Environmental Protection, Industrial Structure and Urbanization: Spatiotemporal Evidence from Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, China

Abstract

The Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration (BTH) is striving to realize the transformation process from a low-efficiency to a high-quality development mode; however, it still has problems regarding reducing energy consumption and ecological environment pressure. Based on panel data from 2013 to 2017, this paper proposes an evaluation index system based on BTH’s “environmental protection–industrial structure–urbanization” system. In the course of applying the coupling degree model (CDM) and the coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) with exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) methods, this paper discusses the spatiotemporal process, development level, and spatial agglomeration characteristics of the environmental protection–industrial structure–urbanization system in each city of the BTH area. The findings reveal that the coupling degree of the BTH system is gradually increasing, and that the development level of the BTH subsystem is unbalanced: the coupling coordination level of BTH shows a positive evolution process; however, it is in a stage of low-level collaborative development, and there are obvious differences in the level of BTH coupling coordination in space, revealing the convergence of low–high and high–low types. This paper concludes by putting forward the strategy of optimizing the regional spatial pattern of urban agglomeration and implementing integrated development in order to achieve the desired coupling and coordination effects.