Revealing the scarcity-weighted land-water-energy nexus of urban China: Tele-connection and node-strength pattern.

• A framework for analyzing the urban LWE nexus based on modified SWF is posed. • Changes of SWF and contributions of final demand to local SWF are assessed. • North China is the primary net scare LWE exporter to Beijing. • Water-Energy emerge as the most frequent nodes in the identified local nexus. • Three-node (LWE) nexus becomes stronger and more common in tele-connected systems. Urbanization and economic growth together exacerbate land, water and energy (LWE) resource scarcities and demand-supply conflicts in global cities. In highly urbanized regions like the megacity Beijing, these challenges induce changes of the cross-regional LWE nexus in key resource nodes and strength. This study presents an integrated model that combines the multi-regional input-output model with modified scarcity-weighted and nexus node-strength indicators to better understand this phenomenon. The results highlight the central role water plays within the urban LWE nexus, despite a 61.3 % decrease in its scarcity-weighted footprint from 2007 to 2017. In the local context, over half of economic sectors exhibit a two-node nexus pattern, with the water-energy nexus being particularly prominent. Regarding the tele-connection pattern, the three-node nexus is the most common type with higher strength. The spatial distribution of provinces with three-node nexus has shifted from the northeast and neighboring provinces of Beijing in 2007 to the central region in 2017. Moving forward, prioritizing changes in consumption patterns, diversifying supply sources, improving resource use efficiency, and optimizing industrial and regional trade structures are crucial for regional sustainable development. These findings provide valuable insights for formulating effective solutions to address demand-supply conflicts for cities from a broader nexus perspective. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]