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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]

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]

Pseudo human settlements in the information age is an important part of human settlements geography, which has a comprehensive and profound impact on urban production, life and ecology in China and even the world, but the existing research on pseudo human settlements is still unclear, and cannot meet the requirements of China's "digital-realistic fusion", "network power" and the construction of a beautiful China. Therefore, this paper starts from the perspective of pseudo, based on the theory of the coupling system of human settlements, and applies the entropy weight method, coupling coordination model, geodetector and other methods and spatial technologies to deeply analyze the spatial and temporal evolution of the pseudo human settlements and the driving mechanism of the 14 cities in Liaoning Province from 2011 to 2020. The results show that: 1) Liaoning Province's pseudo human settlements in the time evolution of the overall quality of the main theme of the rise, with the "Internet festival" node effect and significant stage. 2) The spatial distribution is characterized by the geographical layout of "1?-type high-quality development centers and concentric-circle spatial distribution; and the trend surface shows a low uniformity pattern of "high in the south-central part and low in the surrounding area". 3) The degree of system coupling and the degree of coupling coordination both show a fluctuating upward trend, with the spatial heterogeneity characteristic of "high in the central part and low in the surrounding area". 4) Tool system has become the emerging driving force, communication and social chat has become the basic driving force, and life service is the invisible driving force; communication class and community class are the important leading driving factors. The study aims to enrich the research system of human settlements, promote the development of the discipline of human settlements geography, provide a new basis for the construction of human settlements in the new era, and respond to the demand for decision-making in the strategy of network power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pseudo human settlements in the information age is an important part of human settlements geography, which has a comprehensive and profound impact on urban production, life and ecology in China and even the world, but the existing research on pseudo human settlements is still unclear, and cannot meet the requirements of China's "digital-realistic fusion", "network power" and the construction of a beautiful China. Therefore, this paper starts from the perspective of pseudo, based on the theory of the coupling system of human settlements, and applies the entropy weight method, coupling coordination model, geodetector and other methods and spatial technologies to deeply analyze the spatial and temporal evolution of the pseudo human settlements and the driving mechanism of the 14 cities in Liaoning Province from 2011 to 2020. The results show that: 1) Liaoning Province's pseudo human settlements in the time evolution of the overall quality of the main theme of the rise, with the "Internet festival" node effect and significant stage. 2) The spatial distribution is characterized by the geographical layout of "1"-type high-quality development centers and concentric-circle spatial distribution; and the trend surface shows a low uniformity pattern of "high in the south-central part and low in the surrounding area". 3) The degree of system coupling and the degree of coupling coordination both show a fluctuating upward trend, with the spatial heterogeneity characteristic of "high in the central part and low in the surrounding area". 4) Tool system has become the emerging driving force, communication and social chat has become the basic driving force, and life service is the invisible driving force; communication class and community class are the important leading driving factors. The study aims to enrich the research system of human settlements, promote the development of the discipline of human settlements geography, provide a new basis for the construction of human settlements in the new era, and respond to the demand for decision-making in the strategy of network power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tibetan sheep industry is a typical representative of plateau animal husbandry and grassland animal husbandry and is also one of the characteristic industries in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region. The study of this industry is of great significance to promoting the high-quality development of animal husbandry and the region. Based on the production data and statistical data of Tibetan sheep in the main producing areas of Qinghai Province, this paper adopts the entropy method and the coupling coordination degree model to study the high-quality development of animal husbandry in Qinghai province from five dimensions: product quality, production efficiency, economic benefits, environmental friendliness and environmental conditions. The results showed that the high-quality development level and coupling coordination degree of the Tibetan sheep industry in Haibei Prefecture, Hainan Prefecture, Haixi Prefecture and Huangnan Prefecture of Qinghai Province showed an upward trend from 2015 to 2020. Among them, the high-quality development level of the Tibetan sheep industry in Haibei Prefecture and Hainan Prefecture of Qinghai Province significantly increased from 2019 to 2020, but the coupling coordination degree decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Science & Technology of Cereals, Oils & Foods is the property of Science & Technology of Cereals, Oils & Foods Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It holds that the ecological world is an organic whole with internal relations, and that man, nature and society are a dynamic and harmonious unity, and advocates the establishment of a new relationship between man, nature and society. The construction of ecological sports park can not only meet the public's rigid demand for fitness places, promote the orderly progress of national fitness, but also promote the development of ecological sports. Therefore, this paper makes an empirical analysis on the ecosystem efficiency of leisure sports industry by measuring the green total factor productivity. In this paper, the coupling coordination degree model is used to measure the coordination level of sports elements subsystem and ecological environment subsystem. The results show that: from the analysis of coupling trend, the coupling coordination between sports and ecological environment elements in the leisure sports industry in the eastern, central and western regions of China is generally on the rise from 2010 to 2021. The simulation results of the system are consistent with the historical results. The relative error of the simulation results of the main factors of the system is basically controlled within 10%, and the average error is less than 5%. It shows that the optimization strategies of sports development should include constructing modern leisure sports industry system and protecting natural resources. Strengthen the overall coordination of industries and promote the rational allocation of resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Rural Water & Hydropower is the property of China Rural Water & Hydropower Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

When studying the coupling coordination relationship between agricultural eco-efficiency and urbanization, it is crucial to consider food security, especially in a populous country like China. This paper focuses on 31 provinces in China as the research units, covering the time period from 2000 to 2020. Based on the concept of agricultural eco-efficiency, an evaluation index system was developed to include undesirable outputs (carbon emissions), and agricultural eco-efficiency scores were calculated using the SBM–DEA model. An urbanization evaluation index system, covering six dimensions and twelve indexes, was constructed. A comprehensive index of urbanization is measured using the entropy method. On this basis, a coupling coordination model was applied to quantify the relationship between agricultural eco-efficiency and urbanization at the provincial scale in China. The results showed that the agricultural eco-efficiency of all provincial units in China exhibited an overall trend of improvement. Average efficiency followed a spatial pattern of majority grain-consuming areas > grain production–consumption balance areas > majority grain-producing areas. The level of coupling between agricultural eco-efficiency and urbanization is generally low. Currently, no regions have reached the stage of synergy or high-level coupling. Most regions are currently in an antagonistic stage with a coupling degree of 0.3 < C ≤ 0.5. The classification of coupling coordination levels changed from four levels of "severe imbalance", "moderate imbalance", "mild imbalance", and "primary coordination" to "moderate imbalance", "mild imbalance", "primary coordination", and "intermediate coordination". The level of "severe imbalance" disappeared, the level of "intermediate coordination" appeared, and the level of "mild imbalance" became the largest scale level. From the perspective of food security, the proportion of grain production in the categories of "primary coordination" and "intermediate coordination" was less than 10%, and these provinces never achieved self-sufficiency in food production. The proportion of grain production at the "mild imbalance" level reached 62.4%, while the per capita grain production at the "moderate imbalance" level reached 846.7 kg. Provinces with lower levels of coupling coordination have stronger food security capabilities. It can be observed that the weaker the coupling coordination between agricultural eco-efficiency and urbanization, the higher the food self-sufficiency. Based on the research results above, we discussed strategies to enhance agricultural eco-efficiency in majority grain-producing regions by focusing on technological progress and technical efficiency. Additionally, we analyzed approaches to achieve grain self-sufficiency in regions characterized by a high level of coordination between agricultural eco-efficiency and urbanization, considering both production and trade dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green and low-carbon use of urban land (GLUUL) and high-quality economic development (HED) are two closely linked and mutually reinforcing systems, and their coordinated development is of great theoretical and practical significance to the realization of green and sustainable urban development. Based on theoretical analysis, this paper used data from 2005 to 2020 to measure GLUUL efficiency and HED level and their coupling coordination degree (CCD) successively of 282 cities in China, and then analyzed in-depth the main factors affecting CCD and its spatial–temporal heterogeneity using the GTWR model. This study found that (1) GLUUL efficiency and HED levels are increasing with different trends, and the development is unbalanced. High-value cities in the two systems show a staggered distribution pattern. (2) The CCD of the two was dominated by primary and intermediate coordination types, and the overall became increasingly coordinated, with the "intermediate coordination—advanced development" type having the highest representation. (3) There is a gradual convergence of CCD spatial differences, showing an overall spatial distribution pattern that is "high in the northwest and southeast, low in the central area". (4) The influence degree and direction of different factors on CCD are distinguishing. The positive impact of industrial structure upgrading (Isu) is obviously greater than other factors, which has the strongest effect on the industrial corridor along the Yangtze River and the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. The findings can offer insightful recommendations for promoting sustainable development in China and similar developing countries and regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the coupling coordination status between rural industrial integration (RII) and new urbanization (NU) is critical for the Chinese government to optimize policies that promote the synergetic and sustainable development of RII and NU. Based on constructing evaluation index systems, this paper uses the entropy value method, coupling coordination degree model, exploratory spatial analysis method, gravity center model, and geographical detector model to reveal the characteristics of the spatial–temporal differentiation of the coupling coordination and its driving factors in China. The results show that: (1) The regional differences in the coupling coordination degree between RII and NU are obvious, and the coupling coordination degree of China's three economic regions are all in an increasing trend, but the mean values in the central and western regions are always below the national average. (2) The coupling coordination degree has significant spatial agglomeration characteristics, but the regional differences are gradually decreasing. The whole country is still dominated by the low–low agglomeration, and the provinces with the high–high agglomeration are mainly located in the eastern region. (3) The gravity center of the coupling coordination degree has moved in both the east–west and north–south directions from 2011 to 2021, but the movement trend in the north–south direction is more obvious. (4) The economic development level, industrial structure, transportation conditions, government support capacity, financial support level, and agricultural mechanization level are important factors driving the spatial–temporal variation, and their interactions will enhance the differentiation. The results can provide a theoretical basis and decision-making reference for relevant government departments in China to promote the sustainable development of RII and NU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use multifunctionality research is important for the efficient use of land resources and the resolution of land use conflicts. With the use of methods such as the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) model, coupling coordination model, and geographical detector, the land use multifunctionality level, spatiotemporal coupling, and influencing factors in the Sichuan Province of China from 2000 to 2020 were systematically analyzed in this paper. It was revealed that, from 2000 to 2020, the comprehensive land use functionality in Sichuan Province was continuously improved with increasing economic, social, and ecological functionality levels. The comprehensive land use functionality in each city (prefecture) exhibited a positive development trend. The coupling coordination degree of the land use multifunctionality in Sichuan Province has been continuously improved, undergoing an evolutionary process from the brink of disarray to barely coordinated, then to primary coordination, and finally to medium coordination. The spatial differentiation of land use multifunctionality coupling coordination among cities (prefectures) was notable, showing center–periphery spatial distribution characteristics. The average slope and employed population density exhibited the highest explanatory power for the spatial differences in land use multifunctionality coupling coordination. The interaction between any two factors exerted a greater impact than any single factor on the spatial differentiation of land use multifunctionality coupling coordination. Based on the regional development characteristics, region-specific strategies should be adopted to enhance the land use multifunctionality level in Sichuan Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus on the concept of upgrading in the study of global production networks has expanded from economic upgrading to encompass social and environmental upgrading. However, rare research pays attention to the complex interplay among these three aspects. This paper tries to integrate the economic, social, and environmental upgrading into an analytical framework through the lens of coupling coordination. Using the Granger causality test and panel regression model, it provides empirical evidence and an explanation of the triad's interaction based on the Chinese case study. It is found that, over the past twenty-five years from 1996 to 2020, China has seen a significant improvement in the coupling coordination of economic, social, and environmental upgrading with the coordination degree rising from 0.35 to 0.51, though it remains at a low level of coordination. Regional disparities in economic upgrading are more pronounced than those in social and environmental upgrading, and the inter-group disparities between economic and environmental upgrading have widened following the economic crisis. Panel regression analysis shows that economic globalization, public governance, legal environment, and environmental regulation positively influence the coupling coordination of the three types of upgrading, while economic privatization and corporate violations of law tend to have a negative impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract 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.

The coordinated development of rural infrastructure and ecological environment is an effective way to improve agricultural productivity. The primary focus of the current research is how the two can work together to promote regional economic development in rural areas and in related fields. This study takes the western region as the research object, constructs an evaluation index system for rural infrastructure and ecological environment, and uses the Min-max Scaling method, coupling coordination model, gray GM (1, 1) model, and standard deviation elliptical model for evaluation. The trends and driving factors for the coordinated development of rural infrastructure and ecological coupling in the region from 2012 to 2021 are analyzed. The main results are as follows: (1) Except for Tibet, Qinghai, and Ningxia, the coupling degree of rural infrastructure and the ecological environment in western China reached the maximum level during the research period, also the coordination degree showed a gradual upward trend. (2) A prediction for the development and evolution of rural infrastructure and the ecological environment in western China indicates a trend of agglomerative development in the southern region. (3) By strengthening the construction of reservoirs, improving sanitary conditions, improving cultivated land use area and forest coverage, and controlling soil erosion, the coordinated development of the two can be effectively promoted. The purpose of this study is to promote the sustainable and coordinated development of rural infrastructure and ecological environment, and to provide a reference for policy formulation in the relevant sectors and other countries and regions with similar situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.

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]

This paper firstly calculates the weights of each system and indicator in the index system through the gray correlation method and comprehensively evaluates the status of the regional rural tourism development and the level of human habitat environment as well as the characteristics of temporal and spatial evolution. Constructing the spatio-temporal coupling and coordination relationship between rural tourism and the human habitat environment reveals the obstacle factors of rural tourism development and human habitat environment development level and the coupling mechanism of the two. Finally, the development process of the rural tourism industry in Kaili, Xingyi, and Zunyi, as well as the improvement and optimization process of the rural habitat environment, are empirically studied. The results show that the coupling coordination degree between the rural tourism development level and the optimization level of human habitat environment in the three regions increased from 0.06 in 2012 to about 0.48 in 2021, indicating that the overall coordination level between the rural tourism development and the optimization of the human habitat environment is continuously improving during the period. This paper is significant for the new path of economic development and habitat-environment coordination in rural areas.

• 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 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]

China's economy is transitioning from high-speed to high-quality development, making coordination between economic factors increasingly important. Human capital (HC) and infrastructure (INFRA) are important elements of economic development, and the coupling coordination of the two can have a non-negligible impact on regional economies' high-quality development. Therefore, this study measures the coupling coordination degree (CCD) of HC and INFRA based on data of 184 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2019, and comprehensively examines the impact effect and mechanism of the CCD on high-quality economic development (HQED). The relevant results are threefold. (1) Compared with single factors, the degree of HC-INFRA CCD can promote HQED more efficiently. (2) A significant single-threshold effect is evident in the promotion of HQED by the degree of HC-INFRA CCD, and a smaller city size and more extensive higher education institutions promote a stronger threshold effect. (3) Factor allocation and factor efficiency are significant transmission mechanisms of the HC-INFRA CCD affecting HQED, and the mediating effect of the capital-labor force allocation path accounts for 66.28% of the total indirect effect. The results provide empirical evidence verifying that HC-INFRA CCD promotes HQED, along with insightful reference suggestions for formulating relevant macro policies and promoting high-quality urban economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water resources, energy, and food are essential for the development of society, and they are strongly interdependent. The coupling and coordination relationships of the water–energy–food (WEF) system are important for regional resource security and high-quality development. The Yellow River Irrigation Area in Shandong Province, China, is a grain production base and has a substantial impact on national food security. To examine the water, energy, and food subsystem dynamics in this area, an evaluation system for the WEF system was established. A comprehensive weighting method based on game theory was employed to determine index weights. TOPSIS was used to assess the development level of the WEF system. A coupling coordination degree model was used to analyze the evolution of the coupling coordination degree of the WEF system from 2000 to 2020, and a GWR model was constructed to explore the spatial heterogeneity of its driving factors. The findings indicated that the development level of the WEF system in the study area was moderate, with a gradual upward trend. The coupling coordination degree fluctuated between 0.62 and 0.739. The GWR model revealed that temperature had an overall negative effect on the coupling coordination degree, with the greatest impact on the central irrigation area; the slope and NDVI had a negative effect, with increasing intensity from the southwest to the northeast; and rainfall had an overall positive effect, with the greatest impact on the irrigation area near the estuary in the northeast. Overall, the building area ratio had a negative effect on the coupling coordination degree, with exceptions in some areas. These research outcomes provide theoretical support for sustainable agricultural development in the Yellow River irrigation areas of Shandong Province and methodological reference data for studying collaborative resource utilization in irrigation regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the information age, digital information technology has gradually become a new quality of productivity to improve international competitiveness, and the status and importance of the pseudo human settlements(PHS) constructed by digital and information has been increasing in the human settlements(HS) system. In this context, exploring the coupling coordination of the internal systems of the PHS provides a theoretical basis for promoting the comprehensive improvement of the quality of the HS in the urban agglomerations, provides a theoretical reference for rationally interpreting the new type of human-land relationship in the information age, and provide a new perspective for the study of the human settlements geography. Currently, research on PHS is in its nascent stages, therefore, we construct a theoretical framework for the coupling coordination of the "three states" of the HS, takes the internal system of PHS as the entry point, empirically analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of the PHS coupling coordination degree within urban agglomerations in eastern China and the driving factors by using the coupling coordination degree, spatial autocorrelation, the center of gravity and the ellipse of the standard deviation, and geo-detector models. Research shows: (1) Time course: exhibits an upward "inverted L" trend. (2) Spatial pattern: exhibits a general spatial pattern of "high in the north and low in the south". (3) Spatial correlation: shows a spatially positively correlated clustering trend. (4) Spatial evolution: demonstrates a decentralized pattern of migration from the northeast to the southwest, indicating that the coupling coordination grows faster in the southwest than in the northeast. (5) Driving factor: the development of coupling coordination degree of PHS results from multiple factors and systems. This research provides theoretical support for promoting the comprehensive improvement of the quality of PHS in the urban agglomerations in eastern China, and offers scientific reference for the construction of PHS in other regions of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the complex relationship between ESSD and human well-being is of paramount significance to protecting regional ecology, enhancing human well-being and achieving sustainable development. We take the Yangtze River Economic Belt as an example and use multi-source data to analyse land use and cover change, as well as the spatiotemporal evolution of ESSD and human well-being. We explore and reveal the coupling coordination relationship between ESSD and human well-being. The results show that from 2000 to 2020, the overall trend in ESs in the region improved significantly, and the supply notably increased, whereas the demand growth rate was even more pronounced. The supply–demand ratio for water yield and soil conservation showed little change, with variations of <10%. However, the supply–demand ratio for carbon sequestration declined significantly by 41.83%, whereas that for food supply increased notably by 42.93%. The overall spatial pattern in ESSD presented a mismatch, which was characterised by 'low supply and high demand in the eastern region and high supply and low demand in the western region'. Overall, human well-being remained stable and was in line with the level of socio-economic development, thereby exhibiting a distinct trend of well-being 'polarisation between the rich and poor'. Well-being was higher in the eastern and central urban agglomerations and lower in the western plateau and mountainous areas. Over 20 years, the degree of coupling coordination between ESSD and human well-being increased by 0.0107, and the coupling level gradually transitioned from moderate imbalance to moderate coordination. Spatially, Hubei Province, Chongqing Municipality and the Yangtze River Delta were the main 'high–high' agglomeration areas, whereas the Sichuan Basin and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau were the main 'low–low' agglomeration areas. Based on these findings, we propose the following management recommendations for the Yangtze River Economic Belt and other related great river economic belts: optimise land use structure, rationally allocate natural resources, strengthen regional and external connections and promote regional coordinated development, enhance the implementation of policies for ecological and environmental protection, establish regional ecological compensation mechanisms and coordinate ecological protection in a full scope and focus on harmonising human–land relationships, build a multi-stakeholder collaborative governance mechanism and promote regional ecological protection and the elevation of human well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the relationship between education and the economy in China, focusing on 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions from 2012 to 2023. It developed an appropriate evaluation model to assess the coupling and collaborative development of the 'higher education and economy' composite system. The study quantified both the quantity and quality of higher education modernization in China using the entropy-weight method and a comprehensive development- level evaluation model. The coupling-coordination degree model was applied to empirically analyze the internal logic, operating mechanisms, and coupling-coordination degree between the supply of higher education and the demand for high-quality regional economic development within the context of the new development pattern. Additionally, the obstacle degree model was introduced to identify factors hindering the coupling and coordination of higher education and regional economic development across 31 provinces and municipalities. The findings revealed that (1) the modernization levels of higher education exhibited fluctuating yet overall upward trends, with the eastern region leading. Economic development followed a similar upward trajectory, with the eastern region outperforming other areas. (2) The coupling coordination between higher education and economic development followed a 'rising-falling-rising' pattern. (3) The higher education system emerged as the primary obstacle to coupling coordination, with specific challenges varying across different regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revealing the coordinated correlation between chemical industry development and the water environment is essential for promoting high-quality development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Based on the data in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2011 to 2021, this study explores the spatial–temporal evolution and influencing factors of the coupled coordination between chemical industry development and the water environment by using the global entropy method, a coupling coordination model, and the Tobit model. The results indicate a general upward trend in the comprehensive indices of chemical industry development and water environment systems, albeit with distinct spatial patterns. A mismatch between the two systems is observed in terms of spatial distribution. Regarding the coupling coordination degree, the relationship shows an upward trend, primarily at a mild-to-moderate coupling stage, exhibiting a spatial pattern of "downstream > midstream > upstream". Moreover, a trend of increasing coordination and narrowing disparities between high- and low-level regions can be observed. The model results suggest that environmental regulation, economic development, government capacity, and urbanization play a crucial role in promoting the coupled development of the chemical industry and the water environment. However, openness to external markets may not enhance coupled coordination. These findings may provide policy guidance for the development status of two subsystems in other locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North China Plain (NCP) serves as the main grain production land in China, functioning as a critical region for ensuring China's food security. To address the multifaceted challenges confronting food security in the NCP, the study embarked on a comprehensive analysis of the synergistic interactions between agricultural water usage, carbon emissions, and ecosystem health. By proposing footprint family indicators and using the bottom-up IPCC coefficient approach, this study quantitatively evaluates the spatial–temporal changes of water–carbon–ecological footprints in NCP from 2003 to 2020. Furthermore, a coupling coordination degree model that focuses on the coordination of water–carbon–ecological footprints is established. The findings are as follows: (1) The total water footprint in the NCP showed a striking increasing trend with an increase of 1.52 × 1011 m3, and the carbon footprint increased by 1.27 × 109 t, with significant ecological impacts. (2) The NCP's ecological footprint exhibited an "M"-shaped trend. The land structure maintained stable with negligible changes in the proportion of ecological footprints. (3) The coupling degree between the footprints of water, carbon, and ecology in the NCP is high, revealing a noteworthy interaction effect. This research can provide data support for effective resources allocation and sustainable social–economic development, offering reasonable insights for China to formulate more scientific policies of green transition in land use and ecological civilization construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use changes (LUC) have exacerbated the evolution of ecosystem structure in the urban agglomeration of the Yangtze River Delta (YRDUA), significantly affecting ecosystem service functions and values. Although the impact of land use on ecosystem service value (ESV) has received significant attention, most existing studies explore the relationship between LUC and ESV at the national, provincial, or regional scales. Few studies focus on urban agglomerations, particularly in the YRDUA. Additionally, while many studies analyze the driving factors of ecosystem services and the trade-offs and synergies among them, there is a relative scarcity of research on the coupling coordination relationship between LUC and ESV. In this study, we used the ecosystem service assessment model to dynamically analyze the spatio-temporal changes of land use and ESV in the YRDUA from 2000 to 2020 and evaluated the dynamic relationship between the two using the coupled coordination model system. The results show the following: (1) Land use types within the YRDUA underwent significant changes during the study period, with a notable decrease in farmland and a substantial increase in construction land being the dominant trends. (2) ESV showed upward and downward trends over different periods, with water bodies having the highest value, followed by forested land and farmland, respectively. The ESV of water bodies showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. Higher ESVs were mainly concentrated around lakes such as Taihu Lake and coastal areas along the Yangtze River, radiating outward from these central points. (3) Currently, the coupling coordination degree (CCD) between land use intensity and ESV in the YRDUA is mostly reluctant coordinated or in the state of primary coordination. However, with time, the CCD trend has increased. In addition, variations between cities were more pronounced, showing a spatial pattern characterized by higher coupling levels in eastern/northern regions compared to western/southern regions. Our study can provide policy references for improving land planning, optimizing land use structures, and realizing high-quality, sustainable, green, and coordinated development in the YRDUA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The Tibetan sheep industry is a typical representative of plateau animal husbandry and grassland animal husbandry and is also one of the characteristic industries in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region. The study of this industry is of great significance to promoting the high-quality development of animal husbandry and the region. Based on the production data and statistical data of Tibetan sheep in the main producing areas of Qinghai Province, this paper adopts the entropy method and the coupling coordination degree model to study the high-quality development of animal husbandry in Qinghai province from five dimensions: product quality, production efficiency, economic benefits, environmental friendliness and environmental conditions. The results showed that the high-quality development level and coupling coordination degree of the Tibetan sheep industry in Haibei Prefecture, Hainan Prefecture, Haixi Prefecture and Huangnan Prefecture of Qinghai Province showed an upward trend from 2015 to 2020. Among them, the high-quality development level of the Tibetan sheep industry in Haibei Prefecture and Hainan Prefecture of Qinghai Province significantly increased from 2019 to 2020, but the coupling coordination degree decreased.

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]

To delve into the interrelationship between the green transformation of industry and the economy's high-quality development, to promote the coordinated development of industrial carbon emission efficiency and digital economy, to expand the scope and research ideas related to economic and social sustainable development, and to provide scientific reference for the low-carbon sustainable development of regional economy, this article introduced a data-centric methodology for evaluating the collaborative advancement of both industrial enterprises' carbon emission efficiency and the digital economy. To accurately gauge the carbon footprint of industrial enterprises, models focusing on carbon emissions as well as carbon emission intensity were employed. To enhance the precision of evaluation outcomes and mitigate biases stemming from subjective weighting factors, we employed the entropy weight method to objectively assign weights to each indicator. Furthermore, the super-efficient slack-based model (SBM) can solve the problem that the conclusions are biased, due to the different radial. Subsequently, a carbon-emission efficiency slack-based measure model, and models for coupling degree and coupling-coordination degree were formulated. Anhui, as a central province in China, is also an important province in the Yangtze River Delta integration development. Coordinated development of its carbon emission efficiency and digital economy has important implications for the sustainable economy advancements of other regions in China, and even other countries or regions in the world. Therefore, Anhui was selected to be the empirical research sample. The results showed that the comprehensive levels of these two systems followed an increasing trend, while the digital economy lagged. Their coupling degree fluctuated and reached its highest point in 2021, whereas their coupling-coordination degree increased, showing high coupling and low coordination overall. This study proposes specific countermeasures and suggestions for the relevant decision-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the digital finance (DF) and regional sustainable development (RSD) across 90 cities within six major city clusters in China over the period from 2011 to 2020. By constructing an evaluation index system for DF and RSD, we employed the entropy value method to assess their levels, and the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model to evaluate their interplay. Our analysis extended to temporal and spatial disparities, distribution dynamics, and the convergence of CCD through kernel density estimation, Markov chain analysis, σ -convergence, and β -convergence techniques. The results indicate a consistent upward trend in CCD, yet it remains at a low level with pronounced regional disparities and temporal characteristics. The kernel density distribution's central tendency has shifted rightward progressively, albeit with a decelerating pace annually. The Markov transition probability matrix suggests a stable CCD across various levels, hinting at "club convergence". Furthermore, both σ -convergence and β -convergence analyses reveal significant convergence trends in CCD, enhanced by economic growth factors. Using the Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) method, we found that regional economic growth disparities significantly influence the CCD's regional variances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green infrastructure construction and economic growth are necessary ways and important supports to promote sustainable development. Exploring their coupling coordination relationship is important for achieving high-quality economic development. This study uses the entropy method, coupling coordination degree, kernel density estimation, the Dagum Gini coefficient, and spatial autocorrelation to explore the spatial-temporal pattern characteristics and coupling coordination relationship between green infrastructure construction and economic development for 273 cities in Chinese mainland in 2010–2020. The results show that the level of China's green infrastructure construction and economic development gradually increased during 2010–2020. There were significant regional differences in space, exhibiting a decreasing spatial pattern from east to west. The coupling coordination degree was constantly improving. The overall Gini coefficient shows an upward trend. Among the four regions, eastern China has the greatest intraregional variation. The uneven level of coupled coordination is mainly from interregional variation. There was a significant positive spatial autocorrelation relationship, and cities that had a higher degree of coupling coordination tended to agglomeration development. Meanwhile, it also had certain spatial heterogeneity. China's entire level of coupling coordination degree still has much room for improvement. The study is of great significance in reducing disparities between regions and strengthening regional spatial coordination development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming caused by massive carbon dioxide emissions can lead to a chain of ecological disasters. As one of the main sources of carbon emissions, transportation is of great significance, and the evaluation of its connections with carbon emissions is necessary to achieve "carbon neutrality". Taking Beijing as an example, this study evaluated traffic efficiency (TE) by utilizing principal component analysis and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation. Using the Tapio decoupling model and coupling coordination degree model, the corresponding relationship between urban low carbon level (LCL) and TE was explored. The results showed the following: (1) The total carbon emission (CE) level exhibited fluctuating variation from increasing to decreasing. The carbon emission intensity (CEI) continued to slow down, and the rapid growth of population density played a key role in low-carbon development. (2) The traffic operations continually showed a positive trend in development. TE increased from a step-like to a slow shape, until it declined in 2020 due to the pandemic. (3) TE and LCL both developed from low coordination to an extreme level of coordination. Per capita carbon emission (CEP) and TE presented an inverted U-shaped curve; meanwhile, with increases in TE, the decline in CEI slowed. In addition, the weak decoupling of TE changed to become strong, due to CE and CEP, and maintained a strong decoupling state from CEI. (4) There is a necessity for the rational planning of land use for transportation infrastructure, the encouragement of a combination of public and private transportation, and the strengthening of the maintenance of the relative infrastructure and the management of traffic behaviors to attain a win–win situation. The results provide a reference for optimizing the traffic structure to achieve "carbon neutrality". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coordinated development of water and soil resource matching and grain production is essential to enhance integrated grain production capacity and promote sustainable development in agriculture. Based on the perspective of a water footprint, this article empirically evaluates the coupling coordination relationship between water and soil resource matching and grain production in typical black soil areas in Northeast China using the coupled coordination degree and the obstacle model and further analyzes the obstacle factors that affect the coordination between the two systems. The results indicate that the blue water footprint, green water footprint, and total water footprint of five grain crops are increasing year by year. Soybean has the largest water footprint per unit mass, tubers have the smallest, and rice has the largest water footprint among cereals. The overall matching degree of water and soil resources in the study area is steadily increasing. However, there are significant differences in the water and soil resource matching coefficients between regions, with the highest being observed in Hegang City and the lowest being observed in Jiamusi City. Coupling remains at a high level and coupling coordination shifts from a low–middle–high to a middle–high stage. The correlation between soil and water resource matching and grain production systems is of significant importance. The degree of matching between water and soil resources serves as the primary obstacle affecting the coupling and coordinated development of integrated systems, which fundamentally restricts the sustainable development of regional agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting the synergy of pollution and carbon reduction (PCR), as well as accelerating high-quality economic development (HQED), are the two major tasks of China's current economic development. Thus, it is crucial to achieve a deep integration between PCR and HQED. We first construct the indicator system of PCR and HQED, and use the entropy method to assign weights to the indicator system. The coupling coordination model often portrays the level of coordinated development between systems. We apply this model to measure the synergistic relationship between PCR and HQED in 108 cities of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) in China from 2006 to 2021.We further analyze its spatial-temporal characteristics, regional differences, and convergence. The results reveal that the coupling coordination degree (CCD) between PCR and HQED in the YREB increases from 0.4234 in 2006 to 0.5832 in 2021. A higher CCD reflects a better coordinated developmental relationship between the two subsystems, and the relationship between the PCR and HQED shifts from on the verge of being uncoordinated to barely coordinated. Meanwhile, the CCD of the YREB shows a trend of decreasing downstream, midstream, and upstream, with significant spatial positive autocorrelation characteristics. Moreover, the overall differences in the CCD of the YREB from 2006 to 2021 show a fluctuating trend, with larger contributions of inter-regional differences and intra-regional differences. The convergence model reflects whether there is a tendency for the coupling coordination differences to narrow. Finally, the model indicates that there is no σ convergence but exists β convergence in the CCD of the YREB. Convergence is fastest in the downstream, followed by the midstream, and slowest in the upstream. The study reveals that the CCD of the YREB is increasing and has significant positive spatial correlation characteristics. It could utilize inter-city synergies, implement integrated strategies, and promote synergies between PCR and HQED in accordance with local conditions. Our findings provide empirical evidence and policy references for effectively promoting the deep integration of PCR with HQED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial structure (IS), economy (EC), and ecological environment (EE) could influence each other and constitute a complex system (IS-EC-EE). This study is to explore the differences and evolution of the coordination level of the IS-EC-EE complex system of 13 cities in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) urban agglomeration by coupling coordination degree model, Markov chain, GM (1,1) model, Dagum Gini coefficient, and Kernel density estimation method to provide a reference for regional sustainable development. The results show that the comprehensive evaluation index of IS, EC, and EE had significant differences among the 13 cities in the BTH region. The IS-EC-EE system of the whole BTH region was in a highly coupled and low-coordinated development state. And the coordination degrees of the 13 cities in the BTH region had spatial differences, which were mainly due to inter-regional differences, and the differences became larger. Furthermore, the coordinated development of the 13 cities had the probability of keeping high, moderate, and low coordination. It was predicted that the coordination degree of the IS-EC-EE system in the whole BTH region in 2020–2030 was roughly similar to the trend in 2009–2019. The coordination levels of Beijing and Tianjin were higher than in Hebei Province, so optimizations need to be considered for regional overall sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intricate interplay between water resources, land resources, energy systems, and carbon emissions has emerged as a prominent discourse in academic research. Nonetheless, there remains a dearth of comprehensive research dedicated to fostering environmentally friendly and low-carbon development through systematic integration and coordination efforts. This study aimed to fill this gap by integrating the coupling mechanism of the Water-Land-Energy-Carbon (WLEC) system, thereby constructing an evaluation index framework that assesses coordinated developments in Northwest China's WLEC system. It scrutinizes the security levels within the Water-Land-Energy (WLE) subsystem while conducting quantitative analyses on the degrees of coupling coordination within the WLEC systems, alongside their associated hindering factors. The preliminary findings were as follows: Firstly, the safety development within the WLE system demonstrates a positive trend across Northwest China, with notable advancements primarily observed in the Qinghai and Gansu provinces. In 2021, all five Northwestern provinces exhibited moderate levels of safe development, except for the Qinghai province, which transitioned from moderate to robust. Secondly, the coupling coordination degree of the WLEC system across the five provinces has consistently illustrated an upward trajectory over the years. However, as of 2021, the system remains in a state characterized by marginal disorder. Notably, the Qinghai and Gansu provinces have shown particularly encouraging upward trends, with the Shaanxi province also making notable progress. Conversely, Xinjiang has declined since 2017 due to negative interactions between the subsystems of water, soil, energy, and carbon emissions. Thirdly, spatial variations exist in the distribution patterns between the provinces regarding the influence of obstructing factors on indicators related to coupled coordinated development, such as per capita arable land area, per capita energy consumption, per capita carbon emissions, per capita construction land area, and the proportion of groundwater water in the total amount of water supply, which demonstrated an increasing trend. These findings carry significant practical implications for actively and steadily promoting carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in Northwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study utilizes provincial panel data from China spanning the period from 2011 to 2020 to assess the coupled and coordinated development of spatial functions related to production, life, and ecology (PLE) in rural areas. The assessment is based on quantifying the spatial function indices for PLE in China's rural regions. Additionally, it examines the characteristics of their spatial and temporal evolution, spatial correlation, and driving factors. The findings indicate a modest upward trend in the spatial coupling and coordination levels of these functions across rural China, although a significant proportion of provinces still exhibit a near-disordered decline. Exploratory spatial data analysis reveals a geographical disparity, with higher levels of coupled and coordinated development observed in the eastern regions, lower levels in the west, and noticeable spatial clustering. By employing the spatial Durbin model to investigate the determinants of coupling degrees, we discovered that factors such as regional economic development, urbanization, the urban–rural income gap, financial support for agriculture, science and technology investment level, and agricultural structural adjustments significantly influence the spatial coupling of rural PLE functions. Furthermore, using the geographic detector model, the analysis identifies science and technology investment level, economic development, and financial support for agriculture as key drivers influencing the spatial coupling and coordination of these functions. These findings provide valuable reference points for policies and strategies related to rural management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the panel data of 19 old revolutionary base areas in China from 2003 to 2020, this study measures the process of sustainable development and the coupling and coordination of economic, environmental, and social systems in less developed regions and investigates the influencing factors of sustainable development. The results show that the sustainable development of the old revolutionary base areas has generally shown an upward trend, while in recent years, it has fluctuated and declined. The coupling coordination degree of the system has similar characteristics, and the sustainable development and coupling coordination degree of the eastern region are higher than that of other regions. The regression results show that both effective government and efficient markets can promote the sustainable development of the old revolutionary base areas. Government factors play a more vital role in the eastern region, and market mechanisms play a greater role in the central and western regions. Nevertheless, the interaction term between the market and government is negative, indicating that the coordination between government factors and the market mechanism needs to be improved in revitalizing the old revolutionary base areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a two-stage framework for analyzing the coupling mechanism between regional sustainable economic development and environmental protection subsystems. We propose a modified super-slack-based measure (SBM) model to evaluate efficiency and apply a coupled coordination model to measure the coordinated development levels of regional economies and environments. Subsequently, we assess the economic and environmental efficiency and coordination levels of 30 Chinese regions from 2011 to 2019. The findings indicate a strong synchronization between regional economic development and environmental protection, whereby regions with better economic development exhibit superior environmental protection measures. Regional technical inefficiency is primarily attributed to scale inefficiency, although the overall developmental trend is predominantly determined by pure technical advancement. While the synchronization between the economy and environment remains highly robust, over time, the coordination level gradually diminishes, transitioning from a state of well-coordinated and orderly development to dysfunctional and disorderly recession. Noticeable regional disparities in efficiency and coordination levels are apparent among the eastern, western, and central regions, with the central region demonstrating exemplary performance across all aspects. To promote sustainable high-quality coordinated development, regions with limited capacity should prioritize economic construction. Conversely, in other regions, the simultaneous promotion of economic development and environmental protection would be more appropriate to achieve a higher level of coordinated regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the relationships among tourism, the environment and carbon emissions is key to understanding how tourism activity affects the sustainable development of tourism in the Tibetan Plateau. Using Lhasa, Tibet, as a case study, the coupling and coordination relationships among the three systems were analysed to explore the impact of tourism behaviour on sustainable tourism development. Utilising panel data from 2010 to 2020, the carbon emissions of tourism activities were calculated using a bottom-up approach. The coupling coordination model was employed to examine the interrelationship of the economy, the ecological environment and carbon emissions. Additionally, the Tapio model was utilised to further analyse the dependency relationship between economic development and carbon emissions. This assessment of the sustainability of Lhasa's tourism industry revealed that (1) the economy, the environment and carbon emissions are indeed closely intertwined with sustainable development and that (2) there has been a significant increase in the coupling coordination among the economy, the environment and carbon emissions from 2010 to 2020, coupled with a gradual decrease in economic dependency on carbon emissions. Despite providing favourable conditions for sustainable development, there remains considerable disparity among the three subsystems, with relatively low overall coordination. Accordingly, some practical low-carbon tourism policies are recommended to guide tourism practices and promote long-term sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The integrated development of agricultural land and finance not only promotes rural financial innovation and breaks the bottleneck of agricultural financing but also facilitates agricultural land transfer and scaled operations. This leads to the advancement of the effective growth of contemporary agriculture. The reform of the 'separation of three rights' in agricultural land promotes land circulation, which, in turn, offers an institutional guarantee for the tandem development of rural finance and agricultural land management. This paper measures the comprehensive development index of agricultural land management and rural finance in 30 provinces of China from 2005 to 2020. In light of this, it calculates the degree of coupling and coordination between China's agricultural land management and rural financial development. The Dagum Gini coefficient, kernel density, and the Moran index were used to analyze regional differences and patterns of agglomeration. The study found that the degree of coupling coordination between China's agricultural land management and rural finance is increasing annually. However, there remains a significant gap in achieving high-quality coupling. Notably, the growth rate of rural financial development exceeds that of agricultural land management, and hypervariable density is a major source of regional variation. There is polarization in the coupled development of farmland management and rural finance. Provinces in the eastern and central regions tend to be located in the high–high agglomeration (H–H) in terms of the level of development of agricultural land and financial integration, while the western region tends to fall in low–low aggregation (L–L).

Abstract 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.

[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]