Identifying Spatiotemporal Interactions between Urbanization and Eco-Environment in the Urban Agglomeration in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, China

Yan Yu, Yan Tong, Wenwu Tang, Yanbin Yuan and Yue Chen
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Yan Yu: Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Yan Tong: Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Wenwu Tang: Center for Applied Geographic Information Science, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
Yanbin Yuan: Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Yue Chen: Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Urban agglomeration has become a crucial topic in order for the Chinese government to promote new-type urbanization in China, and its urbanization will greatly affect China’s eco-environment. Existing literature on bidirectional influence between urbanization and eco-environment from the perspective of urban agglomeration is, however, limited. This study establishes a conceptual framework to identify bidirectional relationships between urbanization and eco-environment in urban agglomerations. After evaluating urbanization level and eco-environment quality for each city in an urban agglomeration, this framework determines key interaction factors, and employs a global regression approach to quantify the coercing effects of urbanization on eco-environment and constraining effects of eco-environment on urbanization. Spatial heterogeneity of bidirectional interactions is then examined using local regression, represented by geographically weighted regression. The case study in the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River from 2000 to 2015 indicated the existence of bidirectional interactions and coercing threat that was stronger than constraining pressure in this region. The coercion that urbanization posed on the eco-environment began to vary in space significantly from 2010, whereas the constraint of eco-environment on urbanization was spatially stationary. This study will help policy-makers to develop sustainable policies to balance urban development and eco-environment conservation.

Keywords: urbanization; eco-environment; interaction; urban agglomeration; middle reaches of the Yangtze River (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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