Abstract
Ongoing global urbanization is imposing tremendous pressure on the eco-environment. Research on the coupling of the eco-environment and urbanization has important significance for the sustainable development of urban metropolitan. Looking at the Wuhan Metropolitan Area, which includes nine cities, as a case study area, this paper describes an empirical study done to uncover the interactive coupling relationship between the eco-environment and new-type urbanization in the urban metropolitan area from the perspective of eco-environment carrying capacity. The eco-environment carrying capacity evaluation index system was set up using the pressure-state-response (PSR) model, and then the coupling model was built. The results indicate that the eco-environment carrying capacity in the Wuhan Metropolitan Area is generally sustainable and has three grades. The quality of new-type urbanization in the nine cities in the Wuhan Metropolitan Area shows clear spatial heterogeneity. There are five types of the coupling relationship including moderate coordinated development, elementary coordinated development, reluctant coordinated development, edge of maladjustment, and mild maladjustment between the eco-environment carrying capacity and new-type urbanization level in the Wuhan Metropolitan Area. Therefore, this paper proposes corresponding policies from the aspects of coordinating the industrial division of labor, focusing on the eco-environment carrying threshold and strengthening policy guidance.
Highlights
The process of urbanization, which began in North America and Western Europe, is mainly occurring in developing nations
Based on the above results, this paper analyzes the level of the eco-environment carrying capacity, the quality of new-type urbanization and the coordination of the two systems in the Wuhan Metropolitan Area in 2016
Wang et al [33] adopted the double-exponential curve to analyze the relationship between urbanization and the eco-environment and the results indicated that the relationship can be described as an inverted U-shaped curve, which is called “The inverted-U shape environmental Kuznets curve (EKC)” [75]
Summary
The process of urbanization, which began in North America and Western Europe, is mainly occurring in developing nations. It is bringing major social–ecological change to humankind and especially is imposing tremendous pressure on the eco-environment [1,2]. Researchers have been sharing growing concerns about the relationship between urbanization and the eco-environment [3,4], which simultaneously has become an indispensable part of sustainability research. Wachsmuth et al [11] determined that ecological issues related to sustainability problems are generally on a regional or global scale, but current urban policies usually focus on one aspect of ecological issues in a single city. In the past few decades, China has achieved rapid economic growth relying on the extensive urban development pattern, which features farmland consumption, cheap labor force supply, and environmental deterioration
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