Characteristics and Driving Mechanism of Regional Ecosystem Assets Change in the Process of Rapid Urbanization—A Case Study of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Urban Agglomeration

Abstract

Land urbanization has reduced the amount of area for natural ecosystem assets. However, with the development of the social economy, will the quality of natural ecosystem assets be improved? If one comprehensively considers the changes in the area and quality of natural ecosystem assets, is the dominant impact of urbanization on natural ecosystem assets positive or negative? In this study, detailed research is conducted on the area, pattern, quality, and overall situation of the ecosystem assets in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration during the rapid urbanization process. The impact of urbanization on the overall situation of ecosystem assets is also analyzed. The research methods used to generate statistics, accounting, and analysis of the ecosystem assets include ArcGIS, satellite remote sensing images, R language programming, and other data analysis tools. The research results show that: (1) The ecosystem area was dominated by degradation, and the landscape pattern became increasingly fragmented, with the exception of farmland and wetland areas. (2) However, the quality of the natural ecosystem assets was significantly improved, and the overall situation of the natural ecosystem assets was optimized. (3) In addition to the population urbanization rate, the growth in the population density, land urbanization rate, and GDP per unit area had a significant negative impact on the overall situation of natural ecosystem assets. This reminds people that the improvement in asset quality can compensate for the reduction in area to some extent, and, in addition to the population urbanization rate, the levels of population density, land urbanization, and economic density should be appropriately controlled.