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

Xuesong Sun,Zaisheng Zhang

doi:10.3390/su13063171

Abstract

Coupled and coordinated development is key to improving the level of regional urbanization and sustainable urban development and has important practical significance for solving a series of problems that arise in the process of rapid urbanization. First, from the perspective of system coupling, the development mechanism of the urbanization internal subsystems was deconstructed into five dimensions: population, land, economy, ecology and society. Second, based on data from 2017, the coupling coordination degree of urbanization in 13 cities in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region was measured using the entropy method and a coupling coordination model. Finally, the spatial differences in the levels of subsystem development, comprehensive development and coupling and coordination development of urbanization were analyzed using spatial analysis tools. The results indicate that there are significant differences in the development indices of urbanization subsystems in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, among which the economic and social development indices have the greatest differences, and the ecological development index has the smallest. The comprehensive urbanization index shows a core–periphery distribution pattern, in which Beijing and Tianjin have the highest values, the cities in middle-southern Hebei Province generally have lower values, and the cities in northern Hebei Province have the lowest values. The coupling coordination level of urbanization in the Beijing–Tianjin–Tangshan region and Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province, is high, and the difference is small. In contrast, in middle-southern and northern Hebei Province, the coupling coordination degree of urbanization is generally low, and the difference is large. Based on the current situation of urbanization in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, policy suggestions are proposed from the perspectives of strengthening the market mechanism of urbanization, adjusting the regional industrial structure and attaching importance to the coupled and coordinated development of urbanization.

Highlights

Urbanization is the only way to realize modernization in light of the inevitable trend of social and economic development
This study considers the actual situation of urbanization development in the Beijing
With the help of ArcGIS 10.1 spatial analysis technology, a spatial differentiation map of the comprehensive development index and its coupling coordination degree are drawn by using the Jenks natural breakpoint classification method (Figure 4)

Summary

Introduction

Urbanization is the only way to realize modernization in light of the inevitable trend of social and economic development. Since the reform and opening-up, China’s urbanization rate increased from 17.90% in 1978 to 58.52% in 2017 (Table 1). According to the S curve of urbanization proposed by Northam, China is in a period of rapid development, with rates of 30–70% [1]. The reasons for the rapid urbanization are as follows: First, the reform and opening-up allowed China to enter the globalized market, and rapid economic development has directly accelerated the urbanization process. The shift to a non-agricultural labor force caused many people to enter urban areas, and with the growth of the urban population, demand has increased and stimulated further urbanization. China’s urbanization development model is government-led, and policy and institutional support has led to the agglomeration of resource factors in urban areas, leading to Sustainability 2021, 13, 3171.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion