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Green finance (GF) is recognized as a key driver of sustainable development. While existing studies have extensively discussed the relationship between GF and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), few have explored the coupling coordination relationship between GF and SDGs. In this paper, we use data from thirty Chinese provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) from 2008–2021 to examine the degree of coupling coordination development (CCD) between GF and the SDGs systems using the CCD model. We find that most SDGs and their sub-goals exhibit a significant upward trend, except for SDG8, 14–16. GF presents a fluctuating upward trend, with a significant decline in 2010 and 2019. The CCDs between GF and SDGs and their sub-goals generally show an M-shaped upward trend in most regions, with most of them experiencing a synchronous decline in 2011–2012 and 2019. In the analysis of regional heterogeneity, the eastern region performs better in SDG8–9, the central region performs better in SDG3, 14–15, while the western region performs better in SDG7. This paper provides empirical evidence for a further in-depth understanding of the relationship between GF and SDGs, which can contribute to advancing GF development and the SDG process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the coupling coordination degree between digital economy and green technology innovation in 19 urban agglomerations across China from 2011 to 2020. Through the analysis of the coupling coordination degree model, spatial autocorrelation, multi-distance spatial clustering analysis, kernel density analysis and grey correlation model, this study uncovers the mechanism of coupling between digital economy and green technology in Chinese urban agglomerations. Data analysis revealed a significant increase in the coupling coordination between the digital economy and green technology innovation within urban agglomerations. However, there are noticeable spatial imbalances in this trend. Additionally, the multi-distance spatial distance analysis highlights a shift from a random distribution to a clustered distribution of spatial characteristics. The polarization features vary among each urban agglomeration and exhibit a significant positive spatial correlation. Factors such as economic sustainability, creative talent, policy support, digital impetus, and technological support will affect the coupling mechanism of green technology innovation and the digital economy in China's urban agglomerations. Policy recommendations are proposed to foster the development of the digital economy, promote coordinated growth within and beyond urban clusters, and ultimately build a digital ecological civilization that is both green and intelligent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, frequent climate extremes exert a serious impact on agricultural production and social development, which is seldom studied in the previous literature. Production–Living–Ecological (PLE) is a useful analysis framework, and China is a suitable model for such study. This paper takes the Huai River Eco-Economic Belt (HREB), an important agricultural zone in China, to study the relationship among agricultural production (P), society (L), and climate change (E), which is referred to as APLE. This paper constructs a coupled coordination evaluation index system for the APLE system and uses coupling coordination degree models and geographic detector to study the spatial and temporal evolution of the coordinated development of 34 counties (cities) in the HREB from 2009 to 2018. The results show the following: (1) The development of the agricultural subsystem and the social subsystem formed a "scissors difference" from 2009 to 2014, and the three subsystems showed a slight upward trend during 2014–2018. (2) The coupling and coordinated development of the APLE system in the HREB was generally stable, and the coupling coordination degree was improved from low-grade and slightly uncoordinated to barely and primarily coordinated. Furthermore, the spatial differentiation of the coupling coordination degree shows a clear pattern of being high in the southeast and low in the northwest. (3) The main influencing factors are the drought and flood protection rate, the effective irrigation rate, the per capita electricity consumption in agriculture, the number of beds in healthcare facilities per 10,000 people, the per capita disposable income of urban residents, the annual average temperature, and the annual precipitation. (4) The spatial–temporal evolution of the coupling and coordinated development of the APLE system is the result of the comprehensive effect of internal driving forces such as food security, the consumption level of rural residents, and the development level of urbanization construction, and external driving forces such as government public welfare and natural conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced manufacturing agglomeration (AMA) plays a significant role in supporting regional development, but few studies have examined it on a regional geographic space. In this paper, the relationship between AMA and regional economic‒innovative‒social coupling coordination development (EISCCD) was studied spatially at a fine-grained scale (500 m × 500 m), taking Liangjiang New Area (LJNA), China, as an example. The results showed that (1) the spatial patterns of AMA and EISCCD in LJNA were similar; (2) among the four different combinations, the economic‒social combination had the highest degree of coupling coordination and a more balanced spatial distribution; (3) AMA and the four coupling coordination combinations all showed significant positive relationships, with innovation playing a prominent mediating role; and (4) there was evident spatial heterogeneity in the relationship between AMA and ECICCD. These results demonstrate the possibility of building suburban subcenters with advanced manufacturing. These findings are beneficial for urban and regional planners to monitor the development status at different locations within cities, enabling precise construction and management of various facilities, enhancing land utilization efficiency, and aiding in the realization of a business-friendly and livable urban environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While new infrastructure, as a technological extension of traditional infrastructure, has important digital economy attributes, mismatched investment in new infrastructure can still be environmentally damaging. To this end, this paper explores the potential impact of the matching relationship between the new infrastructure investment (NII) and the upgrading of industrial structure (UIS) on environmental pollution from the perspective of coupling and coordination between the two. Through a series of quantitative empirical and robustness tests on China's relevant data from 2011 to 2019, this paper concludes that the coupling coordination level (NUC) of NII and UIS has an inhibitory effect on major environmental pollutants; in terms of mediating effect, NUC can reduce the emission of major environmental pollutants by improving energy consumption structure (ECS) and green innovation level (GII); in terms of nonlinear change characteristics, there is a threshold effect of NUC on the emission of industrial sewage and industrial dust; in terms of spatial properties, NII, NUC, PM2.5 and industrial sewage have positive spatial spillover effects. This study provides theoretical and empirical evidence that can support the government's decision to implement differentiated new infrastructure investment decisions based on environmental protection, and it also provides a certain level of reference for developing countries to make more environmentally friendly new infrastructure investment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When studying the coupling coordination relationship between agricultural eco-efficiency and urbanization, it is crucial to consider food security, especially in a populous country like China. This paper focuses on 31 provinces in China as the research units, covering the time period from 2000 to 2020. Based on the concept of agricultural eco-efficiency, an evaluation index system was developed to include undesirable outputs (carbon emissions), and agricultural eco-efficiency scores were calculated using the SBM–DEA model. An urbanization evaluation index system, covering six dimensions and twelve indexes, was constructed. A comprehensive index of urbanization is measured using the entropy method. On this basis, a coupling coordination model was applied to quantify the relationship between agricultural eco-efficiency and urbanization at the provincial scale in China. The results showed that the agricultural eco-efficiency of all provincial units in China exhibited an overall trend of improvement. Average efficiency followed a spatial pattern of majority grain-consuming areas > grain production–consumption balance areas > majority grain-producing areas. The level of coupling between agricultural eco-efficiency and urbanization is generally low. Currently, no regions have reached the stage of synergy or high-level coupling. Most regions are currently in an antagonistic stage with a coupling degree of 0.3 < C ≤ 0.5. The classification of coupling coordination levels changed from four levels of "severe imbalance", "moderate imbalance", "mild imbalance", and "primary coordination" to "moderate imbalance", "mild imbalance", "primary coordination", and "intermediate coordination". The level of "severe imbalance" disappeared, the level of "intermediate coordination" appeared, and the level of "mild imbalance" became the largest scale level. From the perspective of food security, the proportion of grain production in the categories of "primary coordination" and "intermediate coordination" was less than 10%, and these provinces never achieved self-sufficiency in food production. The proportion of grain production at the "mild imbalance" level reached 62.4%, while the per capita grain production at the "moderate imbalance" level reached 846.7 kg. Provinces with lower levels of coupling coordination have stronger food security capabilities. It can be observed that the weaker the coupling coordination between agricultural eco-efficiency and urbanization, the higher the food self-sufficiency. Based on the research results above, we discussed strategies to enhance agricultural eco-efficiency in majority grain-producing regions by focusing on technological progress and technical efficiency. Additionally, we analyzed approaches to achieve grain self-sufficiency in regions characterized by a high level of coordination between agricultural eco-efficiency and urbanization, considering both production and trade dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urban expansion and energy transformation are two major challenges facing China. Many researchers have explored urban compactness and energy efficiency, but there is little literature on the coordinated development of the two. Therefore, this paper takes 35 cities in China as research object: The urban compactness evaluation index system is established, and the score is calculated using the entropy weight method; considering the bad output, SBM is used to calculate the green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE); and the coupling coordination degree model is used to calculate their coordinated degree. The following conclusions can be inferred: (1) Although China's urban compactness has increased, it has not maintained a steady upward trend. Some more developed cities have the phenomenon of compactness rising first and then falling; (2) The overall GTFEE shows a continuous upward trend, but there is still much room for improvement, and regional disparities are significant; (3) The degree of coordination between the two maintains a steady upward trend, and the city's compactness lags behind GTFEE. Based on the findings of the study, this paper proposes policy recommendations that can serve as a reference for key decision-makers and are critical in promoting China's urbanization and energy transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Population Resources & Environment is the property of Shandong Normal University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although urbanization greatly benefits economy-society development in China, it poses enormous challenges to cultivated land utilization. In the context of urbanization acceleration and carbon neutrality, it's of significance to achieve high-quality economy-society development and sustainable agricultural development. Thus, the coupling coordination relationship between new-type urbanization and cultivated land low-carbon utilization (CLLCU) needs to be examined. However, this topic has not been adequately addressed in previous studies. To fill the gap, this paper adopted a comprehensive evaluation model and a super-efficiency SBM (Slacked Based Measure) model to evaluate the level of new-type urbanization and the cultivated land low-carbon utilization efficiency (CLLCUE) of cities in the Yangtze River Delta in China from 2000 to 2018. Furthermore, the coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) and the relative development degree model (RDDM) were employed to measure the coupling coordination degree and the relative state of the new-type urbanization and CLLCU The results show that the coupling coordination degree between the new-type urbanization level and CLLCUE experienced a process of "rapid increase-steady develop" and presented a spatial pattern of "polarization-regional equilibrium". In addition, the relative state of the new-type urbanization and CLLCU presented the "reversal" phenomenon. In other words, the relative state changed from the new-type urbanization lagging behind CLLCU to the new-type urbanization ahead of CLLCU. None of the cities were in the state of simultaneous development. Finally, this paper puts forward policy recommendations to explore differentiated CLLCU modes and improve the quality and efficiency of new-type urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coupling coordination of digital economy and green high-quality development of industries is an important way for sustainable and high-quality economic development. This paper constructs an evaluation index system for the digital economy and industrial green high-quality development, and conducts empirical analysis using the coupling coordination model, the spatial autocorrelation model, and the Tobit model. The data from provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt spanning from 2008 to 2021 has been analyzed. Results show that both subsystems exhibit a good and rising coupling coordination, and the regional coupling coordination demonstrates a trend of higher values in the east and lower in the west. Moreover, there is interaction between provinces and cities, albeit with a weakening correlation after 2011. Additionally, spatial clustering is evident between regions with high and low coupling coordination. The coupling coordination degree of each region is impacted by important factors, such as economic development level, financial level, opening up, fiscal expenditure, and urbanization. Therefore, the study recommends policies aimed at boosting the coupling coordination level in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Key policy proposals contain promoting the integration and innovation of digital technology and green low-carbon technology, strengthening regional cooperation through the transfer of industries, and adopting differentiated development strategies tailored to regional advantages and the varied impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes the panel data of 283 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2020 as the research sample, measures the comprehensive index of industrial structure optimization and air quality by using GRA-TOPSIS comprehensive evaluation method, explores the spatial and temporal divergence characteristics of industrial structure optimization and air quality and the spatial and temporal evolution pattern of coupled and coordinated development by using ArcGIS spatial analysis and coupled coordination degree model, and analyzes the driving factors of coupled coordination degree of industrial structure optimization and air quality by combining multi-scale geographically weighted regression model. The study found the following: (1) The overall level of China's urban industrial structure is low, and shows an obvious eastern > central > western decreasing trend; urban air quality has a strong spatial clustering and spatial locking effect. (2) During the study period, the coupling coordination degree of industrial structure optimization and air quality showed an inverted "W" shape fluctuation from 2011 to 2020. The coupling degree and coupling coordination degree in 2020 were both higher than that in 2011, and most cities were in the run-in stage and moderate coordination stage. (3) There is a consistency in the temporal evolution trend and spatial evolution pattern of industrial structure optimization and air quality coupling degree and coupling coordination degree. (4) The driving factors are ranked according to the scale of action: public transportation intensity > population density > government intervention > GDP per capita > industrialization level. At present, China is in a critical period of promoting high-quality development by ecological civilization, and it is recommended to optimize regional industrial structure, improve urban air quality, and promote coordinated urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world's largest developing country, China first proposed the construction of a Beautiful China initiative in 2012, with the aim of exploring Chinese solutions for sustainable regional development. The construction of a beautiful China is based on the guiding ideology of the Five-sphere Integrated Plan in China, that is, the overall plan for building socialism with Chinese characteristics, including economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, social construction and ecological civilization construction. This paper aims to understand the coupling relationship, as well as the spatial and temporal changes, between China's sustainable development under the Beautiful China initiative and tourism. Using data from the China Statistical Yearbook database, we constructed an evaluation index system to measure both the construction of beautiful China and tourism development using a literature review, statistical analysis, the entropy method and GIS-based spatial analysis methods. Furthermore, using the 31 Chinese provinces as the research subject, we further analyzed the state of Beautiful China construction and tourism development, as well as their coupling relationships of the two systems. Our results show that firstly, the economic "hard power" plays the most prominent role in the process of building a beautiful China under the sustainable development regime, while the status of cultural "soft power" has also been well reflected. Secondly, the weight ranking of tourism evaluation indicators and the spatial distribution of tourism development levels both reflect the central and fundamental role of tourism market demand in tourism development. Third, the weight ranking of tourism evaluation indicators ranks the highest in the mean value of the coupling coordination degree of society, ecology and tourism in the Beautiful China subsystem, which reflects the harmony between society and ecology and the significant livelihood function of tourism as a happiness industry in the new era. Fourth, the spatial and temporal relationship between the coupled and coordinated development of the Beautiful China and tourism systems varies, indicating that there is a regional imbalance in China's sustainable development. This further indicates the need to adapt to local conditions, and to build on strengths and avoid weaknesses to achieve regional sustainable development. The study highlights China's contribution to global sustainable development. It also provides theoretical and practical guidance for the promotion of the coordinated development of both Beautiful China and tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emission (CE) reduction has become the primary task of China's urban agglomerations (UAs) in achieving sustainable development goals. This paper uses a decoupling model and coupling coordination model to measure the relationship between the development levels of different types of UAs and CEs in China from 2004 to 2016. Concurrently, the geographically and temporally weighted regression model is used to explore the spatial heterogeneity of the impact of different driving factors on the CEs of UAs. The results show the following: Most UAs have the potential to further decouple CEs and economic growth. Most UAs are still in coordinated development (> 0.5). Among the service innovation UAs, the Yangtze River Delta UA has a coupling coordination of less than 0.3, while the Pearl River Delta UA has a coupling coordination of more than 0.8, showing polarization. Manufacturing and resource-based UAs are still in the grinding adaptation stage (0.5–0.8). There are apparent spatiotemporal differences in the impacts of various driving factors on the CE of UAs. The level of land urbanization and investment in fixed assets promote CEs. However, the level of population urbanization and industrial structure restrain CEs. Therefore, reducing land development and industrial transformation can be an effective means to reduce CEs in UAs. These findings will provide extensive insights for different UAs to achieve differentiated low-carbon development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To direct financial resources for achieving the goal of sustainable development, Chinese government has devoted increasing efforts to developing green finance. However, few studies explored the relationship between green finance and environmental governance. Thus, this paper first theoretically discusses the interactive connection between green finance and environmental governance. And then we construct two comprehensive indicator systems and use entropy method to calculate green finance index (GFI) and environmental governance index (EGI) for 30 provinces of China from 2004 to 2020. The theoretical analysis unveils the complementary and mutual reinforcing relationship of the interaction between green finance and environmental governance through green industry. Using the data of GFI and EGI, the coupling coordination degree of green finance and environmental governance (CCDGE) is measured by coupling coordination model. The trend analysis discovers that GFI is increasing over time while EGI starts decreasing from 2013. Although GFI has grown more rapidly than EGI, but the development of green finance still lags behind environmental governance because of its short history. Just because of the uncoordinated development between green finance and environmental governance, CCDGE has been hovering in the moderate coupling coordination stage for a long time and still has a great distance to the high coupling coordination level. These findings imply that the relationship between green finance and environmental governance is still in a state of disorderly development that restricts each other. Furthermore, the findings of spatial–temporal analysis show there are obvious regional differences in GFI and EGI and the interactive effect between green finance and environmental governance. Specifically, GFI and EGI in eastern China are the highest, while CCDGE presents with a ladder decline status of "eastern region > central region > northeast region > west region." Our findings provide vital references for policymakers to promote the coupling coordination development between green finance and environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By constructing a comprehensive evaluation index system for data elements and green development, this paper measures the level of data elements and green development in 273 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2019 using the random forest algorithm and calculates the coupling coordination degree (CCD) of the two systems using the coupling coordination degree model. Furthermore, this paper classifies the 273 cities into six types based on their "business charm" rankings and uses the Dagum Gini coefficient, kernel density estimation and a spatial Markov chain model to investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics and dynamic evolution of the CCD between data elements and green development. The results show that: (1) the average level of data elements is 0.087, which obviously lags behind the average level of green development, but the levels of both data elements and green development are on the rise; (2) the average CCD between data elements and green development is 0.44, which is in the moderate coordination stage and the CCD shows a year-on-year increase; (3) the higher the business charm ranking of a city, the higher the CCD between Data elements Green development (4) the CCD is affected by the city business charm ranking, showing significant differences, which mainly originate from the intergroup differences; (5) the CCD between data elements and green development in a city is also influenced by its neighboring cities, and the spatial pattern of the CCD evolution shows a "club convergence" phenomenon in the extreme coupling coordination stage. These findings provide important implications for promoting synergies between data elements and green development in both developing and developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coordinated development of rural infrastructure and ecological environment is an effective way to improve agricultural productivity. The primary focus of the current research is how the two can work together to promote regional economic development in rural areas and in related fields. This study takes the western region as the research object, constructs an evaluation index system for rural infrastructure and ecological environment, and uses the Min-max Scaling method, coupling coordination model, gray GM (1, 1) model, and standard deviation elliptical model for evaluation. The trends and driving factors for the coordinated development of rural infrastructure and ecological coupling in the region from 2012 to 2021 are analyzed. The main results are as follows: (1) Except for Tibet, Qinghai, and Ningxia, the coupling degree of rural infrastructure and the ecological environment in western China reached the maximum level during the research period, also the coordination degree showed a gradual upward trend. (2) A prediction for the development and evolution of rural infrastructure and the ecological environment in western China indicates a trend of agglomerative development in the southern region. (3) By strengthening the construction of reservoirs, improving sanitary conditions, improving cultivated land use area and forest coverage, and controlling soil erosion, the coordinated development of the two can be effectively promoted. The purpose of this study is to promote the sustainable and coordinated development of rural infrastructure and ecological environment, and to provide a reference for policy formulation in the relevant sectors and other countries and regions with similar situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable urban development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability, compensate for shortages in development process and improve the welfare of society as a whole. In this paper, a comprehensive system for evaluating the sustainable development of the economy–society–environment system and a coupling coordination model of the three systems for analysing the level of city sustainable development are presented. In addition, the spatial autocorrelation cluster of the coupling coordination degree is analysed. The spatial–temporal evolution law is explored by integrating the panel data of 285 cities above the prefecture level in China (2003–2017). The results show that (1) the level of coupling coordinated development has raised; (2) the subsystem lagging problem has been alleviated, but only for approximately 20% of the economy–society–environment priority type cities; and (3) the degree of coupling coordination shows a positive spatial autocorrelation, which presents dispersion to agglomeration, with cities in the high–high agglomeration category mainly distributed in the eastern region and the concentration of cities in the low–low agglomeration category changing from the Midwestern region to part of the north-east China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is an important ecological barrier and an important economic zone in China. Under the new requirements of realizing ecological protection and high-quality development of the YRB, the coordinated development of basin economic development and ecological environment is an urgent research topic. Taking 36 cities along the Yellow River Basin as samples, this paper constructs an evaluation index system of economic development and ecological environment. The coupling coordination model and geographical weighted regression were adopted to analyze the coupling coordination relationship between economic development and ecological environment from 2008 to 2017, and the influencing factors were analyzed. The results showed that (1) the coupling coordination of urban economic development and ecological environment along the YRB showed significant regional heterogeneity, forming a low-value sag of the Loess Plateau; (2) the regional hot spots in the downstream of the YRB continuously extended inland, while these in the midstream converged; (3) the coupling coordination degree between economic development and ecological environment is affected by factors such as population size, openness, and advanced industrial structure, and the intensity varies significantly among regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid urbanization of Ya'an has brought about a series of environmental issues. By referring to the physical coupling model and using the data from 2010 to 2019, this paper establishes a coupling coordination model of the urbanization and eco-environment in Ya'an. First, the entropy method was used to calculate the weight of each index of urbanization and eco-environment systems. Then, the comprehensive urbanization level of Ya'an was calculated using four indexes: economic, population, spatial and social urbanization. The eco-environment evaluation index system included three main indexes: eco-environment level, pressure and response. Finally, coupling coordination model was used to determine the degree of coupling and coordination between urbanization and the eco-environment, and the spatial correlation of the coordination degree between districts and counties in Ya'an was analyzed. The results show that: (1) economic urbanization (37.76%) and eco-environment pressure (40.50%) made the most significant contributions to the urbanization and eco-environment subsystems, respectively. This shows that economic factors are the most significant contributors in promoting the development of urbanization. As it is very important for Ya'an to reduce environmental pollution and the pressure on the eco-environment, these findings suggest that more attention should be paid to economic development and environmental protection when formulating and implementing policies. (2) The degree of coupling coordination between urbanization and the eco-environment has increased every year, from moderate imbalance to high coordination. The overall development of spatial autocorrelation from positive to negative suggests that Ya'an should strengthen the interregional cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a fundamental solution to the ecological problems of resources and environment, the Green Transition of Cultivated Land-use (GTCL) has become an inherent requirement for promoting ecological progress and implementing the food security strategy in the new era. This paper proposed a theoretical framework of GTCL and constructed a GTCL development index system based on four aspects: water, land, food and carbon; then, by applying a comprehensive evaluation model, a coupling coordination model and exploratory spatial data analysis, the development level of GTCL in China's 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020 was evaluated and the spatial and temporal rates of change of "water, land, food and carbon" (WLFC) and their coupling coordination were finally analyzed to reveal the "water, land, food and carbon" effect of GTCL. Results showed that the systemic changes of WLFC and its coupling coordination degree of GTCL presented a spatial and temporal coincidence with a high degree of consistency; from 2000 to 2020, the overall GTCL rate in all Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions showed a "W"-shaped fluctuation uptrend. In the past five years, the development level of GTCL was higher in Northeast China, followed by Central China and North China, while South China was at a low level. In addition, WLFC showed a more obvious "W"-shaped fluctuation, with higher coupling coordination in Northeast China in good coordination and lower coordination in East China and Southwest China. Therefore, according to the results of the study, areas were divided into: benefit leading area, quality improvement area, connotation tapping potential area, ductile development area and ecological reserve area for the regulation of GTCL in all Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on data of domestic service enterprises in operation and domestic service network attention in 297 Chinese cities at and above the prefectural level, this paper establishes an assessment indicator system for the development and demand of domestic service industry, and analyzes the characteristics of spatial differentiation and the degree of coupling coordination of the development and demand of urban domestic service industry in China by means of mean square error decision method, coupling coordination degree model and spatial autocorrelation. The result shows that: 1) In general, the development of domestic service industry in Chinese cities is at a low level and exists relatively great regional difference, with a trend of stepped reduction from the east of China to the middle to the west, which shows a dotty pattern that the core city of an urban agglomeration is prominent, while the demand of domestic service industry exists relatively small regional difference but obvious agglomeration in space, which forms four high-value agglomeration areas including the Yangtze River Delta, the Bohai Rim, the Pearl River Delta, and the west coast of the Taiwan Straits. 2) The degree of coupling coordination is at a moderate level on the whole, and the east-west direction is the main direction that spatial differentiation generates; meanwhile, the coupling coordination degree shows the significant characteristic of agglomeration, and typical agglomeration areas are the core of an urban agglomeration, its periphery and the provincial center, and the edge of the province. 3) With the decline of cities at level, the level of coupling coordination degree transforms from an extreme high level to a low level, and the proportion of cities with backward development in domestic service industry also rises gradually. However, the main reasons for the lower coupling coordination degree are the small quantity of domestic service enterprises and their lower service quality and scale. Finally, based on the type of coupling coordination degree, the paper puts forward specific solutions and suggestions to provide theoretical foundation for the realization of a higher level of dynamic balance between supply and demand of domestic service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Natural Resources / Ziran Ziyuan Xuebao is the property of Journal of Natural Resources and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

China’s long-standing urban-rural dichotomy has led to a widening gap between urban and rural areas, posing a huge challenge to the sustainable development of Chinese society. This paper adopted the subjective-objective weighting method, coupled coordination degree model, and geographically weighted regression model to conduct urban-rural sustainable development research on 31 provincial administrative regions in China and discussed their spatial-temporal divergence and driving mechanisms during 2007–2018. The results showed that (1) the quality of both rural revitalization and new urbanization improved during the study period, and the gap between them showed a trend of increasing after fluctuations. Both of them had significant spatial and temporal divergence characteristics. (2) The urban-rural coupling coordination degree in China continued to increase during the study period and showed an overall pattern of “high in the east-west and low in the north and southwest”. The changes of relative development type indicated that new urbanization had far surpassed rural revitalization during the study period. (3) The coefficients of driving factors varied significantly in space, showing a hierarchical band distribution. Seven of the eight driving factors showed a strong positive correlation in the vast majority of regions. The results and suggestions of this research can further promote the organic combination of rural revitalization and new urbanization strategy, which is of great practical significance for narrowing the urban-rural gap and realizing sustainable urban-rural development. Likewise, it can be a reference for other developing countries around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to improve the sustainability of resource-exhausted cities has become a difficult problem for China to implement the sustainable development strategy, and the construction of resilient cities has become the best way to solve this problem. This paper constructed an evaluation indicator system of the sustainable development for resource-exhausted cities from the perspective of resilient cities. The entropy weight-TOPSIS-grey relational degree model was used to quantitatively analyze the sustainable development capacity of 23 resource-exhausted cities in China from 2010 to 2020. And the coupling coordination degree model was further used to analyze the relationship between urban resilience and the dimensions of economy, environment, society and resource respectively. The weak links affecting their sustainable development was explored through obstacle degree model. The research results are helpful to fully understand the current situation and obstacle factors of the sustainable development of resource-exhausted cities in China, and promote the sustainable development of cities through the construction of resilient cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 21st century, the rapid development of China’s megacity clusters has posed a major threat to the healthy and coordinated development of cities. Therefore, it is necessary to be develop the comprehend the state of coupling coordination among mega-city cluster and EEQ under mesoscale. In this study, the largest Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration is taken as the research object, NS-RSEI is constructed to evaluate the EEQ of the Yangtze River Delta, and the coupling coordination mechanism on the long-time series of the Yangtze River Delta in recent 20 years is explored by means of spatio-temporal analysis. The outcome verify that CCD of the Yangtze River Delta growth with a strong spatial dependence from 2001 to 2020, showing a spatial distribution pattern of " East West high-low". Above all, this study shows that urbanization is the main factor determining the development of CCD. In addition, compared with the traditional remote sensing eco-environment monitoring model, NS-RSEI proposed in this study shows better ability in mesoscale environmental monitoring, and provides great convenience for mesoscale EEQ evaluation. This study fills the research gap of the interactive coupling mechanism between urbanization and eco-environment quality of mesoscale mega-city group, and provides a new perspective on the sustainable development of megacity clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the information age, digital information technology has gradually become a new quality of productivity to improve international competitiveness, and the status and importance of the pseudo human settlements(PHS) constructed by digital and information has been increasing in the human settlements(HS) system. In this context, exploring the coupling coordination of the internal systems of the PHS provides a theoretical basis for promoting the comprehensive improvement of the quality of the HS in the urban agglomerations, provides a theoretical reference for rationally interpreting the new type of human-land relationship in the information age, and provide a new perspective for the study of the human settlements geography. Currently, research on PHS is in its nascent stages, therefore, we construct a theoretical framework for the coupling coordination of the "three states" of the HS, takes the internal system of PHS as the entry point, empirically analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of the PHS coupling coordination degree within urban agglomerations in eastern China and the driving factors by using the coupling coordination degree, spatial autocorrelation, the center of gravity and the ellipse of the standard deviation, and geo-detector models. Research shows: (1) Time course: exhibits an upward "inverted L" trend. (2) Spatial pattern: exhibits a general spatial pattern of "high in the north and low in the south". (3) Spatial correlation: shows a spatially positively correlated clustering trend. (4) Spatial evolution: demonstrates a decentralized pattern of migration from the northeast to the southwest, indicating that the coupling coordination grows faster in the southwest than in the northeast. (5) Driving factor: the development of coupling coordination degree of PHS results from multiple factors and systems. This research provides theoretical support for promoting the comprehensive improvement of the quality of PHS in the urban agglomerations in eastern China, and offers scientific reference for the construction of PHS in other regions of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban competitiveness (UC) evaluation system is multidimensional and complex. This paper takes the simulated annealing (SA) model as the projection pursuit (PP) optimization to achieve a comprehensive assessment of competitiveness of 277 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2019, accompanied by energy saving and carbon-emission reduction (ESCER) as environmental measurements, to explore whether the two can meet the Porter hypothesis through coupling coordination degree (CCD). Further using spatiotemporal autocorrelation and obstacle degree model to uncover spatiotemporal features and interfering factors of coordinated development. Key findings include: (1) UC and ESCER show a slightly fluctuating upward trend during the research period, with apparent spatial variations. The eastern coastal region has a robust UC, while the less competitive central and western regions benefit from natural conditions, excelling in ESCER. (2) 87% of cities have achieved coordinated development between competitiveness and ESCER. Some coastal areas, often with a high CCD, are improving resource use efficiency and environmental benefits through economic agglomeration. From the perspective of the CCD collaboration network, the positive correlation accounts for about 85%, which reveals that most adjacent regions can cooperate on the road of coordinated development. (3) While differences exist in the coordinated development of UC-ESCER across various regions, social factors predominantly influence the obstacles affecting coordinated development. Specifically, a substantial barrier to the concordant progression of most cities is the number of patent applications, underscoring the pivotal role of innovation in aligning UC with ESCER. [Display omitted] • Simulated annealing projection pursuit assessed Chinese cities' competitiveness. • There is spatial heterogeneity between UC and ESCER. • 87% of cities achieve harmonious development for UC and ESCER. • Innovation is crucial for urban response to dual challenges of environment and economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the digital finance (DF) and regional sustainable development (RSD) across 90 cities within six major city clusters in China over the period from 2011 to 2020. By constructing an evaluation index system for DF and RSD, we employed the entropy value method to assess their levels, and the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model to evaluate their interplay. Our analysis extended to temporal and spatial disparities, distribution dynamics, and the convergence of CCD through kernel density estimation, Markov chain analysis, σ -convergence, and β -convergence techniques. The results indicate a consistent upward trend in CCD, yet it remains at a low level with pronounced regional disparities and temporal characteristics. The kernel density distribution's central tendency has shifted rightward progressively, albeit with a decelerating pace annually. The Markov transition probability matrix suggests a stable CCD across various levels, hinting at "club convergence". Furthermore, both σ -convergence and β -convergence analyses reveal significant convergence trends in CCD, enhanced by economic growth factors. Using the Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) method, we found that regional economic growth disparities significantly influence the CCD's regional variances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study utilizes provincial panel data from China spanning the period from 2011 to 2020 to assess the coupled and coordinated development of spatial functions related to production, life, and ecology (PLE) in rural areas. The assessment is based on quantifying the spatial function indices for PLE in China's rural regions. Additionally, it examines the characteristics of their spatial and temporal evolution, spatial correlation, and driving factors. The findings indicate a modest upward trend in the spatial coupling and coordination levels of these functions across rural China, although a significant proportion of provinces still exhibit a near-disordered decline. Exploratory spatial data analysis reveals a geographical disparity, with higher levels of coupled and coordinated development observed in the eastern regions, lower levels in the west, and noticeable spatial clustering. By employing the spatial Durbin model to investigate the determinants of coupling degrees, we discovered that factors such as regional economic development, urbanization, the urban–rural income gap, financial support for agriculture, science and technology investment level, and agricultural structural adjustments significantly influence the spatial coupling of rural PLE functions. Furthermore, using the geographic detector model, the analysis identifies science and technology investment level, economic development, and financial support for agriculture as key drivers influencing the spatial coupling and coordination of these functions. These findings provide valuable reference points for policies and strategies related to rural management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the panel data of 19 old revolutionary base areas in China from 2003 to 2020, this study measures the process of sustainable development and the coupling and coordination of economic, environmental, and social systems in less developed regions and investigates the influencing factors of sustainable development. The results show that the sustainable development of the old revolutionary base areas has generally shown an upward trend, while in recent years, it has fluctuated and declined. The coupling coordination degree of the system has similar characteristics, and the sustainable development and coupling coordination degree of the eastern region are higher than that of other regions. The regression results show that both effective government and efficient markets can promote the sustainable development of the old revolutionary base areas. Government factors play a more vital role in the eastern region, and market mechanisms play a greater role in the central and western regions. Nevertheless, the interaction term between the market and government is negative, indicating that the coordination between government factors and the market mechanism needs to be improved in revitalizing the old revolutionary base areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With 31 provinces and cities in Mainland China selected as the research objects, the paper explores the acting mechanism of industrial cluster, urbanization and population cluster, builds a measurement index system for the spatial-temporal coupling characteristics of industrial cluster, urbanization and population agglomeration, and then measures the coupling coordination degrees of industrial agglomeration, urbanization and population agglomeration in provinces since 2000 and researches the spatial-temporal evolution and spatial differentiation characteristics of coupling coordination degree. Research results show: ① industrial agglomeration, urbanization and population agglomeration have formed a dynamically coordinated relationship with mutual influences, mutual promotion and joint development; ② the comprehensive development levels of industrial agglomeration, urbanization and population agglomeration in China are rising year by year, but the overall coupling degree and coordination degree of the three are low, but the coupling coordination relationship will improve continuously with time, still showing obvious differences in provinces and the spatial tendency of being 'high in the east and low in the west'; ③ the coupling coordination presents a continuous spatial agglomeration state, and the agglomeration intensity is 'high on two ends and low in the middle', thus forming the outstanding hot-spot in areas eastern coastal regions and the outstanding cold-spot areas in western regions; ④ the government should promote industrial agglomeration, industrial structure optimization and upgrading and urbanization, and make reasonable planning for population agglomeration degree practically and effectively, to ensure the matching and coordinated development of industrial agglomeration, population agglomeration and urban bearing capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water, energy, food, and ecology are essential for achieving sustainable development in a region, and in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, their security is also essential at a river basin scale. This study investigated the interrelationships among the water system, food system, energy system, and ecosystem in China's Upper Han River, in alignment with Goals 2, 6, 7, and 15 of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To evaluate the achievement of the SDGs in the Upper Han River, this water–energy–food–ecology system was evaluated by a thorough evaluation index system according to Goals 2, 6, 7, and 15, and the weights of the indices were given using a combination of the CRITIC weighting method and entropy approach. The level of coupling coordination of the system from 2000 to 2021 was quantitatively evaluated by using a coupling coordination degree model. The autoregressive integrated moving average model was built to forecast the process of the indices from 2022 to 2041, and the predicted processes of the system were evaluated by the coupling coordination degree model. The degree of coupling coordination improved from 0.396 to 0.845, and the comprehensive assessment development index increased by 113% from 2000 to 2021, demonstrating that it was a stable development period in general. The fragile support capacity of the water system for the energy system, food system, and ecosystem had a great impact on the overall comprehensive evaluation index. SDG2 (food system), SDG6 (water system), SDG7 (energy system), and SDG15 (ecosystem) all have higher levels of internal conflict. These bi-directional dynamics tended to converge in the sufficiency development mode in the future period as well as the historical period. The analysis of the relationship showed that there were inherent connections and interactions between the four goals, as presented by the high level of coupling that persisted between SDG2, SDG6, SDG7, and SDG15. In the process of promoting the achievement of these goals, the coupling degree also tends to be coordinated from 2022 to 2041. The results offer a view for the river basin's sustainable development and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid growth and development of urban areas, the economy has often been prioritized at the expense of the environment and ecological systems. However, it is essential to delve deeper into the relationship between the economy and the ecological environment. Therefore, this study introduces a comprehensive evaluation system that encompasses economic, ecological, and environmental factors in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration in China. The Criteria Importance Through Inter-criteria Correlation (CRITIC) method is utilized to determine the weights of various indicators, and coupling as well as coupling coordination models are employed to investigate the spatiotemporal trends and interrelationships of the three factors. The results indicate that the economic development index has displayed a consistent uptrend since 2000, with the economic development index from 2015–2020 increasing by approximately four times compared to 2000–2005. The ecological status index has also increased in the last five years, with a rise of about 0.05 from 2015–2020 compared to 2000–2005. The environmental status index has fluctuated but generally increased, with a rise of approximately 5.6 times from 2015–2020 compared to 2000–2005. The coupling degree of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration is relatively high, with intense coupling from 2005–2020, and moderate coupling from 2000–2005. Furthermore, the coupling coordination has continuously improved from mild maladjustment to barely coordinated from 2000 to 2020, indicating the enhancement of the coupling coordination of the three factors. It is crucial to acknowledge that there exists spatial heterogeneity in both the coupling degree and coupling coordination degree. This heterogeneity stems from the uneven progress in economic development, ecological conditions, and environmental status across various cities. Additional endeavors are required to foster the harmonized advancement of these factors across the entire region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Construct indicator systems for green finance and clean energy. • Investigation conducted on coupling coordination relationship between green finance and clean energy systems. • Influencing factors of coupling coordination degree explored using fsQCA method. • Results reveal imbalance in coupling coordination degree for GCS in China. • Identification of three pathways for enhancing coupling coordination degree. Investigating the integrated development between green finance and clean energy has significant implications for achieving structural energy transformation and sustainable financial development. This paper aims to explore the path toward achieving a positive interaction between green finance and clean energy. To achieve this, a coupling coordination degree model for the green finance – clean energy system is constructed. Additionally, limited attention has been paid to the interconnectedness of multiple factors with coupling coordination. Hence, we introduce a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approach to explore diverse pathways to enhance coupling coordination. Empirical results indicate that from 2011 to 2020, the degree of coupling coordination between green finance and clean energy in China improved from 0.3341 to 0.4718. However, it remains on the verge of an imbalanced level. Furthermore, the regional coupling coordination degree exhibits uneven development, with a tendency towards high-value clustering. The coordinated development paths of different provinces are driven by various configurations of conditions. Based on these findings, this study suggests that provinces should formulate policies tailored to their local characteristics and condition configurations, and effectively promote the coordinated development of green finance and clean energy in their respective regions. This study improves the comprehension of the coordinated development between green finance and clean energy at the provincial level in China. The employed fsQCA technique offers a novel approach for investigating developmental pathways of coupling coordination, bearing significance in promoting a mutually beneficial and harmonious relationship between green finance and clean energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-six cities in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration were taken as the research object, and this study comprehensively evaluated urbanization quality and ecological resilience from 2005 to 2020. On this basis, the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and main influencing factors of the coupling relationship between urbanization and ecological resilience were systematically explored using a coupling coordination model and panel Tobit regression model. The results can be summarized as follows: (1) from 2005 to 2020, the quality of urbanization in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration continued to grow, the level of ecological resilience grew slowly and fluctuated, and the development among municipalities tended to be balanced. (2) The overall coupling coordination degree of urbanization and ecological resilience showed a continuous increasing trend, and the coupling coordination type changed from basic coupling coordination to good coupling coordination. The number of cities with lagging urbanization quality decreased significantly; spatially, the gap in the coupling coordination degree between municipalities narrowed, and the cities with good coupling gradually clustered. (3) The results of the panel Tobit regression showed that the differences in the spatial evolution of coupling coordination mainly resulted from the interaction of drivers such as real utilized foreign capital, per capita GDP, carbon emission intensity, the proportion of science and technology expenditure to fiscal expenditure, the ratio of per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents, fixed asset investment in municipal utility construction, and the index of ecological land area ratio. In the future, the coupling coordination degree of urbanization and ecological resilience should be improved based on the type of coupling coordination according to local conditions, and the seven influencing factors should be carefully examined to accelerate the high-quality integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of land use sustainability (LUS) coupling socioeconomic and ecological systems has drawn the interest of researchers and decision-makers concerned with sustainable development. Exploring the relationships between land use systems can offer a coordinated route for localized and effective land governance strategies. We proposed a new theoretical framework for LUS considering coordinated development between socioeconomy and ecology. We applied it further to the Xiongan New Area, typical of a new region with government-led construction in eastern China, to explore in depth the coupling and coordination relationship among land use systems and their driving factors. Results revealed that: (1) ecological sustainability grew while socioeconomic sustainability declined in most areas of Xiongan New Area during 2010–2020 at the township level, (2) relationships among land use systems in 2010–2020 showed a trend of coordinated development, but generally, their coordination was still only at a primary and moderate level, with a shift from prominent ecological lag to prominent socioeconomic lag, (3) economic factors are critical to the coordinated development of land use systems, while the influence of ecological factors is also increasing, and (4) four development types were identified for the towns: coupling and developed, coupling and undeveloped, tradeoff and developed, and tradeoff and undeveloped. Policymakers can better appreciate the importance of government interventions in future land use planning in terms of sustainable development with the help of land use zoning optimization and sustainable land governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to coordinate the tourism industry with the ecological environment has become an important issue. However, there is a lack of attention to special ecological function areas, such as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Basin. This study evaluated the degree of coupling coordination and distinguished obstacle factors between two systems, the tourism industry and the ecological environment in the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Basin from 2008 to 2017. The development level index of the tourism industry showed "sustained growth-slight decline-rapid growth." Jiangsu showed the highest annual growth rate (17.26%) for the development level index of the ecological environment. The comprehensive evaluation index changed in stages, showing a trend of large overall growth and small partial decline. The coupling coordination degree improved rapidly on the whole, developing from close to incoordination in 2008 to good coordination and quality coordination in 2017. In most cases, the provinces demonstrated the ecological lag type during this period. The greatest increase in obstacle degree was in the ecological environment pressure in the control layer. Generally, the main obstacles hindering the coupled and coordinated development of these two systems were the volume of household garbage clearance, wastewater emissions, A-level scenic spots, total consumption of domestic tourists and the number of inbound tourists. This study clearly reveals the evolution, degree and types of coupling coordination in the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Basin of the two systems, which contributes to healthy basin development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interconnection between urbanization, the environment, and food security necessitates an exploration of their coupling coordination to advance the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals. However, limited research directly addresses the feasibility and strategies required to achieve such coordination. This study investigates the coupling coordination and spatial heterogeneity between urbanization, the environment, and food security in China from 2004 to 2020, employing the coupling coordination degree model, the spatial correlation model, the Dagum Gini coefficient, and the obstacle degree model. The results show that: (1) the level of coordinated development between urbanization, the environment, and food security in China has significantly increased, as evidenced by a remarkable rise in the coupling coordination degree; (2) a robust positive spatial correlation is observed in the coupling coordination degree, with "Low-Low" clusters predominantly concentrated in northwest China and "High-High" clusters primarily located in southeast China; (3) inter-regional differences are identified as the primary cause of this spatial heterogeneity; (4) food security has emerged as the foremost obstacle to coordinated development between urbanization, the environment, and food security in China. Optimizing the rational allocation of natural resources across different sectors, enhancing resource use efficiency, and strengthening environmental pollution control and management have been proven to be crucial measures and key strategies for promoting their coordinated development. This study provides a novel perspective on balancing the intricate relationship between urbanization, environmental protection, and food security, which is conducive to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, more people are becoming aware of the importance of ecosystem protection. As a crucial part of the human well-being, ecological well-being has always had essential scientific research value. In this paper, authors take the Yellow River Delta high-efficiency eco-economic zone as a case study, based on the theory of land ecosystem services to study the ecological well-being. With the help of expert coefficient value assessment for different types of land use, authors have researched the spatiotemporal differentiation and influence mechanism of regional ecological well-being, using the Coupling Coordination Degree (CCD) model and Geographic Weighted Regression (GWR) model. The results found small differences in change of resource well-being (RW) and large differences in change of environmental well-being (EW) from 1990 to 2020, and the RWs and EWs of the central cities including Dongying Core, Hekou Core, Kenli, Hanting Core and Changyi are higher than those of their surrounding counties. The coupling coordination relationship of RW and EW in the central cities including Dongying Core, Hekou Core and Changyi is larger than in their surrounding counties. Population urbanization (PU) and industrial urbanization (IU) are important factors of change in land use and ecosystem services which influence the human well-being, PU affects RW more significantly, and IU affects EW more significantly. In order to further promote the sustainable ecological well-being of the Yellow River Delta region, authors recommend the conservation of land resources, technological innovation of environmental management and the formulation of environmental law. It provides significant enlightenment and decision support for strengthening the environmental protection of the Yellow River Delta high-efficiency eco-economic zone. In this paper, authors take the Yellow River Delta high-efficiency eco-economic zone as a case study, based on the theory of land ecosystem services to study the ecological well-being. With the help of expert coefficient value assessment for different types of land use, authors have researched the spatiotemporal differentiation and influence mechanism of regional ecological well-being, using the Coupling Coordination Degree (CCD)Model model (CCDM) and Geographic Weighted Regression (GWR) model. The results found small differences in change of resource well-being (RW) and large differences in change of environmental well-being (EW) from 1990 to 2020, and the RWs and EWs of the central cities including Dongying Core, Hekou Core, Kenli, Hanting Core and Changyi are higher than those of their surrounding counties. The coupling coordination relationship of RW and EW in the central cities including Dongying Core, Hekou Core and Changyi is larger than in their surrounding counties. Population urbanization (PU) and industrial urbanization (IU) are important factors of change in land use and ecosystem services which influence the human well-being, PU affects RW more significantly, and IU affects EW more significantly. In order to further promote the sustainable ecological well-being of the Yellow River Delta region, authors recommend the conservation of land resources, technological innovation of environmental management and the formulation of environmental law. The study has important value for realizing regional sustainable development and improving human well-being, and also provides a new research idea for exploring the relationship between man and land by using the intersection of sociology, geography, and ecology. [Display omitted] • It provides a new perspective for studying ecological well-being based on ecosystem services. • It analyzed the spatial characteristics of ecological well-being in the Yellow River Delta of China. • 3. It explored the mechanism of urbanization on ecological well-being with GWR model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Define IE as an evolutionary process characterized by the dimensions of industry and ecology. • Industrial efficiency and eco-efficiency were analyzed from spatial-temporal perspectives. • Cities were classified as coordinated development mode and professional development mode. • Social network analysis was used to examine the spatial correlations of IE. • The IE interaction network was characterized by "scale-free" and "small world." Industrial ecology (IE) was defined as a dynamic evolution process characterized by the coupling coordination relationship between ecological efficiency and industrial efficiency. This paper used data envelopment analysis and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution method to explore the spatiotemporal evolution of ecological efficiency and industrial efficiency in China's loess plateau region (LPR) from 2006 to 2017. Based on the definition, LPR's IE development and spatial correlations were studied separately using coupling evaluation model and social network analysis. Findings include: Although eco-efficiency and industrial efficiency were mutually promoted, and both have improved during the study period, LPR's human-earth relation was still facing uncertainties. There were significant disparities in industrial efficiency, ecological efficiency, and IE levels among cities. The evolutionary patterns of cities were classified as coordinated development mode and professional development mode. The IE interactive network was characterized by "scale-free" and "small world," where provincial capitals and big cities functioned as growth poles and intermediaries. The correlations of IE brought challenges as well as favorable conditions for setting up a cross-regional coordination mechanism. This paper provided a new perspective to understand IE and a "quantity and structure" driven development idea for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Yangtze River Economic Belt ecosystem service function is weakening, and although the rate of new-type urbanization has grown, the spatial imbalance is more prominent. • Urbanization of population, land, economy, and infrastructure harms ecosystem services. • The coupling coordination relationship changes from intermediate coordination to primary coordination, and higher dependency on geography. As a strategy for building a beautiful China, new-type urbanization (NTU) has an impact on the regional ecological security pattern. Clarifying the coupling coordination relationship between NTU and ecosystem services (ESs) can help ecological protection and high-quality coordinated development. The methods of this paper are as follows. Firstly, the integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model is used to calculate ESs, and then evaluate the level of NTU from multiple dimensions. On this basis, the coupling coordination degree model and the relative development model are used to analyze the coupling relationship between ESs and NTU. The results indicate that the ESs in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) decreased, from 2000 to 2020. The level of NTU continues to improve, but the spatial imbalance is more prominent. ESs and NTU are significantly negatively correlated, with population, economic, land, and infrastructural urbanization having a more detrimental effect on ESs overall. In general, the coupling coordination relationship between Es and NTU changes from intermediate coordination to primary coordination, and the spatial manifestation was "high in the east and low in the west" and the dependence was strong. Most areas show lagging ES disorders. To achieve an orderly breakthrough in the steady-state phase while adhering to the law of coupled coercive development, as well as to serve as a guide for making decisions to create a YREB model with clear skies, lush vegetation, stunning mountains, and harmony between people and the land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• HE-D and DE-D were stable; most regions showed a relatively concurrent development of DE and HE. • D of the two subsystems differed in different regions with "high in the east and low in the west." • CCD fluctuated relatively steadily with differences of "high in the northern and coastal regions". • "HE benefits" and number of academic papers are the primary influencing dimension and factor in HE. • "DE input" and popularity rate of mobiles are the primary influencing dimension and factor in DE. Analyzing the coupling coordination interactions of higher education (HE) and digital economy (DE) to achieve sustainable growth is crucial. Thus, we constructed the coupling coordination interaction mechanism and the comprehensive evaluation system of the two subsystems to measure their coordination interactions; then, we processed the temporal-spatial analysis of the development status and the coupling coordination degree (CCD) in the case of China. Furthermore, we used the gray correlation model to determine the primary influencing factors and proposed differentiated policymaking suggestions. We found that: (1) the development status of higher education (HE-D) was more stable than that of the digital economy (DE-D), which showed a slight upward trend; besides, there were noticeable spatial differences for HE-D and DE-D. (2) The temporal changes of CCD were not noticeable. (3) Expenditure on research activities in HE and the number of patents were the significant factors affecting DE; the popularity rate of mobile phones and the number of employees in the DE industry were the significant factors affecting HE; besides, HE's output benefits and DE's input was more influential in the coordination relations. Furthermore, we also put forward targeted, specific, and differentiated policymaking suggestions, which can guide policymakers to formulate regional sustainable development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have witnessed an increasing focus on rural revitalization (RR). In order to explore the current status and the coordinated growth of different aspects of RR, this paper first constructs a new 5E framework with a comprehensive index system; then analyzes the overall development status (ODS) and the coordinated development status of 5 dimensions (CDS) of 30 regions in China from 2006 to 2020 temporally and spatially with entropy weight and the technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution method; thirdly forecasts the CDS in the next four years and proposed targeted and differentiated development suggestions. Some key results are: (1) ODS was relatively stable with significant spatial variations. (2) CDS of the five dimensions fluctuated relatively mildly, and villages of the coastal areas were higher than those in the inland areas. (3) CDS will be generally similar to the past temporally and spatially in the future. (4) Different regions should take targeted and feasible measures to achieve benign coordinated growth among dimensions of RR, and the national authority should take supportive actions comprehensively. • The 5E framework is easier to spread and enriches rural revitalization theories. • The coordinated development status helps to understand the dynamic evolvement. • The differentiated measures are insightful references to make decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital economy uses its own digital information advantages to reduce the intensity of energy consumption brought by economic growth. Intelligent manufacturing achieves cost reduction and efficiency through the integration of manufacturing and intelligence as well as digitalization and information technology. The two have become a new engine for sustainable economic development at present, and they can promote and influence each other. However, there is a lack of research on the relationship between them. In this regard, this study aims to build a coupling coordination model of digital economy and intelligent manufacturing and to make an empirical analysis using the data of Chinese provincial administrative regions in order to provide a theoretical reference for promoting sustainable economic development. The research finds that (1) the digital economy and intelligent manufacturing are mainly cross-coupled from four aspects: infrastructure, technological innovation, product optimization and organizational change. The development level and speed of the former are significantly higher than those of the latter, and the gap does not decrease with time. The two have a strong correlation, but there is no high-quality coupling coordination. (2) The main obstacle factors to the digital economy lie in the imperfect supporting facilities, the short board of technological innovation and the lack of technological application capacity. Intelligent manufacturing lacks intelligent application and technological innovation. (3) Influencing factors such as opening to the outside world, economic development, high-level talent input, industrial structure and innovation emphasis have different effects on their coupling and coordinated development in different regions. (4) The spatial correlation test shows that the coupling coordination degree of each region is spatially positively correlated. This research helps to promote the coupling and coordinated development of the digital economy and intelligent manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimizing the connectivity-carbon sequestration coupling coordination of forest and grassland ecological spaces (F&GES) is a crucial measure to enhance carbon sequestration effectively in mining areas. However, the prevailing strategies for optimizing F&GES often overlook the connectivity-carbon sequestration coupling coordination of the network. Therefore, this study aimed to propose a novel restoration plan to improve the connectivity-carbon sequestration coupling coordination of existing networks. Taking a typical mining area in northwestern China (Eyu County) as an example, we extracted the existing F&GES based on remote sensing ecological indicators and ecological risk assessments. Subsequently, we optimized the network using the connectivity-carbon sequestration coupling coordination degree (CSCCD) model from the perspective of connectivity-carbon sequestration coupling coordination, proposed potential alternative optimization schemes, and evaluated the optimization effects. The results showed that the range of Eyu County's F&GES structure had been determined. Ecological source sites with better carbon sequestration effects were primarily distributed in the central and northeastern parts of Eyu County. After optimization, the network added 26 ecological patches, and the added area reached 641.57 km2. Furthermore, the connectivity robustness, edge restoration robustness, and node restoration robustness of the optimized network were significantly improved, and the carbon sequestration effect of the forest and grassland ecological space was increased by 6.78%. The contribution rate of ecological source sites was 97.66%, and that of ecological corridors was 2.34%. The CSCCD model proposed in this study can effectively improve the carbon sequestration effect in mining areas, promote carbon neutrality, and save network optimization time while improving efficiency. This restoration strategy is also applicable to forest and grassland ecosystem management and optimization of ecological spaces in other mining areas, which has positive implications for promoting ecological civilization construction and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional economy-environment-tourism is an open system with complex structure and coupling characteristics. Tourism is the key link among the three subsystems for coordinating the regional economy and ecological environment. The analysis of the coupling coordination relationship among the three subsystems in islands is of great significance for promoting the sustainable development of the regional island tourism. This paper proposes a conceptual index system using entropy weight method and coupling coordination degree model for analysis of the coupling coordination relationship among the regional economy, ecological environment and island tourism. After that, the paper introduces an obstacle degree model to identify the obstacle factors of coordinated development in each island district. This framework is applied to eleven island districts in eastern China's Zhejiang Province during 2008–2018. The results show that the temporal changes of the coupling coordination relationship among economy, environment and tourism in eleven island districts are quite satisfactory, while the regional differences are large. Although the obstacle factors of coordinated development in each district are distinct, most of them tend to be environmental subsystem. Based on the results of analysis, this paper finally puts forward several policy recommendations to provide a referential path for the sustainable development of island tourism. [Display omitted] • A conceptual index system is proposed to analyze the coordinated relationship of islands' economy-environment-tourism. • Coupling coordination degree model and obstacle degree model are applied. • The obstacle factors of coordinated development tend to be environmental subsystem. • Policy implications are put forward to promote the sustainable development of island tourism [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important foundation of a strong agricultural country is the virtuous cycle of the agricultural production system, and the beef cattle industry is the pivotal industry that guarantees the virtuous cycle of China's agricultural production system. Farmers are the main force of beef cattle breeding in China, and livelihood capital is an important basis for influencing farmers' breeding decisions. The measurement and evaluation of the livelihood capital of beef cattle farmers in China can help to comprehensively grasp the current level and structural characteristics of the livelihood capital of beef cattle farmers in China. In this study, the entropy value method and Delphi method were used to determine the weights of each evaluation index, and on this basis, the level, structure, and coupling coordination of farmers' livelihood capital were measured and classified. The study shows that the overall level of livelihood capital of beef cattle farmers is low; the level and structure of livelihood capital show an uneven phenomenon, and the level of livelihood capital of farmers in different regions and different modes differ significantly. The coupling coordination degree among various measurements of livelihood capital of beef cattle farmers in China is also low, which indicates that a good coordination relationship between various types of livelihood capital has not been formed, which may affect the efficiency of resource allocation. It is suggested to improve the livelihood capital level and coupling coordination among beef cattle farmers and improve the livelihood capital structure of farmers by innovating financial tools, developing forage resources, strengthening technical training and extension, and improving policy support for the beef cattle industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional transportation integration is a key aspect in promoting regional integration and high-quality economic development, as it can improve inter-regional connectivity, decrease transportation costs, and facilitate the flow of labor, capital, technology, and data. However, regional transportation integration is also difficult to quantitatively evaluate, causing difficulties in comprehensively understanding the specific transportation–economic relationships for different regions that are planned for integration. This article studied 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta, which is known as the largest regional integration project in China. Two sets of index systems were created to quantitatively evaluate regional transportation integration and high-quality economic development. Coupling coordination degree analysis was then performed to investigate the relationship between the two systems. It was found that areas with a high degree of coupling coordination are located in the Z-shaped belt with the Shanghai–Nanjing–Hefei and Shanghai–Hangzhou–Ningbo urban agglomerations. Furthermore, specific developmental gaps between regional transportation integration and high-quality economic development were identified and mapped, showing areas with transportation development falling behind economic development and vice versa. Based on these findings, a number of policy suggestions are provided from the perspective of province and regional development. It is recommended to continue to invest in transportation development and integration in the well-coordinated Z-shaped region and areas with transportation development falling behind economic development, while it is not recommended to use transportation investment to solve economic problems for those under-developed regions that already have relatively advanced transportation than economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green and high-quality development has become an important development path for the global response to climate change. Eco-efficiency and innovation, as important indicator and core driver of green and high-quality development respectively, have attracted wide attention. However, the research on the relationship between innovation and eco-efficiency is mostly qualitative research, and the index selection of technological innovation and eco-efficiency is single. Therefore, this paper from the perspective of quantitative research based on the industrial enterprise data of 30 provinces from 2006 to 2019 to explore the mechanism between innovation network and eco-efficiency by constructing a three-stage evaluation model. The first step is to build the network SBM model to measure the innovation network efficiency, and decomposing it to explore the internal development and change rules of the innovation. And the SBM with undesirable output model is employed to evaluate the eco-efficiency and analyze the regional heterogeneity. Second, the coupling coordination model is constructed to quantitatively study the coupling coordination degree between innovation network efficiency and eco-efficiency. Finally, the influencing factors of coupling coordinated degree are discussed. The result shows that the innovation network comprehensive efficiency is lower than that of scientific and technological innovation efficiency and transformation of scientific and technological achievement efficiency, and the eco-efficiency of eastern China develops stably and is higher than that of the other three economic zones. Scientific technological innovation and the eco-efficiency of coupling coordination degree is higher than the transformation technological achievement and eco-efficiency of coupling coordination degree. Information and communication technology plays an important role in promoting innovation network comprehensive efficiency and eco-efficiency at different systems. • Decompose the efficiency of innovation network, and make the internal evolution law of innovation "white box" • Coupling coordination model is introduced to explore the dynamic interaction mechanism between innovation and eco-efficiency • To explore the ICT impact on innovation and ecological efficiency coupling coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting the coupled and coordinated development of China's tourism industry and urbanization is of great significance for its marginal and less developed regions. Taking a typical marginal and less developed region, the mountainous border areas of Western Yunnan as the research object, this study analyzed the spatial and temporal characteristics of the coupling coordination degree of the tourism industry and urbanization, as well as their influencing factors, in this region from 2010 to 2019 using the coupling coordination model, spatial gravity model, and panel Tobit model. The study results show the following. (1) The development level of the tourism industry and urbanization in the study region had significantly increased, but there was an obvious polarization phenomenon in its spatial distribution. (2) The coupling coordination degree of the tourism industry and urbanization showed a good development trend of steady growth, and the areas were ranked according to the average annual growth rate as follows: West Yunnan > Southwest Yunnan > Northwest Yunnan. (3) The regional differences in the coupling coordination degree had expanded, reflecting an "agglomeration phenomenon" and "distance decay effect", and the tourism industry lagging (obstructed) subtype was dominant. (4) The industrial structure, transportation accessibility, capital effect, consumption capacity, and talent support had significant positive effects on the coupling coordination degree, but the role of openness to the outside world was not obvious. This study can provide a useful reference for further studies on the marginal and less developed regions of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]