Coupling and Coordination Level of the Population, Land, Economy, Ecology and Society in the Process of Urbanization: Measurement and Spatial Differentiation

Coupling coordination of new urbanization in Chinese urban agglomeration-characteristics and driving factors

The coordinated development of new urbanization (NU) in urban agglomerations (UAs) is key for promoting sustainable urban development and the way to achieve Chinese-style modernization. Based on the mechanisms of coupling and coordination of NU, the internal subsystem coupling coordination of NU was deconstructed into five dimensions-economic, population, land, social, and ecological. Using 200 cities in 19 Chinese UAs areas, the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of the coupling coordination degree of NU (CCDNU) were analyzed, and the driving factors were analyzed from both spatial spillover effect and stratification heterogeneity. The results are as follows: (1) CCDNU has increased from moderate disorder to barely coordinated, exhibiting a spatial distribution of a higher CCDNU in the east and lower CCDNU in the west with a positive global spatial autocorrelation feature; (2) economic drive, population concentration, spatial carrying capacity, and environmental quality play facilitating roles in the CCDNU of the study region, while the spatial carrying capacity, quality of life, and environmental quality inhibit the CCDNU of neighboring regions. From the decomposition of long- and short-term effects, both direct and indirect effects of driving factors were found to accumulate significantly over time. In addition, the model results were robust after replacing the geographic distance weight matrix and excluding the extreme values; (3) the spatial carrying capacity, population concentration, and economic drive are the dominant factors affecting the CCDNU in China. The dominant driving factors of are different in different regions. Meanwhile, the interaction detection shows that the interaction of each driver exhibits a two-factor enhancement or non-linear enhancement. Based on these results, corresponding policies are recommended.

Research on the evolution and driving factors of digitalization of energy in China-A new perspective based on coupling coordination

The world is experiencing the tide of digital transformation. Promoting the digitalization of energy is an important measure to realize energy sustainability. The digitalization of energy is a product of the coupled and coordinated development of the energy industry and the digital economy. This paper takes 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020 as research objects. The Entropy Weight Method is used to measure the development level of China's energy industry and digital economy, and the Coupling Coordination Degree Model is used to measure the digitalization of energy (DE). Then, the evolution characteristics and driving factors of China's DE are studied by using Grey Prediction Model, Kernel Density Analysis Method and Geodetector Model. The conclusions are mainly as follows: (1) Though the development level of energy industry and digital economy in China are both growing over time, there are distinct features in their spatial distribution. (2) The DE is in a disorderly state as a whole, but it will be upgraded to the stage of barely coordinated during China's 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). From the evolutionary process, the distribution pattern and trend changes of DE are characterized by obvious polarization distribution and increasing absolute differences, and this feature is more obvious in the central and western regions. (3) Government support, FDI, and pollution governance have an increasing impact on DE, but this impact varies considerably between the east and central-west regions. Therefore, this paper suggests that local governments should formulate policies to promote the DE according to local conditions. The central government should focus on accelerating the construction of the "East Digital West Computing" project and the development of the energy Internet to solve the problem of uneven regional development.

Spatio-temporal evolution analysis of the coupling situation of economic-social-ecological system in Guangdong

The economic and social structures of Chinese cities are constantly transforming in recent years. The coordinated development of economic, social, and ecological environment is an important path to achieving the construction of high-quality development. Taking Guangdong Province, the largest economic province in China, as an example, the evaluation index systems of economic development system (ED), social development system (SD), and ecological environment system (EE) are constructed, respectively. The entropy weight method and comprehensive evaluation method are applied to measure the evaluation indexes of economic, social, and ecological environment levels of each city in Guangdong Province from 2010 to 2020. The coupled coordination model is used to measure the spatial and temporal evolution of the coupled ED-SD-EE coordination of Guangdong cities and explore the impact of the epidemic on the coupling coordination degree. The results concluded that (i) the economic, social, and ecological environment of each city in Guangdong Province will be more harmonious from 2010 to 2020. ED-SD-EE coupling coordination of Guangdong cities shows a "rising and then declining" trend, but it is still in a "high coupling-low coordination" development state. (ii) The lagging development of the coupled ED-SD-EE system in Guangdong cities is mainly the ecological environment system. (iii) Epidemic harms the coupling and coordination of Guangdong cities, with the most negative effect on the coordination development of the EE. The paper findings clarify the current state of ED-SD-EE coupling and coordination in Guangdong cities, with a view to providing a reference basis for policy formulation and research on quality urban development.

Spatial Coupling Coordination Evaluation of Mixed Land Use and Urban Vitality in Major Cities in China

Based on the data from 35 major cities in China in 2020, this paper applies the Simpson's diversity index, the entropy value method, and the coupling coordination degree model to comprehensively measure the coupling coordination level of mixed land use and urban vitality in major cities in China and further analyze their spatial distribution characteristics. In addition, this paper analyzes the factors affecting the spatial variation of the coupling coordination level with the help of the geographic probe model. The study finds that: (1) The overall level of coupling coordination between mixed land use and urban vitality is high in 35 major cities in China. There is no disorder between mixed land use and urban vitality. (2) In terms of the spatial distribution of the coupling coordination between mixed land use and urban vitality in 35 cities in China, five cities, namely Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu, have the highest level of coupling coordination between mixed land use and urban vitality, reaching "good coordination" with a discrete spatial distribution. Central cities such as Hangzhou and Nanjing have the second highest level of coupling coordination and are at the "intermediate coordinate" with a "strip-like distribution" in space. Twenty cities in the north and south have the lowest coupling coordination levels and are in the "primary coordination." Among these twenty cities, seven cities in the south have a higher level of coupling coordination than thirteen cities in the north, with a spatial distribution of a "C" shape. The northern cities have the lowest level of coupling coordination, with a "W"-shaped distribution in space. (3) Population size plays an essential role in guiding the level of coupling coordination between mixed land use and urban vitality in major cities in China, followed by government regulation and economic level. At the same time, transportation conditions and industrial structure have the weakest influence on the level of coupling coordination between mixed land use and urban vitality in major cities in China.

Coordination of agricultural informatization and agricultural economy development: A panel data analysis from Shandong Province, China

With the continuous development of the world economy, science, and technology, the era of intelligence and information is upon us. Through the implementation of the digital rural construction project in China, agriculture is developing rapidly in the direction of informatization. As a major agricultural province in China, Shandong Province has been ranked first in China for many years in terms of gross agricultural product and the import and export of agricultural products. According to the current situation of agricultural informatization in Shandong Province, this study uses relevant evaluation index data of Shandong Province from 2011 to 2019 and applies the entropy value method, coupling degree analysis model, and coupling coordination degree analysis model to deeply evaluate the mutual influence and coordination degree between the agricultural informatization level and agricultural economic development in Shandong province in each year. We identify the possible problems in the development of agricultural informatization in Shandong province. Finally, in terms of talent construction, infrastructure construction, the main role of government, policies, and farmers’ awareness of informatization, we propose some countermeasures and suggestions that are conducive to the coordinated development of agricultural informatization and the agricultural economy.

Interaction between Urbanization and Eco-Environment in Hebei Province, China

Understanding the complex interaction between urbanization and the eco-environment is necessary for rapid and quality urbanization, eco-environmental protection, and the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature within a region. Based on panel data from Hebei Province between 1985 and 2019, we suggested a symbiosis hypothesis of urbanization and the eco-environment (SHUE) and used the distance coordination coupling model, the Tapio decoupling model, and the symbiosis model to quantitatively determine the interaction relationship between urbanization and the eco-environment. We found that (1) the improved ‘Northam curve’ of urbanization in Hebei Province met the logistic equation. (2) During the study period, the coordinated coupling degree (CCD) of urbanization and eco-environment exhibited an overall upward trend, while the coupling type gradually changed from the endangered imbalance recession type to the coordinated development type. (3) The decoupling types showed strong and weak decoupling fluctuations, with a high frequency of strong decoupling; the growth rate of the urbanization index was higher than that of the eco-environment index; and there was a positive effect between urbanization and eco-environment indicating positive urbanization. (4) The research results verified SHUE. The symbiosis mode of urbanization and eco-environment was mainly asymmetric mutualism, with the two demonstrating mutual promotion and mutualism. However, in 2016–2019, the symbiosis mode became parasitic, urbanization development enforced upon the eco-environment. The study constructed a set of quantitative method to systematically discuss the interaction relationship from two dimensions: coupling and decoupling. The results provide reference for the coordinated development of urbanization and eco-environment in Hebei Province and consequentially enrich this research field.

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Population-Land-Economic Urbanization and Its Impact on Urban Carbon Emissions in Shandong Province, China

New-type urbanization is a dynamic process composed of numerous elements and multiple subsystems. Coordination and coherence of various subsystems are critical for promoting urban-rural integration and regional synergistic development and will have a complicated impact on sustainable development in the trade-off between socioeconomic growth and environmental conservation. This paper theorized the interconnected and mutually influential coupling coordination relationship between population-land-economic urbanization (PLEU) and the mechanism by which this relationship affects urban carbon emissions. The Wavelet Neural Network (WNN), Coupling Coordination Degree model, and econometric model were used to reveal this relationship and mechanism. A total of 17 cities in Shandong Province, China, were used as study subjects for empirical examination. The results show that the level of PLEU in Shandong was significantly improved from 2007 to 2016, but the gap between cities tended to further expand. The 17 cities gradually got rid of the antagonistic disorder issue of the coupling coordination relationship of PLEU from 2007 to 2016, spatially showing the agglomeration characteristics with Qingdao and Jinan as the core, respectively. The influence of the coupling coordination degree of PLEU on urban carbon emissions presents an inverted, U-shaped characteristic, that is, the total urban carbon emissions will first increase and then decrease as the improvement of the coupling coordination relationship of PLEU. China’s new-type urbanization has provided an efficient solution to sustainable development, namely planning and designing at the highest strategic level to establish scientific goals. This new-type urbanization strategy could provide an effective alternative for other emerging countries worldwide, for addressing the challenges to sustainable development.

Spatial-Temporal Evolution and Relationship between Urbanization Level and Ecosystem Service from a Dual-Scale Perspective: A Case Study of the Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration

Since the beginning of the 21st century, urbanization has brought about dramatic changes in population, life, and economy, while having a significant impact on the distribution of ecosystem service. As research on the relationship between urbanization and ecosystem service has gradually specified, we decided to explore it at different scales. In this paper, we quantified and mapped the spatial–temporal evolution and relationship between urbanization and ecosystem service value in the Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration from 2000 to 2019 based on a dual-scale perspective of county and 3 km × 3 km raster. Our results show that the overall trend of urbanization level and ecosystem service value was increasing. Urbanization and ecosystem service value at the county scale showed a negative spatial correlation, while it was not significant at the raster scale. The “high–high” agglomeration was more concentrated, while the other three “low–low”, “low–high” and “high–low” agglomerations were more dispersed. Our findings suggest it is crucial to identify the key factors of small urban areas to grasp the development mechanism in the urbanization process and maintain the balance of the ecosystem.