Mountainous County Research Articles

Spatial Synergy between Tourism Resources and Tourism Service Facilities in Mountainous Counties: A Case Study of Qimen, Huangshan, China

Under the influence of mountainous terrain, the spatial synergy between tourism resources and tourism service facilities has emerged as a pivotal factor affecting the overall efficiency enhancement of regional tourism destinations. In order to explore the synergistic effect of the two, taking Qimen County as the study site, this study utilizes Point of Interest (POI) data of tourism resources and tourism service facilities. It constructs a fine-scale multidimensional spatial synergy methodology based on grid vectorization to conduct scenario-based comparative analyses of altitude and population density. The objective is to elucidate the effects of fine-scale tourism development synergy and propose enhancement strategies. The findings are as follows: (1) The vertical zonation of mountains has led to a widespread, decentralized distribution of natural tourism resources in mid-to-high-altitude areas, while humanistic tourism resources in low-altitude urbanized areas exhibit a granular, clustered distribution. These contrasting scenarios manifest a polarization, making it difficult to achieve supply–demand matching of the layout pattern of tourism service facilities along transportation routes. (2) The spatial gradient effect of the synergy between the two in mountainous counties is significant, with a higher synergy level in core towns and obvious misalignment in peripheral areas. (3) Altitude and population density are critical factors influencing the supply of tourism service facilities. Through scale aggregation guidance and cost–benefit mechanisms, the spatial distribution can be classified, stratified, and optimized to better serve resource development. This study provides valuable insights into understanding laws governing development and utilization within mountainous county areas for academic research purposes.

Spatial–temporal evolution and land use transition of rural settlements in mountainous counties

BackgroundRural settlements are undergoing significant changes under the rapid urbanisation, and understanding their evolution characteristics and surrounding land use will provide a basis for land spatial planning. This study takes Pingnan County, Fujian Province, China as study area, reveals the characteristics of spatial–temporal evolution and surrounding land use transition of settlements during 1985–2020 through landscape metrics, spatial “hot spot” analysis, scale classification statistics, rank-size model, Gini index, land use transition matrix.ResultsThe results show that: (1) Concerning the size and morphological characteristics, the settlements have witnessed a considerable increase in number and scale while remaining stable in shape. (2) Regarding spatial distribution characteristics, the settlements became more evenly spread, forming three main hotspot clusters. (3) Concerning scale structure characteristics, there are significant differences in scale, growth rates, and polarisation of settlements; the polarisation of large settlements shifted from a marked divergence before 2010 to a more balanced trend after 2010. (4) The land use transition around settlements differed in buffer zones and periods. During 1985–2010, settlement expansion heavily depended on cropland, depleting nearby resources, with an increase of woodland and grassland. During 2010–2020, expansion integrated cropland, woodland, and grassland, with cropland growth mainly encroaching on woodland and grassland.ConclusionsThe study's findings are significant for optimising rural settlement structure in mountains and promoting sustainable land resource use.

SOCIAL-LEGAL TERMINOLOGY REGARDING THE SOCIAL CLASS STRUCTURE OF THE MEHEDENTIAN MOȘNENI IN THE WORK OF ION IONESCU DE LA BRAD

The information selected by Ion Ionescu de la Brad is relevant to the as yet unwritten social history of the Romanians, especially in detailing some scientific issues that clearly differentiate the landed gentry as a social class: the share of landlords owned by landlords, the ranking of landlord categories, the condition of the landed gentry, the social-political condition of the landed elite, etc... Ion Ionescu de la Brad's conclusion, after an inventory of the landed villages in Mehedinți, was that, in 1864 (a year of fundamental changes in Romanian society), the landlords and landed estates in this part of the country still represented only about 25% of what they had been previously. Nevertheless, the "moșnenia" was a dignified social-historical state, of social freedoms, for which the emancipation and the vitality of the Romanian nation were being fought for. It is still alive today in the public consciousness, especially in the mountain counties of Mehedinți, Gorj, Valcea, etc.

Spatiotemporal evolution and Sustainably comprehensive zoning optimization of production–living–ecological functions in the Mountain–Flatland areas

Examining the spatiotemporal changes of territorial space is crucial for addressing the conflict between economic-social development and the natural environment and achieving optimal territorial space utilization. However, there is a research gap regarding the spatial characteristics and optimization in the mountain–flatland area. To address this gap, this paper focuses on the urban agglomeration in Central Yunnan (UACY) as a representative mountain-flatland area. A mountain–flatland classification model was established. Based on the evaluation of production– living– ecological functions, the economic models were introduced to measure the balance degree, and further researched the spatiotemporal evolution and coupling coordination characteristics by spatial analysis from 2010 to 2020. The findings indicate the following: (1) The study area exhibited distinct mountain-flatland differentiation, with "western mountainous counties (MCs)/semi-mountainous and semi-flatland counties (SMSFCs), central flatland counties (FCs), and eastern SMSFCs". production function (PF) primarily formed a cluster in the central-northeastern areas of FCs and of SMSFCs, living function (LF) was highly clustered in the central areas of FCs, remained stable, and ecological function (EF) was significantly clustered in the northwestern regions of MCs and of SMSFCs, significantly enhanced in the northeast. (2) The imbalance degree followed the order LF > PF > EF, showing a decreasing trend primarily driven by intra-group imbalances within FCs, SMSFCs, and MCs. The coordinate areas were mainly concentrated in central FCs, and the dysfunctional areas was largely located in MCs and SMSFCs, the degree was improved, especially in northwestern and southeastern MCs and SMSFCs. (3) The study area fell into 18 functional areas, optimized into 13 areas, with recommendations for differentiated development control paths to achieve an optimization of PLEFs. These results provide theoretical references for promoting sustainable utilization of territorial resources and facilitating high-quality regional development in UACY and other parts of the country.

The Main Experiences and Insights of the "Two Mountains" Practice Innovation Base in Chinese Mountainous Counties

This study examines the experiences and insights of the "Two Mountains" practice innovation base through a review of the literature, empirical analysis, and on-site research, utilizing Qingyuan County in Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, as a case study. The study examines the interconnected relationship between green mountains and gold and silver mountains within the framework of sustainable development and takes into account the larger context of China's ecological civilization construction. It makes the claim that ecological advantages can be converted into economic advantages. The study summarizes Qingyuan County's experiences and emphasizes how the county realized that green mountains and clear waters alone make up "gold and silver mountains". The county actively looks for ways to turn ecological advantages into financial gains and has established a green industry system based on ecological tourism, industry, and agriculture. Ecological capital is created through this transformation, which makes ecological resources a vital component of the regional economy within the ecological region. The paper talks about the lessons learned and experiences that can be applied to further integrate development and protection, combine substantive operations and reform, and combine model demonstrations with experience sharing.

Has the largest-scale poverty alleviation relocation in human history promoted urbanization? An empirical analysis from China

ABSTRACT Poverty alleviation resettlement (PAR) programme is the largest-scale poverty alleviation relocation in human history, but its impact on urbanization has received little academic attention. To fill this important gap, this study first proposed a theoretical framework of the “pressure-state-response-effect” (PSRE) of PAR promoting urbanization. Then, we regarded PAR as a quasi-natural experiment and used the PSM-DID model to assess the impact of PAR on urbanization based on the panel data of 2,081 counties in China from 2013 to 2020. Results showed that PAR had a significant positive impact on the urbanization rate of these counties, with a growth rate of 0.64%. Further mechanism analysis showed that industrial upgrading could expand the impact of PAR implementation on promoting urbanization. Additionally, PAR in the eastern and western, hilly and mountainous counties could improve the urbanization level more than that in the central and plain counties. The effectiveness of PAR varied across regions, requiring consideration of local socioeconomic complexity rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Our findings would have important reference value for other developing countries to formulate their anti-poverty strategies to achieve the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

How does ecological poverty alleviation contribute to improving residents' sustainable livelihoods? — Evidence from Zhejiang Province, China

Ecological poverty alleviation (EPA) constitutes an important approach to achieving both the utilization of sustainable ecosystem services and an improved well-being for local residents. Based on the sustainable livelihood framework, this study assessed how the EPA industry contributes to enhancing residents' sustainable livelihoods and examined the factors that distinguish the resulting outcomes. Using the text analysis method and ANOVA tests, we analyzed and compared the contributions to the livelihood of 120 EPA projects across 26 mountainous counties in Zhejiang Province, China. The research identified three components that enhance our understanding of the mechanisms linking ecosystem services and poverty alleviation. First, development strategy plays an important role in differentiating the outcomes of poverty reduction. Tourism-driven projects are relatively more effective in improving natural and economic capital, whereas agriculture-driven projects contribute more to improving human, social, and physical capital. Second, institutional arrangements also shape the outcomes of EPA projects. Of the four governance modes analyzed in this study, village-led projects are the most efficient, whereas company-led projects are the least efficient. Third, residents' level of participation is an essential factor that differentiates the outcomes of EPA projects. Participation by local residents provides effective mechanisms to ensure accountability of the various stakeholders, thus guaranteeing a minimum trade-off between environmental and socioeconomic sustainability. Stakeholders with different perspectives need to engage more in debates about the factors that affect livelihoods and the ways in which they interact with poverty-alleviation measures.

Study on the influence of urban tree canopy on thermal environment in Luoping County

Urban forest is an integral part of the complex urban ecosystem, and tree canopy plays a key role in improving urban climatic environment. Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) is strongly linked to urban thermal environment and living quality of residents. In this study, Luoping County, a mountainous county in southwest China, was selected as the study area to uncover the inner connections between tree canopy and thermal environment, and provide relevant scientific references for the construction of livable forest cities in similar areas. Through eCongnition Developer, ENVI and ArcGIS software, the distribution of Land Surface Temperature (LST) and land cover types in the study area was extracted, 63 patches with super-large and extra-large tree canopy coverage selected, to explore the regulatory effect of UTC patches on urban thermal environment based on SPSS software. Results showed that the highest LST in the research area was 37.63 ℃, the lowest 24.73 ℃, and the average 30.83 ℃. Among the land cover types, the area of buildings and impervious surfaces was 1615.71 hm2, accounting for 55.76% of the total study area, which was the largest proportion and with widespread distribution; the area of grassland and water body was 57.48 hm2 and 12.35 hm2, respectively, taking up 1.98% and 0.43%, with a smaller proportion. Mean LST: impervious surface > bare land > grassland > tree canopy > water body. By increasing the area and perimeter of the patch covered by tree canopy, the cooling rate of the patch can be increased while the temperature inside the patch can be reduced. The relationship between the area and cooling rate is closer than that between perimeter and cooling rate. The increase of perimeter has a stronger alleviation effect on the internal temperature of the patch, whereas, the increase of area has a weaker effect in this respect.

Research on bankruptcy reorganization of township partnership enterprises under the background of common prosperity *

Township partnerships are one of the important driving forces for the development of mountainous counties. The existing bankruptcy reorganization system is mainly applicable to legal person enterprises, and township partnership enterprises cannot realize self-rescue through the reorganization system. To help rural coprosperity effectively, this paper analyses the practical difficulties of bankruptcy reorganization of rural partnership enterprises in 26 mountainous counties and proposes corresponding countermeasures and suggestions.

Accessibility of Primary Schools in Rural Areas and the Impact of Topography: A Case Study in Nanjiang County, China

In recent years, many developing countries have consolidated rural primary schools, closed small community schools, and enlarged centralized schools, which can reduce the accessibility of education to many communities. Meanwhile, expanding road networks may enable people in far-flung communities to access schools more easily. To evaluate the impacts of both trends on spatial justice in access to education, it is important to examine spatial patterns of primary school accessibility and their predictors. How do the topographic features of villages and surrounding landscapes correlate with primary school accessibility in rural upland areas? Using a digital map route planning application, this study evaluates the primary school accessibility of each village in Nanjiang County, a mountainous county in southwest China. By evaluating relationships between primary school accessibility and village characteristics, this study provides evidence corroborating frequent claims that rural remote mountainous areas have poor primary school accessibility. Additionally, by analyzing the effects of elevation and ruggedness of villages and of the zone between villages and schools as well as the mechanisms driving these effects, we find that, contrary to expectations, with increasing village elevation, a village’s primary school accessibility first decreases and then increases. The ruggedness of the terrain upon which a village is built has no significant effect. The ruggedness of the zone between a village and its nearest school exerts significant effects. These findings demonstrate that the two policies have created a pattern of spatial injustice that disadvantages peripheral villages, illustrating the need to attend to topography in efforts to provide equitable school access in rural mountainous areas.

Using EL-CA Model to Predict Multi-Scenario Land Sustainable Use Simulation and Urban Development

The ecological civilisation has become a consensus on society development in China, and is an inevitable requirement for building a community with a shared future for mankind. Exploring the changes in land use in mountainous counties is practically required to achieve a sustainable economy and society and build a beautiful China. Aiming at the contradiction between the expansion of urban construction land and the ecological environment, the research takes a typical mountainous city, Qianshan city, as an example. Under the three scenarios guided by the two development concepts: protect cultivated land priority and protect ecological priority, the research applies the SD model to predict the demand for land use, the EL-CA model to simulate the spatial evolution of land use, and the gravity centre model to analyse the city’s future development. Results show that: (1) In the scenario of protect cultivated land priority, ecological land is severely fragmented, and part of it is converted into cultivated land; in the scenario of protect ecological land priority, the ecological land nearby built-up area is largely encroached, and the others may be spottily encroached by construction land; (2) In different development scenarios, cities will mainly expand to the south in the future, and the northern part of the city will generally undertake the protection of ecological and cultivated land. The research simulates the evolution process of future land use in mountainous cities; it provides a theoretical reference for spatial planning for national land and the implementation of green development and technical guidance for urban expansion and ecological coordination.

Dual-objective pattern optimization method for land suitability zoning in mountain counties

Dual-objective pattern optimization method for land suitability zoning in mountain counties

Study on the Spatiotemporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Agricultural Carbon Emissions in the Counties of Zhejiang Province.

The accurate measurement of agricultural carbon emissions and the analysis of the key influential factors and spatial effects are the premise of the rational formulation of agricultural emission reduction policies and the promotion of the regional coordinated governance of reductions in agricultural carbon emissions. In this paper, a spatial autocorrelation model and spatial Dubin model are used to explore the spatiotemporal characteristics, influential factors and spatial effects of agricultural carbon emissions (ACEs). The results show that (1) From 2014 to 2019, the overall carbon emissions of Zhejiang Province showed a downward trend, while the agricultural carbon emission density showed an upward trend. ACEs are mainly caused by rice planting and land management, accounting for 59.08% and 26.17% of the total agricultural carbon emissions, respectively. (2) The ACEs in Zhejiang Province have an obvious spatial autocorrelation. The spatial clustering characteristics of the ACEs are enhanced, and the "H-H" cluster is mainly concentrated in the northeast of Zhejiang, while the "L-L" cluster is concentrated in the southwest. (3) The results of the Dubin model analysis across the whole sample area show that the ACEs exhibit a significant spatial spillover effect. The disposable income per capita in the rural areas of the county significantly promotes the increase in the ACEs in the neighboring counties, and the adjustment of the industrial structure of the county has a positive effect on the agricultural carbon emission reductions in neighboring counties. (4) The grouping results show that there is heterogeneity between 26 counties in the mountainous areas and non-mountainous areas. In the 26 mountainous counties, the urbanization rate, rural population, mechanization level and industrial structure have significant negative spatial spillover effects on the carbon emissions. In the non-mountainous counties, the agricultural economic development level and disposable income per capita of the rural residents have significant spatial spillover effects on the agricultural carbon emissions. These research results can provide a theoretical basis for the promotion of the development of low-carbon agriculture in Zhejiang according to the region and category.

Slope characteristics of urban construction land and its correlation with ground slope in China

Abstract Since the 21st century, China’s urban construction land has been growing rapidly, piquing academic interest. However, mountainous counties account for the majority in China, previous studies have concentrated on the horizontal expansion characteristics of construction land, leaving a gap in the vertical expansion. This study used datasets for urban construction land and digital elevation model to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of construction land slope in 2670 China’s counties, by exploratory spatial data analysis. Furtherly, we explored the slope relationship between ground and construction land using regression analysis. The findings indicate what follows: (1) The average slope of construction land had a spatial pattern of “high in the south and low in the north,” with significant spatial agglomeration characteristics. And it had increased with the urban expansion, shifting the slope-weighted mean center toward the southeast while enhancing spatial agglomeration. (2) There was a significant and steadily rising linear association between the urban construction land slope and ground slope, due to spatial heterogeneity; the most affected counties were primarily located near the Sichuan basin. According to the results, we provided suggestions for the rational use and sustainable development of land in cities, especially for mountainous regions in a period of rapid urbanization.

Analyzing the Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Urban Land Use Expansion and Its Influencing Factors in Zhejiang Province, China.

The 21st century expansion of built-up areas due to rapid urbanization has recently been at the forefront of global land use/land cover research. Knowledge of the changing dynamics of urban land use is crucial for the monitoring of urbanization and the promotion of sustainable urban development. In this paper, Zhejiang Province was selected as the study area. It is a region with rapid urban growth located along the southeastern coast of China, with a highly developed economy but with a shortage of land resources. We employed remotely sensed and socio-economic panel data for the period between 1990 and 2020 to monitor urban land use changes and utilized the spatial Durbin model (SDM) to examine the urbanization process and the various driving factors of rapid urban expansion in Zhejiang Province, China, from 1990 to 2020. The study's results revealed substantial urban growth of about 6899.59 km2, i.e., 6.6%, whereas agricultural land decreased by 4320.68 km2, i.e., 4.19%. The rapid urban development was primarily attributed to the transformation of farmlands, forestlands, and water bodies into built-up areas by nearly 86.9%, 6.94%, and 6.06%, respectively. The built-up areas revealed features of spatial clustering. The study showed that the expansion hotspots were mainly distributed within the urban fabric of cities such as Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jinhua-Yiwu, and Wenzhou-Taizhou. The results further revealed the substantial influence of urban growth on the local areas of the province. As the core explanatory variables, population and economic development significantly promoted local urban expansion. The study's findings indicated a positive spatial spillover effect as regards the influence of economic development on the study area's urban growth, whereas the spatial spillover effect of the population was negative. Therefore, economic development was a major driving factor contributing immensely to the expansion of urban areas in Zhejiang Province, especially in the 26 mountainous counties of the province. The study enriches our understanding of the transformation of LULC and the changing dynamics of urban areas in China and provides the necessary research data that are vital for urban land-use planners and decision-makers to overcome the negative consequences of the expansion of urban areas due to the continuous economic growth of China.

Spatiotemporal Changes and Driving Factors of Ecosystem Health in the Qinling-Daba Mountains

Rapid industrialization and urbanization have accelerated land-use changes in mountainous areas, with dramatic impacts on ecosystem health. In particular, the Qinling-Daba Mountains, as China’s central water tower, ecological green lung, and biological gene bank, have rich resource endowments and extremely high ecological value and are an important protective wall to China’s ecological security. Therefore, understanding the level of ecosystem health and its drivers in the research area contributes to the conservation and restoration of the mountain ecosystem. Based on remote sensing image data and land-use data from 2000 to 2020, we explored the spatial characteristics of ecosystem health, and supplemented with socio-economic data to explore its driving factors. The results show that (1) the ecosystem health in the study area has been continuously improved during the study period, and the regional differences in ecological organization are the most prominent; (2) the level of ecosystem health in the Qinling-Daba Mountains has been spatially improved from the peripheral areas to the central area, showing significant spatial autocorrelation and local spatial aggregation; (3) the ecosystem health is influenced by a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors, among which the negative effect of GRDP is mainly concentrated in the eastern region, the negative effect of the proportion of built-up land gradually spreads to the western region, and the positive effect of the proportion of forest land has a large scale. This study contributes to a better understanding of ecosystem health in mountainous counties in China and provides useful information for policymakers to formulate ecological and environmental management policies.

Spatio-Temporal Patterns of County Population Shrinkage and Influencing Factors in the North–South Transitional Zone of China

Population is the foundation of socio-economic development. However, continued population shrinkage has made the problem of unbalanced and insufficient regional development more prominent, threatening human well-being. How to solve the contradiction between population shrinkage and regional development has become an urgent scientific problem. Therefore, taking a typical underdeveloped mountainous region, the North-South Transitional Zone of China, as an example, we analyzed the spatial and temporal evolution of regional population shrinkage from 2000 to 2020, classified the types of regional population shrinkage, and revealed the key influencing factors and driving mechanisms for the formation of population shrinkage patterns in poor mountainous counties. The results showed that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the number of counties in the North-South Transitional Zone of China with population shrinkage grew, and the degree of shrinkage increased. The shrinking counties were mainly municipal counties, and the shrinkage types were mainly continuous shrinkage and expansion followed by shrinkage. (2) Spatially, the shrinking counties had significant and strengthening spatial autocorrelation, with obvious characteristics of the contiguous shrinkage of county units, and the shrinkage center of gravity and shrinkage agglomeration areas showed an evolutionary trend of shifting from east to west. The shrinking counties had obvious divergence in both the "east-west" and "north-south" directions. (3) Natural factors had an endogenous rooting role, while human factors had a strong driving role, and the impact of different influencing factors varied significantly. (4) The formation and evolution of the spatial pattern of county population shrinkage was subject to the synergistic effect of natural factors and human factors. The interaction between natural and human factors had a non-linear enhancement effect and a two-factor enhancement effect. The results of this study are expected to provide a scientific basis for coordinating regional human-land relations in order to optimize population-flow governance and sustainable regional development in the North-South Transitional Zone and less-developed regions of China.

Study on the Spatial-Temporal Characteristics and Divergence of Rural Human Settlement Quality of Mountainous Counties in Zhejiang, China

The rural human settlement is an important carrier for rural residents’ production and living life, and its quality level is an important basis for judging the current living conditions of rural residents. This study aims to explore the spatial-temporal characteristics of the rural human settlement in mountainous counties of Zhejiang Province, as well the influencing factors, based on a constructed evaluation index system for a quality improvement in these areas. This study takes the rural human settlement of the mountainous counties in Zhejiang Province as the research object, constructs an evaluation index system of rural human settlement quality of these counties based on the current situation and development policies of Zhejiang Province, and evaluates the rural human settlement quality from 2016 to 2020. Further, spatial autocorrelation analysis, trend surface analysis, and other analysis methods are used to evaluate the results. The evaluation results were analyzed using spatial autocorrelation analysis and trend surface analysis, and the performance of each influencing factor and interaction force was detected using geographic probes. The study found that: (1) Overall, the quality of the rural human settlement in the mountainous counties of Zhejiang Province has been steadily improving over the past five years, and there is no obvious spatial correlation among counties, though the spatial development characteristics and development trend of the north is better than the south, and the east is better than the central areas. (2) Each subsystem also shows a steady increase and presents different spatial distribution characteristics. (3) The quality of the rural human settlement is significantly associated with policy orientation, the level of economic development, and landscape development characteristics. (4) The factors that currently have the greatest effect on the 26 counties include the level of agricultural modernization and economic development level, among which five groups of factors have an interactive effect. In sum, this study judged the development trend of rural human settlement quality and the main influencing factors in the mountainous counties of Zhejiang Province this year and provides a scientific basis for their improvement. It also provides research ideas for the evaluation and optimization of rural habitat quality in other mountainous counties in China.

Income effect of rural E-commerce: Empirical evidence from Taobao villages in China

Rural E-commerce (EC) has experienced rapid growth in China since 21st century. The formation of Taobao Villages has brought considerable economic and social benefits in farmers' flexible employment and poverty reduction, which contributes to the future development direction of rural and underdeveloped areas. Adopting the panel data of Taobao Villages (TB-villages) in 57 counties of Zhejiang Province from 2010 to 2018, this paper applies the continuous difference-in-differences (DID) method to investigate the impact and mechanism of TB-villages on rural residents' incomes. As a result of empirical analysis, TB-villages significantly and positively affect rural residents' incomes. More specifically, per capita net income will increase by 3.6% for every 1% increase in the proportion of TB-villages in administrative villages. In mountainous counties, the income-increasing effect is considerably higher than that of non-mountainous counties. Furthermore, the mechanism analysis reveals that the industry structure has a considerable mediating effect, and the proportion of export to GDP has a significant suppressing effect. Local governments are expected to increase investment in industry structure and create a more conducive environment for rural economic development, according to this paper. Additionally, the policy should be oriented toward mountainous and backward areas.

Research on land-use evolution and ecosystem services value response in mountainous counties based on the SD-PLUS model.

Rapid urbanization has caused changes in climate and environment and threatened the ecosystem with multiple risks. The ecosystem services capacity has shown a downward trend accordingly. It is significant to explore the spatio‐temporal evolution of land use and ecosystem services value (ESV) in mountainous counties at small scales, as it coordinates economic growth and ecological protection, and promotes sustainable and high‐quality development. Based on the SD‐PLUS model, the study simulated three scenarios of land‐use change in Qianshan city from 2019 to 2035: high‐growth rate, medium‐growth rate, and low‐growth rate, and studied the impacts of land‐use change on the ESV. Results showed that: (1) Under the three scenarios, the construction land in the study area increased significantly, the forest and water have a decreasing trend, and the scale of gardens partly increased. (2) In the urban built‐up areas, a significant amount of construction land is centrally expanded, whereas, in mountainous regions, construction land exhibits sporadic point expansion. And among the various factors that influence land‐use change, the impact of roads at all levels is the most significant, followed by elevation. (3) The overall ESV shows a downward trend, with the low‐growth rate scenario dropping the least (4.91%). The value distribution changes little at the space scale, and different regions demonstrate different degrees of change. From the perspective of value type, the service values of water conservation and waste treatment are significantly reduced, while that of food production is relatively stable; from the perspective of various lands with their ESV, cultivated land and forest remain stable. The study results can provide technical ideas for the coordinated economic development and ecological protection of mountainous cities and boost the implementation of green development.