Study on the dynamic evolution and synergistic relationship between urbanization and eco-efficiency through the selection of 76 agricultural counties and districts in Liaoning province as research units

Abstract

Coordination and interaction among urbanization processes, efficient resource utilization, and ecological protection have emerged as key challenges for spatial development and protection of a territory. In this paper, we quantitatively determined the urbanization level and eco-efficiency by utilizing the entropy evaluation method and the SBM model with undesirable outputs, and then employed kernel density estimation, center movement method, and bivariate Moran's I index method to examine the spatial-temporal pattern as well as the interaction between the above two factors. This study provides a new framework for the measurement of urbanization and eco-efficiency and their interaction. The results of the study in the research area demonstrate that: (1) From 2013 to 2017, the urbanization level exhibited a steady increase from 0.2468 to 0.2789, while eco-efficiency depicted an N-shaped development trend before suffering an overall decline from 0.4364 to 0.3117; (2) the low-level units of urbanization level illustrated a strong convergence trend, and each unit possessed low eco-efficiency with weak spatial matching in general; (3) an ambiguous symbiosis exists between the center of gravity of movements of the two factors within each region; and (4) a global positive correlation was found between the urbanization level and eco-efficiency in Liaoning Province. The global Moran's I index first increased and then decreased.