The effect of urban–rural construction land transition on ecosystem services: A theoretical framework and empirical evidence for China

Abstract

Urban-rural construction land transition (URCLT) is one of the main manifestations of global urban-rural transition development, which has caused many negative effects on local landscape ecosystem. Better understanding of the ecosystem services (ES) changes due to URCLT is of great significance to achieve sustainable urban development. This study proposes a theoretical framework elucidating the dynamic effect of URCLT on ES, and summarizes two effects to support the framework, namely scale and structural effects. Subsequently, a series of econometric models are built to meticulously verify the proposed framework and two supposed effects. Taking China's prefectural-level city as case study, the results show that URCLT exerted an inverted N-shaped effect on ES during 2000–2015, and this cubic relationship mainly occurred in the Midwest. Followed tests demonstrate the existence of scale and structural effects, and both jointly determined the magnitude and direction of the effect of URCLT on ES at different transition stages. A major finding is that China's unique urban-rural dual system has seriously hindered the sustainability, especially in central and western areas. Finally, specific policy recommendations for sustainable urban development were proposed for the regions in China. In addition, the proposed framework can also provide effective guidance for urban planning in other rapidly urbanizing cities across the world.