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Urbanization has altered landscape patterns and ecological functions, which has caused a decline in ecosystem services (ESS) and resulted in many ecological and environmental issues, particularly in areas that are undergoing rapid urbanization. A better understanding of the relationship between urbanization and ESS is important for future regional sustainability and relevant policy development. Most previous studies focus on the interrelationship between urbanization and environment or refer to the effects of urbanization on ESS. The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between urbanization and ESS in the Jingjinji (JJJ) urban agglomeration in northern China. The results revealed that with the rapid urbanization trend during the period 1996–2014, the value of ESS in the JJJ region increased by 4.63% because the increases in the forest, orchard and water areas greatly offset the decrease in ESS caused by urban sprawl, and both urbanization and ESS showed marked spatial variability. The temporal relationship between urbanization and ESS was represented by an inverse U-shaped curve; the peak was 0.7 for the urbanization index in 2009. Noticeably, there was no unanimous variation in the value of different ecosystem services types, and food production and waste treatment showed dramatic declines. There were negative spatial correlations between different levels of urbanization and ESS and particularly significant negative correlations among land, population urbanization and ESS. The central cities focused more on urbanization development than on ecological protection, whereas the Bashang Plateau and areas in the northern mountains featured unbalanced development and low levels of urbanization, and both the urbanization level and the ecosystem services value were low in the central southern plains. This indicated that, to realize urban ecological sustainability and develop sustainable regional paradigms, it is possible to strengthen socioeconomic urbanization while at the same time controlling the amount and distribution of land and population. The integration plan and action should be put forward to facilitate all measures taken in JJJ urban agglomeration planning and ecological conservation.

Coordinating urbanization and ecosystem conservation is necessary for future regional sustainability. Understanding the coupling relationship between urbanization and ecosystem conservation has great significance in ecological management and policy making. Based on a comprehensive index system of urbanization and ecosystem services (ESS), this study used the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model and spatial autocorrelation statistical model to evaluate the spatio-temporal coupling interactions of urbanization and ESS in the Jingjinji (JJJ) region at multiple scales from 1996 to 2014, aiming to coordinate development and strengthen regional sustainability. The results showed that although the JJJ region underwent accelerated urban sprawl and urbanization in 1996–2014, the growth of areas such as forests, orchards and water bodies contributed to an overall 4.63% increase in the ecosystem services value (ESV). The dynamic evolution between these two constructs displayed an inverse U-shaped curve and exhibited various characteristics at different development stages and research scales. The urbanization level and the associated changes impacted the natural ecosystems and ESS differently, causing regional differences in ESV per unit area and structural shifts in the ecosystem. During 1996–2014, the CCD between urbanization and ESS in the whole region fluctuated upward, moving from the medium–low stage to the medium–high stage and undergoing a transition from lagging urbanization to lagging ESS. The CCD varied greatly among regions: the spatial similarity between the CCD at the county scale showed that the northern part of the JJJ region presented high-high clusters, while the low-low accumulation areas were mainly distributed in the central southern plain. The overall development trend was good except for the decrease in CCD in some southern counties. The analytical results suggested that the processes that couple urbanization with ecosystems and ESS should be controlled through new urbanization planning, increased sustainable ecological network management, and mutually beneficial cooperation across administrative borders to sustain regional development.