanjing, China

Ecological conservation red line (ECRL) is gaining increasing academic attention as delimiting the minimum space scope of ecological protection and the bottom line of ecological security. Taking Nanjing as a case study, we divided the territory into ecological and non-ecological redline areas (ERAs and NERAs, respectively). This paper highlights two key research issues based on the 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2018 annual remote sensing data: (i) quantitative analysis of the Ecological Redline Policy (ERP) validity by conducting a horizontal comparison of the ERAs and NERAs; and (ii) exploration of the land-use transitions and spatial pattern changes affecting ecosystem service value (ESV). Results showed that delineating ECRL could effectively slow down the decline rate of ESV. The trend of eco-quality deterioration was greater than eco-quality improvement in Nanjing, presenting an ESV that declined slightly in the whole. According to our findings, we suggest that reasonably increasing eco-lands (woodland and water area) and decreasing construction land will enhance the regional ESV. Meanwhile, promoting the transition from production space to ecological space and depressing the encroachment of living space on other space types, will be instrumental in mitigating the ESV decline. The results of this study are expected to provide valuable implications for spatial planning and sustainable development in Nanjing.

The Role of Land Use Transition on Industrial Pollution Reduction in the Context of Innovation-Driven: The Case of 30 Provinces in China

With the world calling for environmental protection, China has to follow an innovation-driven development path in order to achieve its own high-quality and sustainable development. During this period, the problem of inefficient land use resulting from rapid progress in urbanisation is difficult to ignore. This study uses data from 30 provinces in mainland China to analyse the environmental protection effects of land use transition towards innovation-driven development, using spatial econometric models and entropy method. The results show that the innovation-oriented land use transition in four dimensions, human capital, material capital, urban function and government, is conducive to reducing industrial pollution emissions in the region, but this effect does not have a spillover effect. The results of this study provide some insights into the “triple-win” (environmental protection, innovation and land-use optimisation) approach to economic development in China.