Urban Subsystems Research Articles

Carbon peaking trajectory links to development of a coupled urbanization-industrialization-energy system

On the way towards carbon emission peaking, the influence of the interactions within urbanization, industrialization and energy consumption on the peaking process from the perspective of system evolution remains exclusive. Herein, targeting 30 Chinese provincial regions, we design an integrated framework consisting of 21 indices to represent a coupled urbanization-industrialization-energy (UIE) system. The coupling and coordination within the UIE system are measured and linked to regional carbon emission trajectory during 2000–2021 to explore the influence mechanism on its peaking process. The findings reveal levels of the coupling and coordination ranging from 0.30 to 0.99, with an inverted U-shaped pattern for the coupling and a progression from rapid to gradual growth for the coordination. The comprehensive coupling-coordination degree for regions has not yet reached the state beneficial for achieving the emission peak. The development quality of urbanization subsystem and industrialization subsystem is progressively relieving reliance on the energy subsystem, while a complete decoupling from carbon emissions has not been achieved. The influences of driving forces of the coordination exhibit spatiotemporal variations. The region-specific insights into steering the UIE system towards peaking carbon emissions with emphasis on the key driving forces are of practical significance.

What determines the synergy among urban systems? Evidences from the Yangtze River economic belt over 20 years

China's urbanization has reshaped landscapes, economies, and societies nationwide at unprecedented paces, yet inconsistent march among these processes has resulted in insufficient and unbalanced urban development. Here, we constructed a Population-Land-Economic-Social urbanization (PLESU) system with multiple elements and interaction flows, and explored the spatiotemporal dynamics and influencing factors of the coupling coordination degree (CCD) among PLESU system in 110 prefectural-level cities of Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from 2000 to 2020. Results indicated that the CCD evolution exhibited significant path dependence during the past two decades, with considerable room for improvement. A key finding was that the low-quality development of land urbanization and social urbanization subsystems was the main factor for the lack of synergy among PLESU system, with land finance dependence and municipal investment confirmed to have significant impact on this. Furthermore, results also highlighted narrowing inter-regional differences in the CCD among downstream, midstream and upstream, revealing clustering of CCD in urban agglomerations, yet differing in their internal differentiation patterns and drivers. Exploring the synergy among urban systems will raise policymakers’ awareness of the necessity for embracing a holistic approach toward better sustainability by considering the insufficient and unbalanced nature of urbanization.

Interrelationships between Urbanization and Ecosystem Services in the Urban Agglomeration around Poyang Lake and Its Zoning Management at an Integrated Multi-Scale

The detrimental effects of accelerated urbanization on ecosystem services underscore the necessity of investigating the interactive coercion between the two. This paper employs multi-source data to analyze the urbanization subsystems and modified equivalent factors in order to calculate the urbanization level (UL) and ecosystem service value (ESV) of the Poyang Lake urban agglomeration (PYLUA) from 2005 to 2020 at the administrative, watershed, and grid scales. Bivariate spatial autocorrelation, multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR), and others are applied to explore the interrelationships and impact effects between the two and to conduct zoning management studies. The results indicate that (1) the UL has significantly increased from 2005 to 2020, with a marginal expansion in its spatial distribution, while the ESV shows a generally smooth trend, with high-value and low-value areas present around Poyang Lake and in the metropolitan area, respectively; (2) the UL and ESV are negatively correlated at all the scales, and this negative effect has increased significantly over time; (3) in the OLS model, only land urbanization and population urbanization negatively affect the ESV at the 1% level of significance, while in the MGWR, all the urbanization subsystems negatively affect the ESV at the 1% level of significance and have their own optimal scales; and (4) the UL and ESV are interrelated and divide the PYLUA into five zones: Coordinated Development Zone, Co-Loss Zone, Development Lag Zone, Ecological Loss Zone and Development Potential Zone. These zones identify areas where negative effects are more pronounced and propose corresponding management strategies for each subzone. These results can serve as a foundation for coordinating regional urbanization and preserving the environment.

Study on Coupling and Coordination Relationship between Urbanization and Ecosystem Service Value in Jiangsu Province, China

Urbanization has a significant negative impact on both the structure and function of ecosystems, as it is a major part of the human-caused transformation of natural landscapes. Concurrently, the attenuation of ecosystem service values (ESVs) poses critical impediments to urbanization and imperils human well-being. Investigating the interactive coupling and coordination relationship between urbanization and ESV is paramount in informing urban development strategies and environmental preservation efforts. Using Jiangsu Province as a representative case, this study forges an urbanization assessment index framework, estimates ESV, and subsequently delves into the multifaceted nexus between urbanization and ESV. The findings disclose a gradual uptick in urbanization levels in Jiangsu Province, underscored by conspicuous regional disparities typified in the subregions of southern Jiangsu, central Jiangsu, and northern Jiangsu, mirroring the high congruence observed in the economic urbanization subsystem. However, this upward trajectory in urbanization coincides with an overarching descent in ESV, with the most pronounced declines manifesting in regions characterized by elevated urbanization levels, such as Nantong and Suzhou. A robust interrelationship between urbanization and ESV is discernible throughout Jiangsu Province. Nevertheless, certain cities exhibit perturbations and retrogression in the associations between urbanization subsystems and ESV. The coupling coordination between population urbanization and ESV is characterized by disharmony while the coordination of economic urbanization markedly lags. Additionally, several cities are witnessing a progressive deterioration in the coordination relationships between ESV subsystems (food production, soil conservation, gas regulation, and raw material production) and urbanization. In light of these findings, it is recommended that governmental authorities enact measures to harmonize urban development with environmental preservation, safeguard the integrity of ecosystem functions, and facilitate the sustainable management of land resources.

The role of the environmental subsystem in sustainable urban development: Evidence from megacities in China

Conflicts in urban subsystems have severely hindered the realization of sustainable development, among which the most serious is the conflict between the environmental subsystem and urban development. Differing from studies considering individual environmental elements, this paper innovatively investigates the quantitative relationship between overall environmental performance and other development dimensions to understand the quantitative role of the environmental subsystem in sustainable urban development. Taking the nine megacities in China as an example, this paper first develops the performance variables of four urban subsystems, including the environment, by entropy method and analyzes the conflict or coordination level between the environment and other subsystems through the coupling coordination degree model (CCDM). Then, the interaction mechanism is further analyzed by the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and vector error correction model (VECM). This paper tries to provide a new reference for management and decision-making by focusing on the whole environmental subsystem rather than separate elements, which is of theoretical and practical significance. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The coordination level between the environment and other urban subsystems is low; (2) 1 % rise in the economic and resource performance can respectively lead to 0.2014 % and 0.1388 % declines in the environmental performance; (3) 1 % increase in social performance can bring a 0.3738 % rise in environmental performance; (4) Improving environmental and resource subsystems' performance is the priority; (5) Coordinating urban subsystems is the key to long-run sustainable development. Despite the case studies on megacities in China, we hope to provide a new reference for cities worldwide with concentrated populations, rapid growth, and complex development contradictions.

Coupling coordination analysis and key factors between urbanization and water resources in ecologically fragile areas: a case study of the Yellow River Basin, China.

The rapid urbanization (UR) and industrialization in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) have resulted in a significant scarcity of water resources (WRs), highlighting the need to investigate the complex and dynamic relationship between UR and WR for sustainable urban development in ecologically fragile areas. This study utilizes the coupling coordination degree model (CCDM), spatial correlation analysis, and Tobit model to examine the coupling coordination relationship, spatial effects, and key factors between UR and WR in sixty prefecture-level cities within the YRB. The empirical findings reveal that the development of the WR subsystem lags behind the UR subsystem and that there is a significant spatial disequilibrium in the CCD between UR and WR. Specifically, the high-high clusters are located in the northwest and east, while the low-low clusters are spread in the southwest. Furthermore, investment in science and technology and economic development have a positive impact on the CCD, while government capacity, urban construction, and industrial structure have a negative impact. These results can provide valuable guidance for decision-making in urban planning for ecologically fragile areas facing water supply constraints.

Enhancing urban flood resilience: A coupling coordinated evaluation and geographical factor analysis under SES-PSR framework

Urban flooding has emerged as a significant urban issue in cities worldwide, with China being particularly affected. To effectively manage and mitigate urban floods, a holistic examination of the interaction between urban subsystems is required to improve urban flood resilience. However, the interactions and mechanisms between urban subsystems under flood disaster haven't been addressed adequately in previous studies. Therefore, this paper established a conceptual framework for illustrating the interactions between urban natural-ecological and social-economic subsystem considering urban pressure, state, and response within flood cycle. The objective is to investigate the coupling coordination degree (CCD) between these subsystems and identify the driving factors with a geographical detector model, and the cities in Yangtze River Delta are selected as an empirical example. The findings reveal an overall upward trend towards coordination for the whole area with notable variability among the cities. The resilience of the state dimension emerges as a crucial aspect in determining the CCD of the urban flood resilience of the area. Key driving factors for the coordinated development of urban flood resilience are identified as air pollution, global warming, technological innovation, governance power, financial strength, and urbanization. Based on the findings and the interactions among the driving factors, this paper presents potential implications that can serve as effective guidance and offer insights for policymakers, planners, and researchers in their efforts to enhance urban flood resilience for sustainable development in the future.

Using desirable urban states to understand key linkages between resilience subsystems

Interdisciplinary research is called for to model integrated urban resilience across separate urban subsystems (infrastructure, governance, resources, socio-economic), and for chartering pathways toward an urban ‘desirable state’. A core challenge is to determine the linkages between the subsystems. In this work, we demonstrate a novel approach by first constructing profiles of a desirable state, based on human shared values obtained empirically, and then use those to identify linkages naturally occurring between associated subsystems. We demonstrate the approach in two contrasting cities, Shanghai and Vienna, using WeValue InSitu methods to crystallize shared values and explore perspectives of urban disruption. The Desirable States of both cities provide elements with intrinsic strong linkages between urban subsystems, which can be represented with system dynamics mapping. These results reveal that this values-based approach contributes to modeling and studies of integrated urban resilience, for theory building and for applications.

PROBLEMS OF REGULATING ECO-POSITIVE CHANGES IN SMART CITY FORMATION PROCESSES

Architects, scientists of the Kharkiv National University of Urban Economy. O.M. Beketov conducts research focused on writing the terms of reference for the "Software package for modeling the city as a dynamic system". This development is devoted to the problem of improving SMART-oriented software and analytical tools based on working with large data arrays (BIG DATA) in architectural and urban planning management. The purpose of this toolkit is prognostics and monitoring of the architectural component of the city as a dynamic system. The relevance of its implementation lies in the optimization of the principles of functioning of the architectural component of the city with the calculation of its impact on the processes of functioning of other urban subsystems.
 As a development and improvement of this direction, a method for determining the optimal speed and acceleration of positive transformations of the architectural component of cities, based on the indicator "Ecological footprint of architecture", which is currently being developed, is proposed. It is a method of developing step-by-step strategies for the development of the architectural component of cities. The main problem is to determine the optimal pace of social, environmental and economic changes in the processes of achieving a sustainable state of the city. Too rapid changes will inevitably lead to an aggravation of the socio-economic crisis. Slow change has a negative impact on the sustainability and ecology of the region. For this reason, in this article, the authors have developed a concept for the formation of an indicator that determines the vector, speed and acceleration of modernization of the architectural component of the city. As a factor limiting the rate of change to a socially acceptable level, the indicator of "Sustainable accessibility of vital goods for the population" was chosen.

Impact of Urbanization on Ecosystem Service Value from the Perspective of Spatio-Temporal Heterogeneity: A Case Study from the Yellow River Basin

Ecosystem services are the beneficial goods and services that ecosystems provide to humans. Urbanization is an important feature of human social development. While promoting economic and social development, it also brings about land degradation, resource depletion, environmental pollution and other problems, intensifying the transformation of natural ecosystems into semi-natural and artificial ecosystems, ultimately leading to the loss of ecosystem service functions and declining value. The study of the impact of urbanization on the value of ecosystem services is of critical importance for the conservation of ecosystems and sustainable development. This study examined the spatio-temporal patterns of urbanization’s impacts on ecosystem service value in the Yellow River Basin from the perspective of spatio-temporal heterogeneity. Findings: (1) Both the ecosystem service value (ESV) and urbanization level (UL) in the Yellow River Basin were on the rise on the whole, but they were significantly spatially negatively correlated and mainly characterized by the high–low spatial clustering of “low ESV–high UL” and “high ESV–low UL”. This negative correlation was gradually weakened with the transformation of the urbanization development mode and ecological restoration projects in the Yellow River Basin. (2) The impacts of the five urbanization subsystems on the value of ecosystem services were diverse. Landscape urbanization had a negative impact on the value of ecosystem services in all regions; economic urbanization and innovation urbanization changed from having a negative to a positive impact; and demographic urbanization and social urbanization had both a positive and a negative impact. (3) To promote the coordinated development of ecological environmental protection and urbanization in the YRB, this paper proposes to change the urbanization development model, implement ecological restoration by zoning, and formulate classified development plans. This study compensates for the shortcomings of current studies that ignore the different impacts of urbanization subsystems on ecosystem service value and lack sufficient consideration of the spatio-temporal heterogeneity characteristics of urbanization and ESVs, enriches the theoretical understanding of the interrelationships between natural and human systems in basin areas, and provides a scientific basis for the rational formulation of urban planning and ecological protection policies in the region, which is of great theoretical and practical significance.

Structural tensions limiting success of infrastructure upgrading: A multi-regime perspective

Unfettered growth of slums is a daunting transition challenge and many upgrading programs fail to sustainably improve the livelihoods of slum residents. This paper elaborates a transitions perspective on structural tensions that may lead to success or failure of slum upgrading programs. We conceptualize slums as urban subsystems, governed by sociotechnical (infrastructure) and socioeconomic livelihood regimes (related to production and social reproduction). The framework permits examination of the tensions due to mis/alignments of rules associated with newly introduced infrastructures, and those that regulate existing production and social reproduction practices of slum residents. This approach extends transition studies by accounting for the multi-system interactions between different infrastructure regimes (e.g., transportation, sanitation) and livelihoods within a local sociotechnical system. We apply this framework to an in-depth analysis of a slum upgrading project in Naivasha, Kenya, which was part of a national urban upgrading program covering a total of 80 slums.

Ecosystem Services for the City as a Complex System: A Methodological Proposal

Originating from the main theories on the interpretation of the city as a system, this paper calls attention to the need to build a new theoretical framework. This framework would be able to support actions related to the consideration of ecosystem services in the activities governing urban and territorial transformations. By adopting the systemic interpretation of the city, it may be possible to more readily identify the ecosystem services related to each of the urban subsystems, and promote a new and different consideration of them when defining urban policies on the sustainable management of urban and territorial systems. This reflection describes a new approach to the problem, by indicating mainly the theoretical references and methodological connections to be considered in the development of a new dimension of territorial government. This dimension would be, by necessity, built upon issues that characterize the current historical phase, such as ecological transition, and the new potential of technological innovation that, if properly reconsidered, could contribute to substantially redefining the field of traditional urban planning.

Satisfaction of Istanbul Citizens with Urban Public Transportation

Transportation is one of the most challenging urban subsystems to transform in an environmentally friendly and futuristic way. Many city dwellers use a variety of modes of transportation. An efficient and sustainable urban transportation system must include many modes of transportation for a single trip. Intermodal combinations are essential for urban transportation efficiency. Public transportation and commuting are essential elements of multimodal travel. In urban areas, a mix of bicycles, vehicles, and public transportation is prevalent, while in rural areas, car, and public transportation are more prevalent. By examining the characteristics that lead customers to prefer water transportation over Metrobus and Marmaray, we hope to gain a better understanding of how the Asian and European sides of Istanbul are traversed. The number of participants in the "Maritime Transportation Satisfaction Survey" was 2,343. During this period, a model was built using the survey item "frequency of use" (dependent variable). Numerous survey examines and evaluation methodologies were utilized to determine the effectiveness of this strategy. The study examines the intermodal travel motivations and the evaluation of transportation options by multimodal users. For a successful urban transportation system, urban planning must take into account multimodal travel behavior and user expectations. There are initiatives to improve water transportation in Istanbul. Conventional maritime transportation is inadequate from start to finish. An integrated route optimization method is needed to increase the efficiency of maritime transportation. We believe that by strengthening maritime transportation links will increase water consumption. Before the coronavirus pandemic, 2,343 maritime carriers were evaluated on March 8, 2020. (Different surveys were conducted among the passengers of City Lines, Private Motors, Metrobus, and Marmaray to compare their choices and reasons.) SPSS will be used for data analysis. Multivariate Statistical Analysis relies on Multinomial Logistic Regression and Discriminant Analysis models, both of which use the K-fold and Leave-one-out criteria to decide which attributes are valid in the regression model and which are valid in the discriminant approach. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test criteria yielded a p-value greater than 0.05 for MLR characteristics.

Urban resilience to socioeconomic disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from China

The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions have raised the awareness of building pandemic-resilient cities. Prior studies often evaluated the resilience of one type of urban system while lacking a comparison across various urban subsystems. This study fills this gap by measuring and comparing the adaptive resilience to the pandemic of various urban subsystems in Chinese cities. We propose a novel outcome measurement of the pandemic's socioeconomic impacts on cities, i.e., the citizens' complaints data, and use its temporal changes to measure cities' adaptive resilience to the pandemic. We find a wide range of urban subsystems were severely shocked by the pandemic, including the urban economy, construction-and-housing sector, welfare system, and education system. Different urban subsystems exhibit divergent degrees of adaptive resilience to the pandemic. Using cluster analysis, we also identify three types of cities with different patterns of adaptive resilience: cities whose general economies were the least resilient, cities whose construction-and-housing system was the least resilient, and cities that were mostly affected by restriction measures. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the pandemic's socioeconomic costs and help identify the divergent resilience of different urban subsystems so as to develop targeted policy interventions to improve cities' resilience to the pandemic.

Spatiotemporal Analysis of the Coupling Relationship between Habitat Quality and Urbanization in the Lower Yellow River

Natural habitats are damaged by human interference to varying degrees during the urbanization process, which can impede a region's high-quality development. In this study, we examined the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of habitat quality and urbanization in the Lower Yellow River from 2000 to 2020 using the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and tradeoffs (InVEST) model and the comprehensive indicator method. We also evaluated the coupling relationship between the habitat quality and urbanization using the coupling coordination degree model. The findings indicate the following aspects: (1) Between 2000 and 2020, the Lower Yellow River's habitat quality was typically mediocre, with a steady declining trend. The majority of cities displayed a trend toward declining habitat quality. (2) Both the urbanization subsystem and the urbanization level in 34 cities have demonstrated a consistent growth tendency. The urbanization level is most affected by economic urbanization among the subsystems. (3) The coupling coordination degree have revealed an ongoing trend of growth. In most cities, the relationship between habitat quality and urbanization has been evolving toward coordination. The results of this study have some reference value for ameliorating the habitat quality of the Lower Yellow River and solving the coupling coordination relationship between habitat quality and urbanization.

The impact of new urbanization on PM2.5 concentration based on spatial spillover effects: Evidence from 283 cities in China

Air pollution has become an increasingly prominent problem during the development of urbanization. This study evaluates new urbanization levels across five dimensions: population, economic, social, spatial and ecological; discusses the spatial divergence patterns of new urbanization and PM2.5 concentrations in 2012 and 2019; and analyses the spatial spillover effects of urbanization on PM2.5 concentrations in each dimension using a spatial error model. The results are as follows: During the study period, the level of new urbanization in China is unevenly distributed, with higher levels in the eastern coastal region than in other regions. The average PM2.5 concentration increased significantly, by 4.87 μg/m3, an increase of 14.47%. The spillover effect of new urbanization on PM2.5 concentration changes significantly at different stages of development, with the coefficients of economic and ecological new urbanization shifting from 0.629 and 0.015 to -0.377 and -0.356 respectively, while spatial new urbanization shifts from -0.667 to 0.613. This study elucidates how the process of new urbanization subsystem development and the mechanism of urbanization influence PM2.5 concentration in each dimension, thus providing a reference for coordinating the relationship between urbanization development and environmental protection.

Exploring the coupling coordination and key factors between urbanization and land use efficiency in ecologically sensitive areas: A case study of the Loess Plateau, China

• Exploring the coordination characteristics of UR and ULUE based on CCD model and GWR model. • Constructing a comprehensive evaluation index system of urbanization and land use efficiency. • Analyzing the multi-level key factors of CCD between UR and ULUE in the Loess Plateau. • Providing a case study for urban planning and urban large-scale construction engineering in ecologically sensitive areas. With the acceleration of rapid urbanization and industrialization, the contradictory relationship between urbanization construction and urban land use becomes increasingly prominent. Exploring the complex dynamic relationship between urbanization (UR) and urban land use efficiency (ULUE) is conductive to new-type urbanization construction and ecological environment protection. The urbanization subsystem consists of four aspects, including demographic urbanization, economic urbanization, spatial urbanization, and social urbanization. ULUE was measured by SBM model, the coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) and geographically weighted regression model (GWRM) were adopted to explore the CCD and its spatial effect of thirty-nine cities in the Loess Plateau from 2010 to 2019. The empirical results showed that there was a significant imbalanced development difference of CCD between UR and ULUE, the comprehensive development of urbanization subsystem lags the urban land use efficiency subsystem, and the hot spots are concentrated in the northwest areas and the cold spots are concentrated in the south areas. Additionally, urban carbon emission, population density, and total fixed asset investment have significant negative spatial effects on CCD, urban road construction has positive spatial impact on CCD. These findings and conclusions can provide decision-making information reference for urban planning and urban large-scale construction engineering in ecologically sensitive areas.

An integrated approach to investigate the coupling coordination between urbanization and flood disasters in China

Rapid urbanization and exacerbated natural hazards, for example, floods, have been the big challenges for the sustainable development of many countries. Understanding the coupling coordination between urbanization and flood is important for promoting the sustainable development. However, there are few quantitative studies on the interaction between these two in China which is experiencing accelerated urbanization and climate change. In this paper, we developed an improved coupling coordination degree (CCD) model, applied Moran's I and projection pursuit model based on genetic algorithm to analyze the spatiotemporal distribution and spatial clustering effects of coupling coordination in urbanization–flood disasters system under the context of China's Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development. Our results showed an upward trend of the comprehensive level of urbanization subsystem and a decreasing first and rising later trend of flood disaster subsystem in China from 2001 to 2018. There was a U-shaped relationship between the two subsystems during the research period. From 2001 to 2018, provinces with the moderate and slight uncoordinated development decreased by 9.68% and 16.13%, respectively, while provinces with the barely coordinated development increased by 16.21%. Spatially, there was a remarkable spatial dependency on CCD. The CCD between two subsystems in Northwestern China was higher than that in Southeastern China. Due to the effects of geographic position, rainfall, human activities, and economic development, the low-low (L-L) clusters concentrated in Southeastern China, and the high-high (H–H) clusters appeared in Northwestern China. Our results show that the improved CCD model, along with Moran's I analysis, can provide theoretical basis for policy makers to formulate reasonable measures for promoting the coupling coordination between urbanization and flood disasters.

Will city cluster cope with water dilemma?

The study focuses on whether city cluster as an urbanization development mode can solve the problem of stable water system development that cannot be solved at the city level. This study selects the Jing-Jin-Ji city cluster and the Yangtze River Delta city cluster as the research objects for comparative analysis. First, the coupling index system of urbanization and water was constructed, then the urbanization subsystem and the water subsystem were evaluated by the Comprehensive Gravity-Gram Schmidt Orthogonalization coupling model (CG-GSO) and the entropy weight method. Second, the coordinated development between urbanization and water was explored based on the coupling coordination degree model, and its driving factors were analyzed. The results showed: (1) the overall trends of urbanization development were on the rise in both city clusters; (2) whether in the water-deficient Jing-Jin-Ji city cluster or the water-abundant Yangtze River Delta city cluster, the water pollution dimension and the water supply and use dimension alternately occupied the largest proportion in the water subsystem; (3) in the urbanization subsystem and the water subsystem, the driving factors promoting the coordinated development in the coupling system were demographic urbanization dimension and water supply and use dimension in the Jing-Jin-Ji city cluster, and social urbanization dimension and water supply and use dimension in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster. Overall, as the development mode, city cluster did solve the problem of uncoordinated development of the coupling urbanization and water system in inner cities, and the coordination degrees were upward from unbalanced to balanced development, which were from 0.1278 to 0.4118 in the Jing-Jin-Ji city cluster and from 0.1770 to 0.5001 in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster. The study framework could provide ideas for other regions to solve the problem of coordinated development between water and urbanization.

Urbanization, ecosystem services, and their interactive coercive relationship in Hunan Province, China.

Failing to balance developmental considerations of the urbanization level (UL) and ecosystem services (ESs) causes issues such as land degradation and social conflict, presenting significant challenges for regional sustainable development. Although numerous studies reported the relationship between UL and ESs, only a few have explored the coupling coordination relationship between urbanization subsystems and ESs from a multidimensional perspective. This study aimed to measure the spatiotemporal characteristics of UL and ESs in Hunan Province from 2000 to 2018 using statistical data and remote sensing monitoring data regarding land use. The multidimensional coupling coordination relationship between urbanization systems and ESs was analyzed using a coupling coordination degree (CCD) model. The results showed that the UL of Hunan Province increased from 2000 to 2018, was spatially high in the east and low in the west, and extended outward from city centers. The average ecosystem services value (ESV) in Hunan Province showed a decreasing trend with some fluctuation. The average ESV in mountainous areas and lake areas was higher than that in the areas surrounding major urban agglomerations. Although the overall CCD between UL and ESs in Hunan Province increased during the study period and entered the coordination stage, the degree of coupling coordination between urbanization subsystems and ESs varied greatly. Thus, the findings of the present study can support the formulation of policies for ecosystem protection and sustainable urbanization in Hunan Province.