Spatiotemporal Distributions of Multiple Land Use Functions and Their Coupling Coordination Degree in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration, China

Abstract

In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of land system changes and regional sustainable development, it is crucial to explore the spatiotemporal distributions of multiple land use functions (LUFs). Therefore, herein, considering the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration (YRDUA) as the research object, we constructed an evaluation system based on the perspective of production–living–ecological (PLE) land functions. Furthermore, the coupling coordination model, kernel density curve, trend surface analysis, and spatial autocorrelation model were used to examine the spatial and temporal characteristics of LUFs and their coupling coordination and analyze the spatial clustering of the coupling coordination effect in the urban agglomeration from 2005 to 2020. The following results were obtained: The level of PLE functions and its coupling coordination degree in the YRDUA have been improved in the study period, and the distribution of high value areas of different functions is diverse. In terms of the spatial distribution of the coupling coordination degree, the high value areas of production function (PF)–living function (LF) is distributed in “clusters”, the PF–ecological function (EF) demonstrated a single-polarized development structure, and the LF-EF exhibited a multi-core structure. The coupling coordination of the LUFs demonstrated a “high in the east and low in the west” pattern in the east–west direction and an inverted “U” shape in the north–south direction. Moreover, both high-value and low-value areas exhibited a clustering phenomenon, with an evident spatial positive correlation. The results of this study can serve as a reference for the integrated socioeconomic development of the Yangtze River Delta region and the sustainable development of urban land use.