A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Ecological–Economic Coupling Coordination in the Chengdu–Chongqing Urban Agglomeration

Abstract

The quick and reliable quantification of the relationship between ecosystem and economic system is important in policymaking for sustainable urban agglomerations facing enormous pressure from high population density and development intensity. This is especially true in China, where urban agglomeration has been part of the country’s strategy for reform, modernization, and urbanization. This study applied the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model to assess the coupling coordination relationships between the ecosystem and economic system at the county level for the Chengdu–Chongqing agglomeration for the period of 2005–2019, and then, the local indicator of spatial association analysis (LISA) was used to illustrate the spatial distribution of CCDs further, hoping to capture the spatiotemporal dynamics of CCDs. The results found that (1) fringe counties and districts in the urban agglomeration were on the brink of ecological–economic disorder with low CCDs, (2) urbanized areas near Chongqing coordinated well with high CCDs, and (3) sound spatial governance and territorial planning may be better achieved by using the county-level unit than the city-level unit.