Evolution of Spatial Pattern and Configurational Path of Ecotourism Comfort in Chengdu City

Abstract

Ecotourism comfort is an important way to promote the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, and it is the concrete implementation of the concept of harmonious coexistence and the theory of “Two Mountains”. Based on the urban comfort theory, the ecotourism comfort level of Chengdu city from 2010 to 2020 was measured. The MCR model and the gravity model were used to extract the potential corridor of ecotourism comfort to identify the core area of ecotourism comfort, and its configuration path was analyzed through a qualitative comparison of fsQCA fuzzy sets. The findings are as follows: (1) The overall level of ecotourism comfort in Chengdu has been improved, and the spatial distribution has a “core-edge” structure, which has obvious characteristics of “polarization leading and common development”. Among them, Wuhou District, Qingyang District, and Longquanyi District are the core areas, and the driving effect on marginal areas is particularly significant. (2) The potential ecological corridors in Chengdu are more densely distributed in the east than in the west, with significant north–south variations within both regions. (3) The core corridors of ecotourism comfort originate from Xinjin District and Longquanyi District, characterized by a banded distribution and primarily concentrated along the southwest–northeast axis. (4) The high level of ecotourism comfort in Chengdu is primarily manifested in five distinct types: “comprehensive drive, resource–transportation synergy, technology–transportation integration, government–led investment, and tourism market–technology linkage”. The research results offer a theoretical basis and scientific reference for enhancing the comfort level of urban ecotourism and comprehensively promoting the sustainable development of ecotourism.