Spatiotemporal evolution and relationship between construction land expansion and territorial space conflicts at the county level in Jiangsu Province

Abstract

In rapidly urbanizing areas, intense human development activities and fierce competition for spatial resources have led to apparent territorial space conflicts. This paper selects Jiangsu Province as the study area to explore the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and response relationship between the expansion of county-level construction land and territorial space conflicts from 1985 to 2020 to provide a reference for regional territorial space optimization. The results show that the construction land expansion intensity (CEI) at the county level showed a spatial characteristic of greater power in the southeast than in the northwest. The spatial expansion mode (SEI) was mainly characterized by spread type, with construction land experiencing marginal expansion, the emergence of new independent expansion points, and then the expansion process of agglomeration distribution. From 1985 to 2020, there was a significant increase in territorial space conflicts and an increase in spatial aggregation at the county level. The regions with high space conflicts intensity index (SCII) values and high increase in space conflicts intensity changes (SCIIC) were mainly located in Xuzhou, Nanjing, and at the junction of Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, and Zhenjiang. There was a positive correlation between CEI and SCIIC, and the correlation of positive correlation units increased from south to north. There was a positive correlation between SEI and SCIIC, and the units with a strong positive correlation were mainly located in Xuzhou, Nantong, Changzhou, and Wuxi. The changes in population density and GDP also affect SCIIC. This paper strengthens the understanding of the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and related relationships of construction land expansion and territorial space conflicts at the county level over a long time, which can provide a decision-making basis and reference for the regulation of county construction land expansion, territorial space optimization in Jiangsu Province.