The Ecology-Economy-Transport Nexus: Evidence from Fujian Province, China

Wulin Wang, Jiao Gong, Wenyue Yang and Jingyu Zeng
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Wulin Wang: College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Fuzhou University, 2 North Wulongjiang Avenue, Fuzhou 350108, China
Jiao Gong: College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Fuzhou University, 2 North Wulongjiang Avenue, Fuzhou 350108, China
Wenyue Yang: College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, South China Agricultural University, 483 Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510642, China
Jingyu Zeng: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekou Wai Dajie, Beijing 100875, China

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: The coordinated relationship between ecology, economy and transportation is essential for regional sustainable development. Does the high-quality ecological environment mean the lagging development of economy and transportation, or does the rapid growth of the economy and transportation lead to the deterioration of the ecological environment? To shed new light on the complicated relationship between ecology, economy and transportation, our study aims to construct three comprehensive indicators, including an ecological index (EI), economic development level (EC) and transport superiority degree (TR), to reflect the systems mentioned above, and to measure the coordination of the three indicators’ development and evolution using a model of the coordination degree (CD). Specifically, and by applying methods for the indicators’ normalization, including superposition analysis and principal component analysis, the three indicators’ values are reasonably evaluated for measuring their coordination relationship. The above three indicators use data from 58 counties in Fujian province from 2000 to 2018 in our study. All three indicators show differences in the west and east of Fujian province; the EI is relatively low in the eastern coastal areas and relatively high in the western mountainous areas, the EC shows a relatively discrete and irregular distribution and the distribution pattern of the TR is almost the opposite of the EI. The CD shows a relationship among the three indicators, with the EI and EC coordinated in most counties and the EI and TR coordinated in most counties, while the highly coordinated counties are mainly distributed in the northwest and east coastal regions of Fujian province in 2000, and the northwest, south and northeast of Fujian province in 2018. More than 50% of the county EC and TR values are kept in a coordinated state, and are mainly distributed in the eastern coast and central part of Fujian province. Over 50% of counties’ CD between EI and EC, EI and TR and EC and TR are in a coordinated state. The CD of the EI and EC and TR, in most counties, are in a coordinated state, mainly distributed in the eastern coast and central areas of Fujian province. In other words, the findings show that the coordinated state of ecology, economy and transportation can be achieved at the county level of Fujian province. These conclusions have significant reference value for understanding regional sustainable development.

Keywords: ecological index; economic development level; transport superiority degree; coordination degree; county; Fujian province (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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