Interaction Relationship between Urbanization and Land Use Multifunctionality: Evidence from Han River Basin, China

Abstract

Coordinating the interaction between urbanization and land use multifunctionality (LUMF) is of great significance in regional sustainable development. This article explores the interaction relationship between urbanization and LUMF in the Han River Basin (HRB) of China from 2000 to 2018. We used the combination weighting method, coupling coordination degree model, and geographic detector method to examine the coupling relationship and internal mechanism between urbanization and LUMF. The results showed that (1) there exists a significant correlation between urbanization and LUMF, the coupling coordination degree of each county displayed an upward trend throughout the research period, and the whole region has a radiation effect of central cities; (2) from the perspective of the internal mechanism of urbanization demand and the LUMF supply, we found that social urbanization demand is the primary demand for LUMF, while the town living function is the main supply of LUMF for urbanization, which means social urbanization has more influence than economic and population urbanization on LUMF, and the town living function has greater decisive power than agricultural production function and ecological function on urbanization; and (3) the supply and demand-influencing factors between urbanization and LUMF in each sub-region are different, and the upstream is more susceptible to determinants than the midstream and downstream because of the worse natural resource endowment. In conclusion, the critical finding provides not only guidance to understand the relationship between urbanization and LUMF but also suggests that the government should adapt to local conditions when formulating regional development planning.