Coupling coordination analysis and spatiotemporal heterogeneity between ecosystem services and new-type urbanization: A case study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China

As a strategy for building a beautiful China, new-type urbanization (NTU) has an impact on the regional ecological security pattern. Clarifying the coupling coordination relationship between NTU and ecosystem services (ESs) can help ecological protection and high-quality coordinated development. The methods of this paper are as follows. Firstly, the integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model is used to calculate ESs, and then evaluate the level of NTU from multiple dimensions. On this basis, the coupling coordination degree model and the relative development model are used to analyze the coupling relationship between ESs and NTU. The results indicate that the ESs in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) decreased, from 2000 to 2020. The level of NTU continues to improve, but the spatial imbalance is more prominent. ESs and NTU are significantly negatively correlated, with population, economic, land, and infrastructural urbanization having a more detrimental effect on ESs overall. In general, the coupling coordination relationship between Es and NTU changes from intermediate coordination to primary coordination, and the spatial manifestation was “high in the east and low in the west” and the dependence was strong. Most areas show lagging ES disorders. To achieve an orderly breakthrough in the steady-state phase while adhering to the law of coupled coercive development, as well as to serve as a guide for making decisions to create a YREB model with clear skies, lush vegetation, stunning mountains, and harmony between people and the land.