Evaluation of Spatial Functions and Scale Effects of “Production–Living–Ecological” Space in Hainan Island

Abstract

The identification, evaluation, and spatial distribution of “Production–Living–Ecological” space (PLEs) have been widely studied, but there is still little attention paid to whether their distribution characteristics will vary with scale changes. This article takes the organic whole of the PLEs composed of production space, living space, and ecological space on Hainan Island as the research object. Starting from the perspective of spatial heterogeneity, it quantitatively evaluates its spatial functions and explores the regularities of its aggregation and coordination characteristics with changes in scale, revealing the evolution of its distribution pattern with changes in scale. The results show that: (1) The distribution of PLEs in Hainan Island has obvious heterogeneity. The functional values of production and living space are distributed in a pattern of high in the south and north, low in the middle; The ecological space shows a high distribution pattern in the middle and low around it. (2) The PLEs in Hainan Island is significantly affected by scale effects. The degree of aggregation decreases as the scale increases, with the ecological space showing the most obvious downward trend, the living space showing a weaker downward trend and the production space being moderate. (3) The overall level of coupling-coordination of PLEs in Hainan Island is low, which decreases as the scale increases, with 500 m × 500 m being the peak value. The research results of this article indicate that there are scale effects in the functional distribution characteristics of PLEs, which can provide decision support for the national spatial planning at different scales.