Abstract
Rapid urbanization has affected the eco-environment in China. A clear understanding of the coupling relationship between urbanization quality and eco-environment pressure is needed for sustainable urban development. This study focused on the relationship between urbanization quality and eco-environment pressure in the West Taiwan Strait Urban Agglomeration (WTSUA) with panel data collected from 2003 to 2017. An index system was established to measure urbanization quality from four urbanization subsystems: demographic urbanization, spatial urbanization, economic urbanization, and social urbanization. An index of eco-environment pressure was developed from resource availability, energy consumption, pollution emissions, and pressure response. The level of urbanization quality and eco-environment pressure was assessed using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy method (EM). The coupling process was described using a coupling coordination degree model. Results showed the following: (1) Economic urbanization contributed the most to urbanization quality. The contribution of the four subsystems to eco-environment pressure was similar. (2) Eco-environment pressure decreased with improving urbanization quality. The coupling coordination degree between urbanization quality and eco-environment pressure increased. Spatially, the coupling coordination degree of eastern cities was higher than that of western cities. The findings of this paper will help government in planning and implementing sustainable urban development and eco-environment conservation.
Highlights
Urbanization is one of the most important human activities to affect the earth [1]
For the urbanization quality subsystem, economic urbanization accounted for the highest proportion (32.1%), which indicates that it had the biggest influence on urbanization quality
We assessed the level of urbanization quality, the trend of eco-environment pressure, and the coupling coordination relationship between urbanization quality and eco-environment pressure in the West Taiwan Strait Urban Agglomeration (WTSUA), by combining analytic hierarchy process (AHP), entropy method (EM), and a coupling coordination degree model
Summary
Urbanization is one of the most important human activities to affect the earth [1]. At present, more than 50% of the population lives in cities in the world, and this proportion is growing rapidly [2]. Urbanization promotes global economic growth, affects regional resources, and changes the natural environment on several scales [3,4]. In 2018, the proportion of China’s urban population was 56.1%, with an increase of 38.2 percentage points compared with 1978 [6]. Severe challenges have emerged during the process of urbanization, including regional economic disparity, environmental pollution intensification, excessive resource consumption, and increasing traffic congestion [7,8,9,10]. The conflict between urban growth and eco-environment sustainability has become increasingly obvious. Understanding how to coordinate urbanization and eco-environmental protection is crucial for promoting coordinated, stable and sustainable development that balances the regional economy, society, and eco-environment
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