Spatiotemporal characteristics and driving mechanism of the coupling coordination degree of urbanization and ecological environment in Kazakhstan

Abstract

When viewed against the backdrop of globalization and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Central Asia has ushered in new development opportunities. However, problems of ecological environment as a consequence of urbanization have begun to act as a constraint on the economic development of the region. the coupling coordination degree between the urbanization and ecological environment in Kazakhstan was analyzed by the coupling coordination degree model. The main controlling factors affecting its development were explored using a geographical detector. Several main conclusions can be drawn. (1) Kazakhstan’s urbanization level, ecological environment level, and the coupling coordination degree between urbanization and ecological environment are all on the rise. (2) In terms of the comprehensive urbanization index, the western and eastern states have higher values than the southern and northern states. The spatial distribution pattern of the ecological environment index revealed high values in the eastern and western regions and low values in the central region. (3) The coupling coordination degree among the states of Kazakhstan is mostly at a low-moderate level. The spatial distribution shows that the coordination level of the east, middle, and west of the country is higher than that of south and north. (4) Indicators such as GDP per capita, social fixed asset investment per capita, employment in industry and services (% of total employment), and the number of college students per 10,000 people are important urbanization factors that affect the coupling coordination degree of urbanization and ecological environment. Indicators of farmland areas per capita, availability of water resources per capita, ecological land per capita and forest coverage in the ecological environment subsystem are important ecological environmental factors that affect the degree of coordination between urbanization and ecological environment in Kazakhstan. The interaction of the main elements in the two subsystems has a strong synergy.