Land Use Transition and Its Eco-Environmental Effects in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Urban Agglomeration: A Production–Living–Ecological Perspective

Yuanyuan Yang,Zongfeng Chen,Wenkai Bao,Yuheng Li,Yongsheng Wang

doi:10.3390/land9090285

Abstract

With the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization, China’s metropolitan areas have experienced dramatic transitions of land use, which has had a profound impact on the eco-environment. Accordingly, the contradictions of regional production, living, and ecological spaces have intensified. In this context, analysis of the dynamics of regional production–living–ecological (PLE) spaces has become an important entry point for studying land use transition and its eco-environmental effects, by constructing a classification system of PLE land functions. Using remote sensing data from four periods from 1985 to 2018, this paper explores the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of PLE spaces and their eco-environmental effects in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) urban agglomeration, based on GIS and the InVEST model. The results revealed that from 1985 to 2018, the living space of the BTH region expanded rapidly, the production space gradually shrank, and the ecological land remained relatively stable. The eco-environmental quality index within the study area shows obvious regional differences, demonstrating the spatial distribution of “high in the northwest and low in the southeast”, and an overall deteriorating trend in the past 33 years. Moreover, the carbon density decreased gradually from northwest to southeast, and the transformations from production land into living land and from ecological land into production land were the major types of eco-environment deterioration. Our findings will provide guidelines for land use management, and offer references for the functional division of PLE spaces and ecological civilization construction, especially in terms of the coordinated development of the BTH region.

Highlights

The land system is an essential part of the earth’s terrestrial system, and is the main carrier of urban–rural spaces [1,2]
From 1985 to 2018, the BTH region was dominated by production land and ecological land
1985the to 2018, use land pattern the study areastudy has changed presentingpresenting characteristics of rapid expansion the useofpattern of the area hassignificantly, changed significantly, characteristics of rapid of living spaces, shrinking production space, and relatively stable ecological land, and the living expansion of living spaces, shrinking production space, and relatively stable ecological land, and the land is mainly being converted from agricultural production land

Summary

Introduction

The land system is an essential part of the earth’s terrestrial system, and is the main carrier of urban–rural spaces [1,2]. Land use transition mirrors natural environment changes [3] and the process of social and economic development [4]. This is a double-edged sword for the sustainable development of the eco-environment. It is estimated that since 1850, land use/cover change has caused a 145 PgC loss in global terrestrial ecosystems [11]. Studies have revealed that the large-scale greening in China and India that has been occurring since the 21st century can mainly be attributed to agricultural intensification, eco-environmental protection, and afforestation policies, which reflects the importance of land use management for ecological improvement [14]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion