Understanding the Characteristics and Realization Path of Urban Land Use Transition in the Bohai Economic Rim: An Analytical Framework of “Dominant-Recessive” Morphology Coupling

Abstract

Taking the Bohai Economic Rim as the research area and 44 prefecture-level cities as research objects, on the basis of deepening the connotation of urban land use morphology, we constructed a multi-dimensional indicator system for urban land use transition based on the dominant and recessive morphologies of land use. The patterns of change and transition type are described by single-morphology and comprehensive morphology indices, respectively, while a decoupling elastic coefficient model was used to analyze the coupling relationship and evolution process between the dominant and recessive morphologies of urban land use. The results showed the following: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the single-morphology and comprehensive morphology indices of urban land use in the Bohai Economic Rim both improved, to a certain extent. Overall, the transition types of dominant and recessive morphologies of urban land use showed a development trend, in which the degree of recessive morphology transition was higher than the degree of dominant morphology transition, and the spatial difference of its distribution pattern was obvious. (2) From 2000 to 2020, the type of coupling relationship between the dominant and recessive morphologies of urban land use in the Bohai Economic Rim experienced an evolution, from a single-morphology recession decoupling to a single-morphology leading positive hook. The whole region was in the benign development stage of close coupling, where the degree of transition showed the spatial characteristics of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei > Liaodong Peninsula > Shandong Peninsula. (3) Differences in the economic levels and urbanization processes of different cities led to different paths, speeds, and degrees of urban land use transition, showing stable, volatile, and non-transition paths. The direct influence of different influencing factors, as well as their potential effects, drive the dominant and recessive morphologies of urban land use to grow, in terms of coupling and synergy, promoting the realization of urban land use transition.