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Green finance (GF) is recognized as a key driver of sustainable development. While existing studies have extensively discussed the relationship between GF and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), few have explored the coupling coordination relationship between GF and SDGs. In this paper, we use data from thirty Chinese provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) from 2008–2021 to examine the degree of coupling coordination development (CCD) between GF and the SDGs systems using the CCD model. We find that most SDGs and their sub-goals exhibit a significant upward trend, except for SDG8, 14–16. GF presents a fluctuating upward trend, with a significant decline in 2010 and 2019. The CCDs between GF and SDGs and their sub-goals generally show an M-shaped upward trend in most regions, with most of them experiencing a synchronous decline in 2011–2012 and 2019. In the analysis of regional heterogeneity, the eastern region performs better in SDG8–9, the central region performs better in SDG3, 14–15, while the western region performs better in SDG7. This paper provides empirical evidence for a further in-depth understanding of the relationship between GF and SDGs, which can contribute to advancing GF development and the SDG process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While new infrastructure, as a technological extension of traditional infrastructure, has important digital economy attributes, mismatched investment in new infrastructure can still be environmentally damaging. To this end, this paper explores the potential impact of the matching relationship between the new infrastructure investment (NII) and the upgrading of industrial structure (UIS) on environmental pollution from the perspective of coupling and coordination between the two. Through a series of quantitative empirical and robustness tests on China's relevant data from 2011 to 2019, this paper concludes that the coupling coordination level (NUC) of NII and UIS has an inhibitory effect on major environmental pollutants; in terms of mediating effect, NUC can reduce the emission of major environmental pollutants by improving energy consumption structure (ECS) and green innovation level (GII); in terms of nonlinear change characteristics, there is a threshold effect of NUC on the emission of industrial sewage and industrial dust; in terms of spatial properties, NII, NUC, PM2.5 and industrial sewage have positive spatial spillover effects. This study provides theoretical and empirical evidence that can support the government's decision to implement differentiated new infrastructure investment decisions based on environmental protection, and it also provides a certain level of reference for developing countries to make more environmentally friendly new infrastructure investment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to promote the sustainable development of the hydrogen energy industry in Hebei Province, this paper investigates the coordinated industrial coupling and spatio-temporal evolution of the "resource conditions-project layout-user demand (R-P-D)" chain within the hydrogen energy industry in Hebei Province. First, a fitness model for the hydrogen energy industry is formulated based on the "(R-P-D)" chain perspective, and a comprehensive evaluation is performed using the AHP entropy weighting method.Subsequently, coupling coordination model of resource condition-project layout (R–P), resource condition-user demand (R-D), project layout-user demand (P-D), and R-P-D chain are constructed. The coupling coordination degree data of the system are then linked with the spatial unit for spatiotemporal evolution and analysis using ArcGIS software. The findings indicate that cities with high levels of economic development, advanced industrialization, abundant renewable energy resources, and well-developed clean energy industries tend to exhibit more harmonious development in the hydrogen energy industry. • Construct the "R-P-D″ chain within the hydrogen energy industry. • ArcGIS are used to carry out the spatiotemporal evolution of each system. • Provides a theoretical basis for the design and planning of hydrogen energy industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coupling coordination of digital economy and green high-quality development of industries is an important way for sustainable and high-quality economic development. This paper constructs an evaluation index system for the digital economy and industrial green high-quality development, and conducts empirical analysis using the coupling coordination model, the spatial autocorrelation model, and the Tobit model. The data from provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt spanning from 2008 to 2021 has been analyzed. Results show that both subsystems exhibit a good and rising coupling coordination, and the regional coupling coordination demonstrates a trend of higher values in the east and lower in the west. Moreover, there is interaction between provinces and cities, albeit with a weakening correlation after 2011. Additionally, spatial clustering is evident between regions with high and low coupling coordination. The coupling coordination degree of each region is impacted by important factors, such as economic development level, financial level, opening up, fiscal expenditure, and urbanization. Therefore, the study recommends policies aimed at boosting the coupling coordination level in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Key policy proposals contain promoting the integration and innovation of digital technology and green low-carbon technology, strengthening regional cooperation through the transfer of industries, and adopting differentiated development strategies tailored to regional advantages and the varied impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced manufacturing agglomeration (AMA) plays a significant role in supporting regional development, but few studies have examined it on a regional geographic space. In this paper, the relationship between AMA and regional economic‒innovative‒social coupling coordination development (EISCCD) was studied spatially at a fine-grained scale (500 m × 500 m), taking Liangjiang New Area (LJNA), China, as an example. The results showed that (1) the spatial patterns of AMA and EISCCD in LJNA were similar; (2) among the four different combinations, the economic‒social combination had the highest degree of coupling coordination and a more balanced spatial distribution; (3) AMA and the four coupling coordination combinations all showed significant positive relationships, with innovation playing a prominent mediating role; and (4) there was evident spatial heterogeneity in the relationship between AMA and ECICCD. These results demonstrate the possibility of building suburban subcenters with advanced manufacturing. These findings are beneficial for urban and regional planners to monitor the development status at different locations within cities, enabling precise construction and management of various facilities, enhancing land utilization efficiency, and aiding in the realization of a business-friendly and livable urban environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific and technological innovation and the sustainable development of new urbanization are the key factors to promote national economic growth, and have a very important role in promoting regional development and international competitiveness. Based on the panel data of 16 cities in Chengdu-Chongqing dual-city economic circle from 2015 to 2022, this paper uses entropy weight method to determine the weight of each index and constructs a coupling coordination model to explore the sustainable development of scientific and technological innovation and new urbanization, the Panel Vector Autoregression (PVAR) model was used to further verify the interaction between the two. The empirical results show that the coupling coordination degree of scientific and technological innovation and new urbanization in Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle is increasing year by year. There is a balanced relationship between scientific and technological innovation and new urbanization, and the two are two-way Granger causality. Therefore, the conclusion puts forward the practical enlightenment of increasing investment in scientific and technological innovation, guiding enterprises to carry out scientific and technological innovation to feedback new urbanization and accelerate the construction of new urbanization, and actively integrating with urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the concept of ecological civilization building, how to realize the coordinated development of resources environment carrying capacity and economic development level in ecologically vulnerable regions have become one of the urgent issues to be solved in our country. This paper took 21 prefecture-level cities in the backward U-shape bend urban circle of the Yellow River, a typical ecologically fragile area as an example. Based on the resources environment and economic development data in 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020, the entropy weight TOPSIS method was used to analyze the resources environment, and introduced the coupling coordination model to reveal the coupling coordination relationship and its spatial-temporal evolution patterns between resources environment carrying capacity and economic development level. The results show that the resources environment carrying capacity of the urban agglomeration of that area has a fluctuating upward trend with significant regional differences. The degree of coupling and coordination between resources environment carrying capacity and economic development level gradually tends to a higher degree of coupling as a whole. Through Moran index analysis, it is found that the resources environment carrying capacity and economic development level in the urban agglomeration of the backward U-shape bend of the Yellow River show a significant positive spatial correlation in terms of coupled coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the coupling coordination degree between digital economy and green technology innovation in 19 urban agglomerations across China from 2011 to 2020. Through the analysis of the coupling coordination degree model, spatial autocorrelation, multi-distance spatial clustering analysis, kernel density analysis and grey correlation model, this study uncovers the mechanism of coupling between digital economy and green technology in Chinese urban agglomerations. Data analysis revealed a significant increase in the coupling coordination between the digital economy and green technology innovation within urban agglomerations. However, there are noticeable spatial imbalances in this trend. Additionally, the multi-distance spatial distance analysis highlights a shift from a random distribution to a clustered distribution of spatial characteristics. The polarization features vary among each urban agglomeration and exhibit a significant positive spatial correlation. Factors such as economic sustainability, creative talent, policy support, digital impetus, and technological support will affect the coupling mechanism of green technology innovation and the digital economy in China's urban agglomerations. Policy recommendations are proposed to foster the development of the digital economy, promote coordinated growth within and beyond urban clusters, and ultimately build a digital ecological civilization that is both green and intelligent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the spatial-temporal evolution and the interconnectedness of land use/cover change (LUCC) and ecosystem service value (ESV). Such analysis can offer theoretical guidance and support decision-making for sustainable land resource development and ecological preservation in ecologically vulnerable cities within the Loess Plateau-Maowusu Desert transition zone. Utilizing Landsat data spanning 2000–2020, the paper examines the synergistic relationship between ESV and land use intensity in Shenmu City through bivariate spatial autocorrelation and the coupled coordination degree (CCD) model. Our findings indicate that the area of construction land in Shenmu City experienced the most significant change between 2000 and 2020, with a dynamism rate of 76.8%. This shift resulted in a decrease in the total ESV, from RMB 10.059 billion in 2000 to RMB 9.906 billion in 2020. The bivariate spatial autocorrelation analysis reveals a significant positive spatial correlation between ESV and land use intensity, while the CCD levels for both demonstrate a fluctuating yet overall upward trend over the 20-year period. The paper uncovers the spatial-temporal evolution of LUCC and ESV in Shenmu City along with their interconnected dynamics. The research outcomes can contribute valuable insights for reinforcing land resource utilization and promoting sustainable regional development within cities in the Loess Plateau-Maowusu Desert transition zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to clarify the current situation of digital economy and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, explore the coupling coordination and interaction between these two aspects and provide a reference for implementing ecological protection and high-quality development strategies in the Yellow River Basin, the interactive mechanism between digital economy and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin was analyzed theoretically. Based on the panel data 2011 to 2020, a total of 64 prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin were selected. This paper measured the development level of the digital economy and high-quality development level, empirically examined the coupling coordination relationship between these two dimensions by using coupling coordination degree model and explored the interactive relationship between the two through a PVAR model. The results of the study show that a) the development level of the digital economy in the Yellow River Basin has shown improvement during the research period, however, it remains generally lower with significant regional differences, which forms a circle distribution pattern with Jinan, Zhengzhou, Xi’an, Taiyuan and Hohhot as the core cities, and has the spatial distribution characteristics of high in the east and low in the west. b) The imbalance of high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin is prominent, characterized by the polarization and a distinct circle structure. This has resulted in the formation of a high-value area with Jinan, Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, Xi’an, Lanzhou and other provincial capitals as the core cities. c) The coupling coordination degree between the digital economy and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin has been increasing annually, but the overall coordination level remains insufficient. The current implementation only achieves the transition from the mild imbalance to near imbalance levels, and the coordination degree also illustrates a pattern of lower reaches＞middle reaches＞upper reaches. d) Both the digital economy and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin are characterized by self-reliance. High-quality development plays a significant role in promoting the digital economy, while the role of the digital economy in enhancing high-quality development needs to be reinforced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] The present paper aimed to study the spatio-temporal coupling characteristics and influencing mechanism of high-quality agricultural development and cultivated land utilization efficiency in Sichuan province, so as to provide a scientific basis for promoting the coordinated development of the two systems and improving the high-quality agricultural development level of Sichuan province. [Method] Taking 21 cities and prefectures in Sichuan province as the research objects, the spatio-temporal coupling characteristics and influencing mechanisms of high-quality agricultural development and cultivated land use efficiency in Sichuan province from 2011 to 2021 were studied by entropy method, super-efficiency DEA model, kernel density estimation, coupling coordination model and geographic detector. [Result] (i) The high-quality agricultural development level and cultivated land utilization efficiency in Sichuan province improved, and the overall spatial evolution of high-quality agricultural development level changed from unipolar to multipolar, forming a pattern of Chengdu Plain being the best, peripheral graded mosaic', the spatial distribution of cultivated land utilization efficiency and the high-quality agricultural development level had convergence, forming a pattern of high-efficiency large-area uplift area with Chengdu, Ya'an, Deyang and Meishan as the core, Panzhihua as the polar core, and the peripheral hierarchical collapse'. (ii) The coupling coordination between the high-quality development level of agriculture and the efficiency of arable land utilization in Sichuan province increased from 0. 526 to 0. 704, and the coordination effect gradually increased. The whole experienced three levels of changes of reluctant coordination, primary coordination, and intermediate coordination'. From the perspective of time changes, the province roughly experienced three periods of development, lag and improvement'. From the perspective of spatial changes, Chengdu took the lead in entering the stage of high-quality coordination, followed by Ya'an and Panzhihua. Mianyang, Meishan, Leshan and Neijiang entered a good coordination stage, while Ganzi Prefecture, Aba Prefecture and Liangshan Prefecture were still in a disorder stage. (iii) The driving force of agricultural scale increased year by year, becoming the most significant driving factor, resource consumption and agricultural economic coordination index driving force also improved, while the driving force of urbanization level and mechanization level weakened. [Conclusion] Promoting large-scale agricultural management and reducing resource consumption have a certain positive effect on promoting high-quality agricultural devlopment and coordinated development of farmland utilization efficiency. In addition, the province should reasonably promote urbanization development on the basis of stabilizing the scale of existing cultivated land and striving to achieve no reduction in the quantity of cultivated land and improvement in quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to investigate the coupling coordination relationship between the digital economy and the green economy, as well as to analyze possible ways to improve the coupling coordination degree. By using panel data for 280 cities from 2011 to 2018, this study has made outstanding contributions in the following areas: (1) reintegrating and constructing the evaluation index system of the digital economy and green economy; (2) utilizing the modified coupled coordination degree model to analyze it; (3) adopting the fixed effect model to test the influencing factors. The findings revealed that the current level of coupling coordination between the digital economy and the green economy in China is generally low, with significant regional differences. In terms of influencing factors, industrial structure upgrading has a U-shaped influence on coupling coordination, and government attention has an inverted U-shaped influence on coupling coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of “digital era”, the rapid development of big data technology and cloud computing technology has promoted China’s informatization process to a new level, integrating more and more originally scattered data into a huge database. Promoting the high-quality development of digital economy has become a key path for regional economic growth and industrial development transformation, and also a key way to synchronously promote the coordinated development of new urbanization and agricultural modernization. Based on the balanced panel data of Hebei Province from 2011 to 2020, this paper conducts theoretical research and empirical analysis by building the index evaluation system of the coupling system of digital economy, new urbanization and agricultural modernization, measures and studies by using the entropy weight TOPSIS model and the coupling coordination analysis model, and divides the stages according to the evaluation standard of coupling coordination, summarizes and analyzes the current situation and existing problems of the coordinated development of the three systems in Hebei Province. Finally, according to the analysis results, the countermeasures and suggestions to promote the high-quality coordinated development are put forward from the aspects of improving the high-quality coordinated development mechanism of digital economy and “two modernizations”, building a special agricultural town with regional characteristics, and strengthening the construction of agricultural digital talent team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] The purpose of this paper is to measure the coupling coordination of urban land use and the economic-social-environmental system in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and investigate its spatial and temporal differentiation characteristics and driving factors, and then to provide decision-making for promoting sustainable land use and high-quality coordinated development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. [Methods] Based on the panel data of 108 prefecture-level cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2006 to 2019, this study constructed an indicator system of land use and economic-social-environment system, measured the coupled coordination degree using the entropy weight method and coupled coordination degree model, and examined its spatial and temporal divergence characteristics and driving factors with the methods of Dagum Gini coefficient, Moran index and geographically weighted regression model. [Results] The coupling coordination degree of land use and economic-social-environment in the Yangtze River Economic Belt increased from 0.309 to 0.477 during 2006—2019, transferring from mild disorder to barely coordinated. The coupling coordination degree decreased from downstream to upstream regions, showing a spatial distribution characteristics of the high level in the east and low level in the west. The overall, intra-regional, and inter-regional differences in coupling coordination showed a decreasing trend. The inter-regional variance was the main explanation for the overall variance, and its contribution increased from 43.67% to 46.88%. The Moran′s I of coupling coordination increased from 0.095 to 0.134, with significant positive spatial autocorrelation, and the ‘High-High’ agglomeration area mainly distributed in the lower reaches, while the ‘Low-Low’ agglomeration areas mainly distributed in the middle and upper reaches. Topographic relief and slope showed a negative driving force, urbanization level and foreign direct investment showed a positive driving force, and population density showed a two-level driving force. [Conclusion] The coupled coordination of land use and economic-social-environment in the Yangtze River Economic Belt has spatial and temporal heterogeneity, and differentiated land use policies should be formulated with full consideration of regional characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic coordination between urbanization and carbon emission efficiency (CEE) is vital for promoting low-carbon urbanization and sustainable urban planning. In order to assess the coupled coordination degree (CCD) of urbanization and CEE and investigate the factors influencing the CCD, this research employs the Super slacks-based measure (SBM) model, the coupled coordination degree model (CCDM), and the Tobit model. Four key findings emerge from the analysis of the temporal and spatial evolution traits of the CCD based on data from 106 nations worldwide between 2005 and 2020. (1) The global CEE shows a significant downward trend, and the spatial disparity is unambiguous. high CEE countries hang in the north and west of Europe, while those in Asia, Africa and the east of Europe have lower CEE. (2) The combined urbanization level and demographic, economic and social urbanization are all on an upward trend. Singapore has the greatest degree of urbanization overall globally. (3) The CCD of urbanization and CEE shows a fluctuating upward trend, with particularly strong changes in 2018–2020. 2017 and 2018 are the years with better global coupling coordination status. During the study period, the CCD results of countries are mostly uncoordinated and low coordination, and the CCD of the United States, China, India and Japan is in the front. (4) The effect of urban electrification rate on the CCD is positive; the effect of foreign trade and net inflow of foreign direct investment is negative; while energy structure and industrial structure have no significant effect. A number of policy proposals are put forth in light of the outcomes of the research to enhance the coordination. • This paper constructs a comprehensive and scientific integrated system of urbanization from the demographic, economic and social aspects. • Using the Super-SBM model, this paper analyzes CEE more comprehensively and systematically from three perspectives: national, developed and developing countries, and regional. • The CCDM is utilized to assess the CCD of urbanization and CEE, and the spatial evolution of the CCD is analyzed, which enriches the research in the field of low-carbon urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China further clarifies the major development goal of accelerating the transition to a model of green development. Improving carbon emission efficiency is undoubtedly a necessary way to achieve this goal. At present, with the pressing goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality and the tendency of the financial industry to be diverted out of the real economy, the high-quality development of the financial industry has become an objective need to improve carbon emission efficiency and promote the realization of the 'dual carbon' goals as scheduled. However, there are obvious differences in carbon emission efficiency and financial industry high-quality development between different regions, which makes it urgent to realize efficient collaboration between inter-regional carbon emission efficiency and high-quality development in the financial industry. This paper used the coupling coordination degree model, the Dagum Gini coefficient decomposition method, and the spatial Kernel density estimation method to measure the coupling coordination degree between China' s carbon emission efficiency and the high-quality development in the financial industry and to fully reveal its spatio-temporal evolution characteristics. The results showed that: ① The coupling coordination degree between carbon emission efficiency and high-quality development in the financial industry basically stabilized at the intermediate coordination level. The key to advancing this coupling coordination degree to a high-quality coordination level was to improve the level of high-quality development in the financial industry. The eastern region rose to a good coordination level. The western and central regions were stable at the intermediate coordination level. The northeastern region was mainly at the primary coordination level. ② The coupling coordination of carbon emission efficiency and high-quality development in the financial industry had a problem of spatial distribution imbalance. Inter-regional differences were the main source of spatial differences. The contribution rates of intra-regional differences and the intensity of transvariation to spatial differences were relatively low. ③ There was a multipolar differentiation phenomenon in the coupling coordination between carbon emission efficiency and high-quality development in the financial industry in the central region. The coupling coordination in both the western and northeast regions showed a polarization trend. ④ Under the condition of considering spatial factors and time span, most provinces and their neighboring provinces had a spatial connection between the coupling coordination of carbon emission efficiency and high-quality development of the financial industry. These findings are conducive to the promotion of the construction of a collaborative linkage pattern between inter-regional carbon emission efficiency and the high-quality development in the financial industry. They can serve as an important decision-making reference for realizing the overall transition to a model of green development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Balancing the relationship between tourism economy and ecosystem is an important prerequisite for achieving sustainable economic development. Taking Changhai County as an example, this paper constructs a tourism economy and ecological environment evaluation index system to calculate their comprehensive indexes, analyzes the time series evolution characteristics of their coupling coordination degree by using the coupling coordination model, and judges their dynamic response relationship by using the vector auto-regressive（VAR）model. The research shows that from 2010 to 2018, the tourism economy and ecological environment of Changhai County were promoted synchronously, and their comprehensive index and coupling coordination degree increased with time, showing a trend of optimal development;the response of the tourism economy to its own shocks turned from positive to negative after 2011;and the response of the ecological environment to the tourism economic shocks turned from negative to positive, the response relationship between the tourism economy and the ecological environment of Changhai County finally became stable after 2013. The tourism economy and the ecological environment are mutually causal. In the short term, the tourism economy is greatly affected by itself. In the long term, the tourism economy is affected by itself and the ecological environment, while the ecological environment is continuously affected by both the tourism economy and itself. The impact of the tourism economy on the ecological environment is increasing year by year. It is suggested that Changhai County adhere to ecological protection, timely adjust relevant policies, promote high-quality development of tourism industry, promote scientific transformation of island economy, and maintain the coordination and balance between tourism economy and ecological environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adjustment of industrial structure has an important impact on economic growth and the improvement of living standards of residents. At present, Chinese economy is in a stage of high-quality development, focusing on the win-win situation of economic development and ecological environment. The study of the coupling between the evolution of industrial structure and the construction of ecological civilization can facilitate the evolution of industrial structure under the concept of ecological civilization and enable the adjustment of industrial structure to contribute to the construction of ecological civilization. Based on the examples of Chongqing City, Sichuan Province, Yunnan Province and Guizhou Province in Southwest China, this paper analyzes the coupling relationship between industrial structure evolution and ecological civilization construction by using coupling coordination model from the evaluation of industrial structure level and ecological civilization construction level, and studies the spatial difference of the coupling coordination degree between the two. The results show that: the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure had made great breakthroughs, the level of ecological civilization construction had been steadily rising, the coupling coordination degree between the industrial structure evolution and ecological civilization construction increased year by year in Southwest China from 2005 to 2019, which had gradually transformed from the antagonistic stage to the run-in stage, and gradually moved forward to the high level coupling stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the rapid urban development in the Yellow River Basin has brought great pressure to water environment, it is very important to coordinate the relationship between urban development and water quality to ensure the implementation of major national strategy for the Yellow River. In this paper, evaluation index systems were built to calculate the Urban Development Index（UDI） and Water Quality Index（WQI） of 11 cities in the basin from the year 2012 to 2019, and the evolution relationship of coupling coordination between urban development and water quality was demonstrated based on the coupling coordination model. The results show that a) the overall urban development level in the study area is increased year by year and UDI is higher in the “upper and lower reaches” and lower in the “middle reaches”; b) the overall water quality is stable in class Ⅱ and the pollutants are mainly nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients; c) the urban development and water quality are in good coordination. Finally, according to the city characteristics, measures are put forward to enhance the coupling coordination between water quality and urban development, such as strengthening water pollution discharge management and pollution control, driving urban development and environmental governance and protection by scientific and technological innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to improve the sustainability of resource-exhausted cities has become a difficult problem for China to implement the sustainable development strategy, and the construction of resilient cities has become the best way to solve this problem. This paper constructed an evaluation indicator system of the sustainable development for resource-exhausted cities from the perspective of resilient cities. The entropy weight-TOPSIS-grey relational degree model was used to quantitatively analyze the sustainable development capacity of 23 resource-exhausted cities in China from 2010 to 2020. And the coupling coordination degree model was further used to analyze the relationship between urban resilience and the dimensions of economy, environment, society and resource respectively. The weak links affecting their sustainable development was explored through obstacle degree model. The research results are helpful to fully understand the current situation and obstacle factors of the sustainable development of resource-exhausted cities in China, and promote the sustainable development of cities through the construction of resilient cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The definition of water sustainability is further expanded. • A water sustainability assessment model regarding quantity-quality-benefit is innovatively built. • The impact of coupled coordination relationships between the three subsystems is considered. • Water sustainability is evaluated from the single and three-dimensional perspective simultaneously. • Three-dimensional water sustainability assessment is more objective and scientific. An integrated water sustainability assessment is conducive to realizing the optimal allocation and efficient water utilization, and alleviating the water crisis. Existing research mainly appraises water quantity and water quality as unidimensional or in combination, without considering the water benefit, and few studies have assessed the regional water sustainability based on an integrated evaluation multidimensionally. Therefore, this paper innovatively introduces water benefit to construct a three-dimensional quantity-quality-benefit model (QQBM) to evaluate water sustainability in line with the water footprint (WF) theory and water resources balance sheet (WRBS). The impact of the coupled coordination relationship among water quantity, water quality, and water benefit on the water sustainability evaluation is further analyzed by introducing the coupled coordination degree model (CCDM). This paper takes the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) as an example and makes a spatio-temporal analysis of the water sustainability in its 11 provincial capitals during 2010-2021 from a single dimension and a three-dimensional perspective, respectively. The results found that: (1) From a single dimension, the water sustainability in the 11 provincial capitals in the YREB during 2010-2021 is at a medium level, with better water benefit sustainability, moderate water quantity sustainability, and horrendous water quality sustainability. Among them, the water sustainability is the best in Guiyang and Hangzhou, while the worst in Shanghai. (2) From a three-dimensional perspective, the water sustainability in the 11 provincial capitals from 2010 to 2021 is horrific. Among them, the water sustainability is the best in Kunming, Changsha, Nanjing and Shanghai, while the worst in Wuhan and Hefei. (3) The degree of coupling coordination between water quantity, water quality and water benefit significantly influence the water sustainability in the 11 provincial capitals of the YREB. The three-dimensional assessment model QQBM constructed in this study is more comprehensive and objective than the single perspective assessment. The findings in this paper can help other regions to conduct similar water sustainability assessments and inform policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of urbanization, how to reasonably protect the water ecological environment and promote the sustainable and coordinated development of urban clusters in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is a very realistic and important issue facing the Yangtze River Basin. To this end, this paper structures a comprehensive evaluation index system based on the "scale benefit structure" system and the "PSR" model, and uses the coupling coordination degree model, spatial autocorrelation and GWR model to measure and analyze the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors of regional differences of the coupling coordination between urbanization and water ecological environment in study area from 2005 to 2020. The research shows that: (1) The level of urbanization and water ecological environment fluctuates from top to bottom, and their spatial pattern is similar and the overall level is low, with the highest level in Shanghai, Suzhou and other regions. (2) The overall change of coupling coordination degree is small, the spatial correlation is significant, few cities have type transition, and there is polarization phenomenon. The high and low levels are concentrated in the northeast and southwest of the study area. (3) According to the analysis of regional differences of influencing factors, the spatial characteristics of regression coefficients of various factors are significantly different, and the agglomeration effect is obvious. Among them, the spatial difference between per capita green space area and total industrial output value is large, and the distribution trend is different. The research shows that the coupling and coordination levels of different cities are quite different, there is a phenomenon of polarization, and the key influencing factors are different. Therefore, we should start from the city's own situation and take targeted policies and measures to promote the coordinated development of urbanization and water ecological environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to enhance ecosystem stability and promote sustainable regional ecological, social, and economic development, it is crucial to explore the coupling relationship between ecosystem service supply and demand and the resilience of ecosystem, so as to propose scientific ecological management zones and strategies. Taking the vulnerable alpine ecosystem in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Gannan Prefecture) as the study area, this paper comprehensively utilized multi-source data, grid analysis, ecosystem service supply and demand estimation model, and coupled coordination model to analyze the spatio-temporal differentiation and coordination pattern of ecosystem service supply and demand in the study area from 2000 to 2020. With the assistance of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the ecosystem resilience index system was constructed to evaluate the regional ecological resilience. The results reveal the following: (1) In the past 20 years, the ecosystem service supply and resilience in Gannan Prefecture showed a fluctuating upward trend, and the demand continued to grow steadily. Their spatial differentiation were obvious, but the pattern remained stable. (2) There was a moderate incoordination indicated by the average coordination degree of the supply and demand coupling of ecosystem services, which rangeed between 0.3 and 0.4. (3) Gannan Prefecture was split into three ecological management zones, considering the spatial distribution of ecosystem service supply and demand, as well as resilience. Through system function monitoring and other measures, the ecological conservation zone will rely on its high resilience to support the restoration and self-sufficiency of the system, ensuring the stability and well-being of the ecosystem. The primary objectives of general protected zone includes environmental preservation, strict regulations, and the prevention of human intervention. To enhance their ecological background, key restoration zone must intensify the implementation of ecological restoration initiatives. To address the needs of the locals, strategies such as ecological compensation, optimizing the land use structure, and fostering the growth of environmentally friendly companies can be implemented simultaneously. [Display omitted] • Spatiotemporal dynamics of supply-demand and their coupled coordination studied. • Quantification and spatial-temporal analysis of ecosystem resilience based on AHP. • Supply, demand and resilience increased, and the spatial pattern was stable. • There was a moderate incoordination between supply and demand. • Ecological management zones were identified based on "supply-demand-resilience". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban competitiveness (UC) evaluation system is multidimensional and complex. This paper takes the simulated annealing (SA) model as the projection pursuit (PP) optimization to achieve a comprehensive assessment of competitiveness of 277 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2019, accompanied by energy saving and carbon-emission reduction (ESCER) as environmental measurements, to explore whether the two can meet the Porter hypothesis through coupling coordination degree (CCD). Further using spatiotemporal autocorrelation and obstacle degree model to uncover spatiotemporal features and interfering factors of coordinated development. Key findings include: (1) UC and ESCER show a slightly fluctuating upward trend during the research period, with apparent spatial variations. The eastern coastal region has a robust UC, while the less competitive central and western regions benefit from natural conditions, excelling in ESCER. (2) 87% of cities have achieved coordinated development between competitiveness and ESCER. Some coastal areas, often with a high CCD, are improving resource use efficiency and environmental benefits through economic agglomeration. From the perspective of the CCD collaboration network, the positive correlation accounts for about 85%, which reveals that most adjacent regions can cooperate on the road of coordinated development. (3) While differences exist in the coordinated development of UC-ESCER across various regions, social factors predominantly influence the obstacles affecting coordinated development. Specifically, a substantial barrier to the concordant progression of most cities is the number of patent applications, underscoring the pivotal role of innovation in aligning UC with ESCER. [Display omitted] • Simulated annealing projection pursuit assessed Chinese cities' competitiveness. • There is spatial heterogeneity between UC and ESCER. • 87% of cities achieve harmonious development for UC and ESCER. • Innovation is crucial for urban response to dual challenges of environment and economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting industrial ecology and greening is the fundamental requirement of the new development concept, and also the key to realizing high-quality and sustainable development of regional economy. This paper selects the relevant data of eight cities in Anhui section of Huaihe River Economic Belt from 2014 to 2018, and uses the entropy method and the undesirable SBM model to calculate the industrial development level and ecological efficiency during the study period. Moreover, based on the coupling coordination degree model, the synergistic effect between industrial development and ecological efficiency is analyzed, and the spatial-temporal evolution pattern between them is clarified by means of spatial econometric analysis model. Further research suggests that: (1) the synergistic effect between industrial development and ecological efficiency in Anhui section of Huaihe River Economic Belt from 2014 to 2018 is significant, showing a steady strengthening trend. The endogenous power of industrial development keeps strengthening, and the scale effect keeps spillover diffusion. The mean value of overall coupling coordination degree is generally between 0.6 and 0.7. (2) In terms of spatial distribution, the regions with high coupling coordination degree are mainly distributed in the eastern part of Anhui Section (Bengbu and Chuzhou), the lower level area is mainly distributed in the northern part of Anhui Section (Suzhou), and the middle level area is widely distributed. (3) The agglomeration of coupling coordination degree between industrial development and ecological efficiency mainly occurs in low-high (L-H) and high-low (H-L) agglomeration areas. (4) The level of economic development, intensity of R&D and intensity of environmental regulation have significant positive effects on the coupling coordination degree of industrial ecological efficiency and industrial development, and promote the increase of coupling coordination effect. Finally, based on the research results, targeted suggestions are put forward in order to promote the coupling coordination between industrial development and ecological civilization construction, and walk out of a new road of high-quality development of green ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the level of ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, improve the level of urban capacity for disaster reduction and management and explore the coordination between urban resilience and economic development level, in this paper, nine provinces in the Yellow River Basin were selected as the research objects, and the evaluation values of urban resilience and economic development level were estimated by using entropy weight method from 2010 to 2019, and the coupling coordination between urban resilience and economic development level was discussed based on the coupling coordination degree model. The results show that a) the level of economic development in the Yellow River Basin has regional differences and the overall distribution is "high in the east and low in the west, and high in the south and low in the north". b) The overall urban resilience of the Yellow River Basin is at a low level and its spatial distribution is correlated with the level of economic development. c) The development of coupling coordination degree system shows the three routes of a growth-oriented route represented by Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia, a steady route represented by Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia and a mature route represented by Sichuan, Henan and Shandong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin has become a major national strategy, and the coupling coordination of economic growth, industrial development and ecology in this area is becoming a research hot spot. This paper analyzed the coupling coordination mechanism of economic growth, industrial development and ecology in the Yellow River Basin and constructed an evaluation index system of coupling coordination degree. Using the coupling coordination model, the spatial autocorrelation model and grey relational model, this paper analyzed the space differences and time differences of the coupling coordination degree of 62 cities in the Yellow River Basin and their driving factors from 2012 to 2018, And the GM (1, 1) gray prediction method was used to predict the coupling coordination degree in the short term. The results showed that：① The overall level of economic growth, industrial development and ecology in the Yellow River Basin had shown a steady trend, and there were no significant differences in the speed of development. However, the coupling coordination of them was seriously out of coordination, and the coupling coordination of ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin had not yet reached a coordinated level,② The coupling coordination degree demonstrated significant global and local spatial autocorrelation features. The global spatial auto-correlation was positive and the convergence features were obvious. (3) The forecast results showed that the coupling coordination degree remained generally stable and coordination had not been reached during the forecast period in this area. The rate of improvement was relatively slow. Finally, a support system incorporating organizational guarantee, spatial governance, policy guarantee and institutional mechanism was established for economic growth and ecological protection in the Yellow River Basin. It is expected that this paper can provide a theoretical basis and lay a certain scientific decision-making foundation for the ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with the development of urbanization of arid zones, the water resources issue has become increasingly prominent, and the sustainable utilization of water resources has become a hot spot for research in the arid zone. This paper analyzed the evolution characteristics of the comprehensive evaluation index of urbanization development and water resources utilization as well as its relative development level in 15 administrative regions of Xinjiang from 2003 to 2018. It also analyzed the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of the coupled and coordinated relationship between urbanization development and water resources utilization through a coupled coordination model. The results show that both the comprehensive evaluation index of urbanization development and water resources utilization in Xinjiang have been increased significantly, but the level of urbanization development is higher than that of water resources utilization; the coupling degree of urbanization development system and water resources utilization system in Xinjiang is in the antagonistic stage all year round and develops to· ward the grinding stage; the urbanization development system and water resources utilization system in Xinjiang have experienced three stages of coupling coordination degree, namely low, medium and high. Spatially, although the 15 administrative regions have different starting points, they have all reached the stage of highly coordinated coupling one after another. Finally, the urbanization development model and water resources utilization countermeasures based on the sustainable utilization of water resources are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is helpful to optimize the function of land space to analyze the variation characteristics of production, living and ecological space (PLES)pattern. Taking Beijing as a case, a simple PLES identification method was used by cobiming remote sensing image and land-use evaluation based on remote sensing images of Beijing in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020. The spatial distribution scale, spatial clustering and spatial interaction relationship of the PLES in Beijing are analyzed by grid analysis, spatial auto-correlation analysis and coupling coordination model in this paper. There are following findings. (1) There was great regional diversity in the variation characteristics of the PLES of Beijing. Production space presented prominent expansion, living space and ecological space were shrinking. (2) The development of production and living space in Beijing has stronger spatial aggregation than ecological space, their spatial auto-correlation indexes are both above 0. 80. In 2000, the spatial auto-correlation index of ecological space was only 0. 74, but it rose constantly in the past two decades. In 2020, the spatial auto-correlation index reached 0. 79, but there was still a gap between production and life. (3) The coupling and coupling coordination indexes of PLES are increasing year by year in Beijing. However, it is still in the coupling coordination and basic coordination stage. The coordination index between production and living spaces is the lowest. The regions of lowest coordination index of production and living spaces located in Fangshan District, Mentougou District, Huairou District and Yanqing District. The conclusion is that on the basis of optimizing the pattern of PLES, relevant policies and regulations should be further improved. Formulating a scientific development plan can promote the coordinated development of PLES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background——As a characteristic agricultural industry, tea industry is the leading industry for farmers to get rid of poverty and increase income in tea-producing areas. Fujian, as a major tea-producing province, not only has a better industrial foundation, but also has distinctive characteristics of tea industry development, which is representative and typical. Methods——Employing coupling coordination degree model and obstacle degree model, the coupling coordination degree of tea industry and regional economy in Fujian was analyzed and the obstacle factors were diagnosed. The data are derived from the Statistical Yearbook of Fujian from 2011 to 2021,the Statistical Yearbook of China’s Tea Industry from 2011 to 2017,and the Statistical Bulletin on National Economic and Social Development of Fujian from 2011 to 2020. Results——Through the analysis, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) The tea industry in Fujian moves towards a high level of coupling with the regional economy. From 2011 to 2020,the coupling degree values were maintained between 0.7 and 1.0,and the push-pull interaction between the tea industry and economic development showed an increasingly strong trend, which led to the increase of the coupling degree value, and began to grow to and maintain the highest level in 2015.This shows that the tea industry and regional economy have entered a high level of coupling from the grinding stage. (2) The relation of Fujian tea industry and regional economy gradually moves to benign interaction and efficient coordination. In addition, the coupling coordinated development is the leading type in tea industry system from 2011 to 2015.In 2017, the synchronous development of subsystems was transformed into the dominant type of regional economic system, and the two subsystems were alternately dominated from 2018 to 2020.On the whole, the coupling development type of the two has gone through three stages, namely, from the imbalance recession stage, transition stage to the coordinated development stage. And the system changes from mild disorder to high-quality coordination. (3) Tea export volume, yield, output value, tea garden area and contribution rate of primary industry are the main obstacle factors. From 2011 to 2015,the export volume of tea has always been the first obstacle factor, followed by tea yield and tea garden area. From 2018 to 2020,the ranking of the top five obstacle factors has changed, the impact of tea exports has gradually decreased, and the proportion of tea output value in GDP has gradually increased, ranking first in 2020. Conclusions and Discussions—According to the research results, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) There is a strong interaction between the tea industry and the regional economy in Fujian Province, and it has developed from a low level of mutual restraint to a high level of mutual promotion.. (2) The obstacle degree of the subsystem of TE system in Fujian Province has not changed much. Starting from the main obstacle factors, this paper puts forward countermeasures and suggestions to promote the coordinated development of tea industry and regional economy: (1) It is necessary to improve tea quality, promote tea exports. (2) It is required to deepen the processing level and improving the output value of tea. (3)It is expected to enrich the form of industrial integration and improve comprehensive benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, China has entered the period of land-sea coordinated planning, yet there are few studies on the interaction between land use intensity and sea eco-security in coastal zones. Therefore, taking the coastal zone of Xiamen as an example, this paper develops a comprehensive system to evaluate the coupling degree between spatial utilization intensity and eco-security based on the coupling degree theory in physics. Then the paper quantitatively analyzes and identifies the coupling coordination degree of various shore sections into four categories: well-coordinated and highly-coupled, moderately-coordinated and moderately-coupled, moderately-coordinated and slightly-coupled, and primary-level coordinated and slightly-coupled. Finally, it puts forward spatial planning guidelines for the four types of shore sections on the basis of land-sea coordination. Specifically, reserved ecological section should follow the principle of giving priority to the marine ecosystem, and strictly protecting the ecosystem and controlling development; ecological promotion section should follow the principle of optimizing land development based on the sea resources, and reserving space for transformation; restricted development section should follow the principle of land-sea balance, and only allowing low-impact development activities to achieve synchronous land-sea development; development leverage section should follow the principle of optimizing marine development based on land resources, giving full play to the advantages of coastal resources and featured coastal space, and achieving spatial optimization in accordance with people-oriented principles and local conditions. This research intends to provide a scientific basis for coastal zone planning and decision-making and a paradigm guide for gulf cities to coordinate the marine ecosystem and land development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the coupling degree and interactive stress between ecological environment and economic development of the Yellow River basin and provide reference for the ecological protection and high-quality development decision-making of the basin, This paper analyzed the relationship between the ecological environment and economic development of nine provinces (regions) in the basin from 2007 to 2017 by using coupling coordination and interactive stress model. The results show that in terms of time series, the coupling coordination between the ecological environment and economic development of the Yellow River basin is in a serious maladjustment state in the early stage, and in a good coordination state in the late stage, and it is more and more coordinated in the whole researched period; in terms of spatial pattern, the coordination degree between the ecological environment and economic development of the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River is higher than that of the lower reaches of the Yellow River in the early stage, and the coordination degree of the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River is higher than that of the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the relationship between ecological environment and economic development in the middle reaches of the Yellow River needs further adjustment; through the verification of the stress relationship, there is a certain interactive stress relationship between ecological environment and economic development in the Yellow River basin. In the early stage of the study period, the comprehensive index of ecological environment is larger than that of economic development, in the later stage, the comprehensive index of economic development is larger than that of ecological environment and the improvement of ecological environment has a certain lag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking 111 prefecture- level resource- based cities in China from 2003 to 2015 as objects, this paper employed the dynamic principal components analysis to discuss the measurement of smart development and environmental quality and used coupling coordination model and panel VAR model to measure the coupling relationship and its interactive response mechanism between smart development and environmental quality in different types of Chinese resource- based cities. The results show that: (1) The smart development in Chinese resource-based cities has relatively low level, and the differences in its regional areas have been weakened. The environmental quality needs to be improved and its regional differences has widened in fluctuations. (2) The coupling and coordination relationship between smart development and environmental quality needs to be improved. The order of coordination from high to low is growth type, recession type, regeneration type and maturity type. (3) There are self- enhancement effects and inertial development trends in response mechanism between smart development and environmental quality in different types of Chinese resource- based cities. Besides, the smart development in Chinese resource- based cities has a significant negative effect on the environmental quality after a positive effect. And that, the smart development has a significant positive enhancement effect on the environmental quality in mature type of resource-based cities. However, the environmental quality in recession type of resource-based cities has a significant positive effect on the smart development after a negative effect and the smart development in regeneration type of resource-based cities has a significant positive effect on the environmental quality after a negative effect. In the next 15 years, the smart development in regeneration and maturity types of resource- based cities will improve environmental quality. Finally, this paper proposes different strategies and suggestions for transformation progress in different types of Chinese resource-based cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Establish the coupling mechanism under high-quality development. • Using an improved three-stage DEA model with governmental factors. • The coupling coordination degree of time series and space is revealed. • The degree reveals the east-high, west-low and gradually increasing pattern. • The space spillover presents aggregation toward the central region. To achieve the objective of high-quality development, an in-depth examination of the coupling coordination relationship between industrial green water and science and technology (S&T) innovation is essential. This study takes Chinese 30 provincial regions as specific examples and constructs the improved three-stage SBM-DEA model and entropy weight TOPSIS model to assess industrial green water efficiency and the level of S&T innovation during 2009–2021. Based on this, the coupling coordination model is applied to investigate the coupling coordination degree of industrial green water efficiency and S&T innovation, as well as the characteristics of the spatio-temporal distributions. Finally, we utilize a spatial autocorrelation model to reveal the spatial clustering characteristics of the coordination degree of the two. The findings indicate that: (1) The results of the evaluation of industrial green water efficiency and the level of S&T innovation show that the development of each province is not balanced, and the performance of the eastern coastal region is more prominent. (2) China's overall coupling coordination degree is rising steadily and moving from primary coordination into the good coordination stage. Most provinces are in the primary coordination and good coordination stages. Qinghai remains in the low coordination stage throughout the study period. Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Guangdong enter the high coordination stage. (3) The spatial distribution of the coupling coordination level of the two systems shows a pattern of high in the east and low in the west, with a positive spillover effect on the spatial adjacency. The high-high coupling coordination degree area exhibits a tendency to shift towards the central region. This paper provides a scientific basis for analyzing the coupling coordination degree and spatio-temporal differences between industrial green water efficiency and S&T innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban spatial structure refers to the relative location relationship and spatial feature formed by the interaction of various elements of the city through its internal mechanism, which is the accumulation of human spatial activities and location selection in the long-term process. The traditional traffic flow begins to transform into a new type of intelligent network mixed traffic flow. In order to explore the coupling coordination relationship between travel demand and land use mixture, multi-source data are used for modeling for travel demand and land use respectively in this paper. A land use mixture identification methodology is proposed based on Shannon's information entropy weight method, and realizes the intrinsic association of the previous two variables. Taking a case study of Qingdao, China, the results indicate that the dynamic spatio-temporal distribution of taxi travel demand is imbalanced, and hotspots are mostly distributed in transportation hubs and business circles. It also found that the coupling coordination of the land use mixture and travel demand inside the city are spatial heterogeneity and imbalanced. The higher land use mixture attracts more trips, and it is more significant at weekends. The results can provide policy makers with a quantitative method for evaluating the relative spatial gaps for land use intensity to attract more trips. • Shannon's information entropy weight method can apply to land use mixture identification. • Multi-source datasets are used for modeling development for travel demand and land use. • There is a strong correlation between urban land use and travel demand. • Coupling coordination of the land use mixture and travel demand inside the city are spatial heterogeneity and imbalanced. • Dynamic spatio-temporal distribution of taxi travel demand is imbalanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Construct indicator systems for green finance and clean energy. • Investigation conducted on coupling coordination relationship between green finance and clean energy systems. • Influencing factors of coupling coordination degree explored using fsQCA method. • Results reveal imbalance in coupling coordination degree for GCS in China. • Identification of three pathways for enhancing coupling coordination degree. Investigating the integrated development between green finance and clean energy has significant implications for achieving structural energy transformation and sustainable financial development. This paper aims to explore the path toward achieving a positive interaction between green finance and clean energy. To achieve this, a coupling coordination degree model for the green finance – clean energy system is constructed. Additionally, limited attention has been paid to the interconnectedness of multiple factors with coupling coordination. Hence, we introduce a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approach to explore diverse pathways to enhance coupling coordination. Empirical results indicate that from 2011 to 2020, the degree of coupling coordination between green finance and clean energy in China improved from 0.3341 to 0.4718. However, it remains on the verge of an imbalanced level. Furthermore, the regional coupling coordination degree exhibits uneven development, with a tendency towards high-value clustering. The coordinated development paths of different provinces are driven by various configurations of conditions. Based on these findings, this study suggests that provinces should formulate policies tailored to their local characteristics and condition configurations, and effectively promote the coordinated development of green finance and clean energy in their respective regions. This study improves the comprehension of the coordinated development between green finance and clean energy at the provincial level in China. The employed fsQCA technique offers a novel approach for investigating developmental pathways of coupling coordination, bearing significance in promoting a mutually beneficial and harmonious relationship between green finance and clean energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have witnessed an increasing focus on rural revitalization (RR). In order to explore the current status and the coordinated growth of different aspects of RR, this paper first constructs a new 5E framework with a comprehensive index system; then analyzes the overall development status (ODS) and the coordinated development status of 5 dimensions (CDS) of 30 regions in China from 2006 to 2020 temporally and spatially with entropy weight and the technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution method; thirdly forecasts the CDS in the next four years and proposed targeted and differentiated development suggestions. Some key results are: (1) ODS was relatively stable with significant spatial variations. (2) CDS of the five dimensions fluctuated relatively mildly, and villages of the coastal areas were higher than those in the inland areas. (3) CDS will be generally similar to the past temporally and spatially in the future. (4) Different regions should take targeted and feasible measures to achieve benign coordinated growth among dimensions of RR, and the national authority should take supportive actions comprehensively. • The 5E framework is easier to spread and enriches rural revitalization theories. • The coordinated development status helps to understand the dynamic evolvement. • The differentiated measures are insightful references to make decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Yangtze River Economic Belt ecosystem service function is weakening, and although the rate of new-type urbanization has grown, the spatial imbalance is more prominent. • Urbanization of population, land, economy, and infrastructure harms ecosystem services. • The coupling coordination relationship changes from intermediate coordination to primary coordination, and higher dependency on geography. As a strategy for building a beautiful China, new-type urbanization (NTU) has an impact on the regional ecological security pattern. Clarifying the coupling coordination relationship between NTU and ecosystem services (ESs) can help ecological protection and high-quality coordinated development. The methods of this paper are as follows. Firstly, the integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model is used to calculate ESs, and then evaluate the level of NTU from multiple dimensions. On this basis, the coupling coordination degree model and the relative development model are used to analyze the coupling relationship between ESs and NTU. The results indicate that the ESs in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) decreased, from 2000 to 2020. The level of NTU continues to improve, but the spatial imbalance is more prominent. ESs and NTU are significantly negatively correlated, with population, economic, land, and infrastructural urbanization having a more detrimental effect on ESs overall. In general, the coupling coordination relationship between Es and NTU changes from intermediate coordination to primary coordination, and the spatial manifestation was "high in the east and low in the west" and the dependence was strong. Most areas show lagging ES disorders. To achieve an orderly breakthrough in the steady-state phase while adhering to the law of coupled coercive development, as well as to serve as a guide for making decisions to create a YREB model with clear skies, lush vegetation, stunning mountains, and harmony between people and the land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• HE-D and DE-D were stable; most regions showed a relatively concurrent development of DE and HE. • D of the two subsystems differed in different regions with "high in the east and low in the west." • CCD fluctuated relatively steadily with differences of "high in the northern and coastal regions". • "HE benefits" and number of academic papers are the primary influencing dimension and factor in HE. • "DE input" and popularity rate of mobiles are the primary influencing dimension and factor in DE. Analyzing the coupling coordination interactions of higher education (HE) and digital economy (DE) to achieve sustainable growth is crucial. Thus, we constructed the coupling coordination interaction mechanism and the comprehensive evaluation system of the two subsystems to measure their coordination interactions; then, we processed the temporal-spatial analysis of the development status and the coupling coordination degree (CCD) in the case of China. Furthermore, we used the gray correlation model to determine the primary influencing factors and proposed differentiated policymaking suggestions. We found that: (1) the development status of higher education (HE-D) was more stable than that of the digital economy (DE-D), which showed a slight upward trend; besides, there were noticeable spatial differences for HE-D and DE-D. (2) The temporal changes of CCD were not noticeable. (3) Expenditure on research activities in HE and the number of patents were the significant factors affecting DE; the popularity rate of mobile phones and the number of employees in the DE industry were the significant factors affecting HE; besides, HE's output benefits and DE's input was more influential in the coordination relations. Furthermore, we also put forward targeted, specific, and differentiated policymaking suggestions, which can guide policymakers to formulate regional sustainable development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boosting the coordination and symbiosis of urbanization and forest ecological security is notably critical for promoting regional green and sustainable development and achieving emission peak and carbon neutrality goals. However, there was still a lack of in-depth analysis of the coupling coordination relationship between urbanization and forest ecological security and its impact mechanism. On the basis of the data from 844 counties in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, this paper explored the spatial differences and influencing factors of the coupling coordination degree of urbanization and forest ecological security. The results manifested that: i) There were apparent spatial disparities in the urbanization index, forest ecological security index, comprehensive index, coupling degree and coupling coordination degree of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Among them, the spatial pattern of coupling coordination degree had a strong consistency with urbanization index, that is, areas with higher urbanization index also had higher coupling coordination degree. ii) Based on coupling feature identification, it was found that 249 'problem areas' were mainly located in Yunnan Province, southeastern Guizhou Province, central Anhui Province, and central and eastern Jiangsu Province. The main factor for the formation was due to the lag of urbanization in coordinated development. iii) Among the socioeconomic indicators, population structure (0.136), per capita year-end financial institutions loan balance (0.409) and per capita fixed asset investment (0.202) all had a positive impact on coupling coordination degree, while location conditions (−0.126) had a negative impact. Among the natural indicators, soil organic matter (−0.212) and temperature (−0.094) had a negative impact on coupling coordination degree. iv) During the process of coordinated development, it was necessary to increase financial investment and financial support, actively formulate policies to attract talents, enhance the education and publicity of ecological civilization, and develop a green circular economy. The above measures can promote the harmonious development of urbanization and forest ecological security in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. • Exploring the coupling relationship between urbanization and forest eco-security. • Areas with higher urbanization index have higher coupling coordination degree. • Coordinated development is deeply influenced by socioeconomic and natural factors. • Targeted policies for problem areas promote their coordinated development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• ESV assessment model was improved. • The spatiotemporal dynamics of land use and ESV in Hubei Province are assessed from 2000 to 2020. • The overall situation of ESV tends to improve. • The CCD between ESV and land use intensity decreases and then increases. • Policy implications for maintaining ESV were proposed. Rapid urbanization has exacerbated land use transformation, which in turn has affected ecosystem service value (ESV). Clarifying the spatial association between land use change (LUC) and ESV is of relevance to the development of policies for sustainable land development and ecosystem service (ES) management. In this paper, taking Hubei Province as an example, the biomass coefficient, resource scarcity coefficient and socioeconomic adjustment coefficient are introduced to improve the ESV assessment model, and then the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use and ESV from 2000 to 2020 are analyzed. Furthermore, the coupling coordination degree (CCD) between land use intensity and ESV was explored through a CCD model. The results show that (1) land use in Hubei Province changed significantly from 2000 to 2020, mainly in cropland and built-up land. (2) The change in ESV showed a fluctuating upward trend, with an increase of 71.30%, and the spatial differences generally decreased, showing a spatial pattern of "low in the center and high in the surroundings". (3) All individual ESVs first decreased and then increased, with regulating services and supporting services contributing more to ESV and hydrological regulation, maintenance of biodiversity and soil conservation being the top three ecosystem functions with high service value. (4) The CCD between ESV and land use intensity in Hubei Province and its cities (prefecture and forest area) decreased and then increased, being at the lowest and highest values in 2005 and 2020, respectively. This paper revealed the spatiotemporal evolution process of LUC and ESV in Hubei Province and their coupling coordinated relationship, which can provide effective guidance for the formulation of interzonal ES maintenance policies to reconcile the conflicts between land use and ecosystem management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspectives of ecology, population, economy and society, this paper established an intensive land use system. From the aspects of land input, output and sustainable development, it built a new urbanization system. Besides, using the entropy weighting method, it measured the level of intensive land use and new urbanization of 31 provinces(cities or regions). Based on the coupling degree and coordinated development model, and in combination with GIS, it discussed the spatial differentiation pattern. It reached the following research results, (i) The new urbanization in the eastern region is ahead of the intensive land use, and they are relatively balanced in the western region;the new urbanization in the central and northeast regions lags behind the intensive land use; the intensive land use and the development of new urbanization in the eastern region are both stronger than that in central region, while the northeastern and western regions are weaker.(ii) The effect of sustainable land use in mainland China is remarkable, and the potential advantage of land output benefit in the eastern region is huge, the land input and sustainable development in the central region rank second, and the land output in the western region is the weakest.(iii)The development of new urbanization in mainland China is concentrated on economic and social urbanization; the eastern region has high economic urbanization benefits, while the western region is weak in both the ecological and population urbanization.(iv) There is significant unbalance of the spatial differentiation pattern in the intensive land use and new urbanization, showing a trend of high in east and low in west.(v) Most provinces(cities or regions) stay at a high level of antagonistic coupling, but there are " virtual high-level coupling" in regions such as Ningxia and Gansu; at present, the eastern, central and northeastern are moderately disordered, the western is highly disordered, and most provinces(cities or regions) are moderately disordered. Regions with high coordination level are concentrated in the eastern part of Guangdong and Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanghai, Henan, and Hebei; the coordination level of western regions such as Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Tibet, Guizhou and Yunnan badly needs to be upgraded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the temporal and spatial characteristics of the coordination of urbanization and eco-environment of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2015, using the method of coupling coordination degree model and global (local) spatial autocorrelation. The results show that the coordination of urbanization and eco-environment are in a state of basic coordination. The coupling coordination degree of each province is gradually increasing and the spatial difference gradually narrows as time evolves. A spatial dependence is observed in the coordination of provincial urbanization and eco-environment in China from the perspective of global correlation and its dependence is weakened with the increase of geographical distance. The local agglomeration mode presents a trend towards the evolution of the “high-high” clustering mode. Finally, the spatial Markov chain method is used to forecast the provincial coordination degree in 2016. It is further confirmed that the coordinated state of urbanization and eco-environment is getting better and the spatial correlation is strengthening in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, more people are becoming aware of the importance of ecosystem protection. As a crucial part of the human well-being, ecological well-being has always had essential scientific research value. In this paper, authors take the Yellow River Delta high-efficiency eco-economic zone as a case study, based on the theory of land ecosystem services to study the ecological well-being. With the help of expert coefficient value assessment for different types of land use, authors have researched the spatiotemporal differentiation and influence mechanism of regional ecological well-being, using the Coupling Coordination Degree (CCD) model and Geographic Weighted Regression (GWR) model. The results found small differences in change of resource well-being (RW) and large differences in change of environmental well-being (EW) from 1990 to 2020, and the RWs and EWs of the central cities including Dongying Core, Hekou Core, Kenli, Hanting Core and Changyi are higher than those of their surrounding counties. The coupling coordination relationship of RW and EW in the central cities including Dongying Core, Hekou Core and Changyi is larger than in their surrounding counties. Population urbanization (PU) and industrial urbanization (IU) are important factors of change in land use and ecosystem services which influence the human well-being, PU affects RW more significantly, and IU affects EW more significantly. In order to further promote the sustainable ecological well-being of the Yellow River Delta region, authors recommend the conservation of land resources, technological innovation of environmental management and the formulation of environmental law. It provides significant enlightenment and decision support for strengthening the environmental protection of the Yellow River Delta high-efficiency eco-economic zone. In this paper, authors take the Yellow River Delta high-efficiency eco-economic zone as a case study, based on the theory of land ecosystem services to study the ecological well-being. With the help of expert coefficient value assessment for different types of land use, authors have researched the spatiotemporal differentiation and influence mechanism of regional ecological well-being, using the Coupling Coordination Degree (CCD)Model model (CCDM) and Geographic Weighted Regression (GWR) model. The results found small differences in change of resource well-being (RW) and large differences in change of environmental well-being (EW) from 1990 to 2020, and the RWs and EWs of the central cities including Dongying Core, Hekou Core, Kenli, Hanting Core and Changyi are higher than those of their surrounding counties. The coupling coordination relationship of RW and EW in the central cities including Dongying Core, Hekou Core and Changyi is larger than in their surrounding counties. Population urbanization (PU) and industrial urbanization (IU) are important factors of change in land use and ecosystem services which influence the human well-being, PU affects RW more significantly, and IU affects EW more significantly. In order to further promote the sustainable ecological well-being of the Yellow River Delta region, authors recommend the conservation of land resources, technological innovation of environmental management and the formulation of environmental law. The study has important value for realizing regional sustainable development and improving human well-being, and also provides a new research idea for exploring the relationship between man and land by using the intersection of sociology, geography, and ecology. [Display omitted] • It provides a new perspective for studying ecological well-being based on ecosystem services. • It analyzed the spatial characteristics of ecological well-being in the Yellow River Delta of China. • 3. It explored the mechanism of urbanization on ecological well-being with GWR model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Define IE as an evolutionary process characterized by the dimensions of industry and ecology. • Industrial efficiency and eco-efficiency were analyzed from spatial-temporal perspectives. • Cities were classified as coordinated development mode and professional development mode. • Social network analysis was used to examine the spatial correlations of IE. • The IE interaction network was characterized by "scale-free" and "small world." Industrial ecology (IE) was defined as a dynamic evolution process characterized by the coupling coordination relationship between ecological efficiency and industrial efficiency. This paper used data envelopment analysis and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution method to explore the spatiotemporal evolution of ecological efficiency and industrial efficiency in China's loess plateau region (LPR) from 2006 to 2017. Based on the definition, LPR's IE development and spatial correlations were studied separately using coupling evaluation model and social network analysis. Findings include: Although eco-efficiency and industrial efficiency were mutually promoted, and both have improved during the study period, LPR's human-earth relation was still facing uncertainties. There were significant disparities in industrial efficiency, ecological efficiency, and IE levels among cities. The evolutionary patterns of cities were classified as coordinated development mode and professional development mode. The IE interactive network was characterized by "scale-free" and "small world," where provincial capitals and big cities functioned as growth poles and intermediaries. The correlations of IE brought challenges as well as favorable conditions for setting up a cross-regional coordination mechanism. This paper provided a new perspective to understand IE and a "quantity and structure" driven development idea for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water resources risk assessment is a premise of protecting the development of industry and agriculture in Heilongjiang Province. Land resources combined with water resources affect the agricultural and industrial development. However, few studies have link both together in water resource studies. In this paper, we assessed water shortage risk and found the optimization paths of water resources based on coupling of water and land resources in Heilongjiang Province and its 13 prefecture-level cities. Four criteria layers with 17 indicators including water resources endowment, social economy, water utilization and water environment were established as a risk assessment index system of water shortage in the study area. Objective empowerment entropy method was used to determine the weight of each evaluation index in order to avoid the inaccuracy of subjective assumptions. The risk of water resources shortage evaluated by matter-element model was divided into 5 levels: Grade I (low risk), Grade II (lower risk), Grade III (medium risk), Grade IV (higher risk) and Grade V (high risk) grade. Then, the driving force of water shortage risk was analyzed by using the logarithmic mean Divisa index (LMDI) model, and the mean value of water consumption from 2010 to 2014 in Heilongjiang Province was adopted as the reference, and the difference between the water consumption of each criterion and the reference water consumption in 2010-2014 was calculated and summarized. Decomposition model of water utilization variation was constructed. Results showed that the comprehensive correlation degree of the total water shortage in Heilongjiang Province was 0.03, belonging to Grade III (medium risk). The risk of water shortage in the 13 prefecture-level cities showed great spatial differences, which was characterized as low risk in the north and south and high in the east and west of the Heilongjiang. The water shortage risk belonged to Grade V in the Daqing, Hegang, Jiamusi and Shuangyashan, Grade IV in the Qiqihar and Mudanjiang, Grade III in Suihua, Yichun and Harbin, Grade I in the Daxinganling and Heihe. The main influencing factors of the high risk of water shortage included water yielding coefficient, water investment per unit area for agriculture and forestry, water consumption per million RMB, per capita water requirement, irrigation rate of cultivated land and discharge rate of sewage treatment, which should be significantly considered in finding solutions to water shortage. The LMDI showed that the social economy and water utilization were the main factors influencing the grade of water shortage risk. Then, the coupling degree of the respective sub-elements of water and land resources was evaluated by the coupled coordination model, and it was concluded that the coupling degree of land and water resources in Heilongjiang Province was at the moderate level of antagonistic coupling, and the land resources development lagged behind slightly. Meanwhile, the lagging factors of these regions were analyzed from the aspects of social economy and water and land utilization. Based on the evaluation of water shortage risk, the analysis of driving factors and the coupling analysis of water and land resources, the double optimization path of water shortage with both economic orientation and resource orientation was selected. According to the specific problems of different risk areas, advices on specific solution were put forward to promote effective coupling of water and land resources and to find an effective way to alleviate water shortage. As the continuous development of economy and society, regional resource endowments and risk characteristics should be combined to formulate a scientific and rational scheme on water utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With 31 provinces and cities in Mainland China selected as the research objects, the paper explores the acting mechanism of industrial cluster, urbanization and population cluster, builds a measurement index system for the spatial-temporal coupling characteristics of industrial cluster, urbanization and population agglomeration, and then measures the coupling coordination degrees of industrial agglomeration, urbanization and population agglomeration in provinces since 2000 and researches the spatial-temporal evolution and spatial differentiation characteristics of coupling coordination degree. Research results show: ① industrial agglomeration, urbanization and population agglomeration have formed a dynamically coordinated relationship with mutual influences, mutual promotion and joint development; ② the comprehensive development levels of industrial agglomeration, urbanization and population agglomeration in China are rising year by year, but the overall coupling degree and coordination degree of the three are low, but the coupling coordination relationship will improve continuously with time, still showing obvious differences in provinces and the spatial tendency of being 'high in the east and low in the west'; ③ the coupling coordination presents a continuous spatial agglomeration state, and the agglomeration intensity is 'high on two ends and low in the middle', thus forming the outstanding hot-spot in areas eastern coastal regions and the outstanding cold-spot areas in western regions; ④ the government should promote industrial agglomeration, industrial structure optimization and upgrading and urbanization, and make reasonable planning for population agglomeration degree practically and effectively, to ensure the matching and coordinated development of industrial agglomeration, population agglomeration and urban bearing capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. • Spatiotemporal distribution and dynamic evolution of nexus between urbanization and flood disasters were investigated. • Improved CCD model, Moran's I and projection pursuit model based on genetic algorithm were developed. • There was a U-shaped relationship in comprehensive level between urbanization and flood disasters. • CCD between two subsystems in Northwestern China was higher than that in Southeastern China. • There was a remarkable spatial clustering effects in CCD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decline in coal production and the increase in low-carbon production levels are both important manifestations of the industry's elimination of backward production capacity. To test the benign interaction between the "quantity" and the "quality", this paper takes 12 provinces in China with significant reductions in coal production, calculates and compares the changes in the coupling coordination degree (CCD) of the two systems from 2000 to 2019, and explore the key factors that affect CCD. The results show that from 2013 to 2019, 12 provinces have seen a decline in coal production between 5% and 23.6%, and the effectiveness of coal production control is relatively significant. However, the carbon emission reduction efficiency of the coal industry in 9 of these provinces has been at a lower level with a mean value of 0.481. After 2013, the CCD of 12 provinces significantly improves and the two systems have converged to a good state of coordination (D it >0.6) in most provinces by 2019. However, the high volatility of CCD after 2013 suggests the instability of interaction. L n P G D P P E P O V , and F D I are proven to be the key factors affecting the system coordination. Meanwhile, other factors need to be further explored and improved. • The impact of supply-side structural reform in the coal industry on carbon emission. • The target for cutting coal production capacity has been met. • The coal industry's CO2 reduction technology is still immature. • Interaction between coal production cutting and CO2 reduction does exist. • A relative stable interaction between the two systems has not yet been formed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Presents a data-driven measurement, evaluation, and identification method. • Uses a coupling coordination degree model for three regional agriculture subsystems. • Suggests ways to reduce costs, increase social support, and enhance competitiveness. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between the agriculture economy environment, and society from the perspective of system theory and then put forward targeted suggestions for sustainable development of Anhui's agriculture in China. Based on the collection of relevant data and the objective weighting of indicators, the entropy weight method is used to measure the comprehensive development level of regional agriculture. The coupling coordination degree model is employed to evaluate the coupling coordination level among the three subsystems of regional agriculture. The obstacle degree model is used to identify the key obstacle factors. The case study results show that the main obstacles of the coordination system are the use of pesticides, the number of agricultural scientific and technological achievements, the application of agricultural plastic film, the number of farmers' technical training schools, and the proportion of animal husbandry. Accordingly, the paper posits suggestions, such as reducing the input of pesticides and agricultural plastic films in agricultural production, improving the social support level of agricultural science, technology, and education, and enhancing the competitiveness of animal husbandry in the Anhui Province. This study provides theoretical and methodological support for the coupled and coordinated development of regional agricultural economy, ecology and society(EES). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]