Spatial coupling analysis of regional economic development and environmental pollution in China

Given the great number of studies focusing on the temporal interaction between economic and environmental subsystems, it is useful to perform a quantitative spatial as- sessment of these subsystems. In this paper, comprehensive assessment indicators for re- gional economic development and environmental pollution subsystems are constructed. Then the degree of coupling and coordination of the regional economy-environment system is calculated for 350 prefectural units in China. It is found that the economic development and environmental pollution in most prefectural units is still at a low level of coupling and coordi- nation. According to the coupling and coordination values, the Chinese territory can be di- vided into four types of area： economy-environment harmonious area, economy-environ- ment gearing area, economy-environment rivaling area and low coupling degree of econ- omy-environment area. Based on a structural analysis of the industrial sector in the four types of areas, there is a spatial relationship between the regional industrial sector structure and the coupling-coordination level. In the economy-environment harmonious area, the sectors of manufacturing of high-technology and high value-added products, such as com- munications, computer and electronic equipment, transport equipment and electrical ma- chinery, account for a large proportion of the value of local industrial output. The industrial value of the economy-environment gearing area is concentrated on the manufacturing of machinery and equipment, and. contains a few polluting sectors such as ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical manufacturing and electricity generation. The econ- omy-environment rivaling area is the type of area where polluting sectors concentrate, such as iron and steel, petrifaction, coal mining, building materials and electricity generation. In the low coupling degree of economy-environment area, its industry is concentrated on the pro- duction and processing of primary products.

中国边境地区城镇化时空格局及其驱动力

Border area is not only an important gateway for inland opening-up,but also an important part of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society and optimizing national urban spatial pattern in China.Due to the location,natural resources endowment,and traffic accessibility,the urbanization speed is relatively slow in border areas.Therefore,it is a special area that needs to pay close attention to,especially under the background of the Belt and Road Initiative and China's regional coordinated development program.Based on the county-level data from 2000 to 2015,this paper tries to analyze the spatio-temporal pattern of urbanization in 134 border counties,and applies geographical detector method to study the driving forces of urbanization in border areas.Conclusions are as follows:(1)From 2000 to 2015,urbanization rate in border areas has been lower than the national average,and the gap has been widening.Some border counties in southern Xinjiang,Tibet,northeast of Inner Mongolia,and Yunnan,are even facing the problem of population loss.(2)In the same period,urbanization rate in the northwestern and southwestern border is low,while their urbanization rate grows relatively faster comparing with other border counties;urbanization rate in Tibet border is the lowest and grows relatively slowly;urbanization rate in the northeastern and northern border is slightly higher,but it grows slowly or even stagnates.(3)Transportation and industry are the important driving forces of urbanization in border areas,while the driving forces of market is relatively weak.And there are obvious mutual reinforcements among the driving forces,while the effort and explanatory power of resource force increases obviously after interaction.(4)Urbanization rate in the northwestern and southwestern border areas grows relatively fast,with industrial force and transportation force,market force and administrative force as the main driving forces respectively.Tibet border area has the lowest urbanization rate and growth rate,as the driving force of urbanization with strong contribution has not yet formed in Tibet.In the northeastern and northern border areas,the contribution of transportation force to urbanization is greater than other forces,and its interaction with market and industry has obvious effects.