Analyzing the Coupling Degree of Coordinated Development between Ecological Environment and Regional Economy in Underdeveloped Areas

Abstract

Accelerating economic development necessitates the rapid consumption of more ecological environmental resources. Excessive consumption of ecological environmental resources will seriously damage the overall coordination between the ecological environment and the local economy. We examine the objective issues of regional economic development and environmental protection in the three eastern provinces. Local governments should prioritize the degree of interdependence between regional economic development and the ecological environment. A healthy development strategy includes managing and improving the regional environment while also ensuring the orderly and stable development of the local economy. The grey correlation analysis model is based on the coupling relationship analysis and uses the underdeveloped Northeast Economic Zone as the study goal. So, this study proposes that the regional economic circle of three northeastern provinces be the main topic of a quantitative analysis of the coupling relationship and influencing factors of the coordinated development of the ecological environment and regional economy from 2013 to 2020. Inferred from the perspective of spatial coupling relationships is the calculation of the coupling degree model based on the grey correlation degree. Specifically, Harbin (0.661), Changchun (0.650), Jixi (0.615), and Liaoyuan (0.629) fall into the antagonistic type and low-level coupling type categories. The degree of coupling between Northeast China’s economic development and the natural environment significantly decreased from 2015 to 2018 from the perspective of the time series coupling relationship. The changing trend of coupling degree makes it abundantly clear that the problems with the ecological environment’s constraints in the underdeveloped areas of the three northeastern provinces have not been fundamentally resolved. If no action is taken rapidly, the ecological environment will continue to deteriorate because environmental problems do not improve significantly in a short time.