Research on the Coupling Co-ordination between Quality of County-Level New Urbanization and Ecosystem Service Value in Shaanxi Province

Abstract

Rapid urbanization has significantly impacted the structure of ecosystem services, accelerating the pressure on natural resources and ecological space. The clarification of the interdependent relationship between new-type urbanization (NTU) and ecosystem services (ESs) has contributed to ecological conservation and high-quality co-ordinated development, in contrast to traditional urbanization. This study focuses on the counties in Shaanxi Province as the research subjects, develops a new urbanization evaluation model for county-level areas, and utilizes Section data at the county level in Shaanxi Province for the years 2000, 2010, and 2020. (To analyze land cover change, we selected four data periods: 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, to capture significant spatial trends.) This study employed the comparative analysis method and the Coupled Co-ordination Model (CCDM) to assess the correlation between traditional urbanization and the value of ecosystem services, as well as between new urbanization and the value of ecosystem services. Additionally, the study utilizes the ArcGIS platform to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of the two types of urbanization evolution and the spatiotemporal relationship between urbanization and ecosystem co-ordination. The study findings suggest the following: (1) a “low-level coordination” coupling relationship exists between traditional and new urbanization in county-level areas of Shaanxi Province and the value of ecosystem services. (2) The coupling co-ordination of traditional and new urbanization with the value of ecosystem services shows a spread of low-value areas in space, leading to a pattern of low disorder assimilation and significant spatial aggregation. (3) From 2000 to 2020, traditional and new urbanization in various counties of Shaanxi Province consistently exhibited a steady increase, with spatial patterns of “Guanzhong region > Northern Shaanxi region > Southern Shaanxi region”. Both types of urbanization have displayed a “low-level coupling” with ecosystem services. (4) During the same period, the new urbanization index in different counties of Shaanxi Province showed a steady increase, demonstrating an advantage of Guanzhong. Its impact on the ecosystem was significantly weaker than that of traditional urbanization. (5) The development of new urbanization can be more effectively co-ordinated with ecosystem services compared to traditional urbanization. However, currently, its co-ordination with the ecosystem service system is relatively poor. The study’s results suggest that enhancing new urbanization from multiple dimensions is beneficial for promoting the integrated coherence between urbanization development and ecosystem service systems.