Integrating Ecological Security Pattern and Sustainable Development Goals: A Multi‐Scale Framework for Arid Cities

ABSTRACT Ecological Security Pattern (ESP) coordinates urban expansion and ecological protection. Previous single‐scale ESP studies ignored the differences between regional and local conservation needs, resulting in policy conflicts across administrative scales. This study proposed a multi‐scale ESP framework with Zhangye, a typical arid city, as the study area. Guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), relevant ecosystem services (ESs) were selected and ecological sources were identified at both city and county scales. A multi‐scale integration was then proposed to classify ecological sources into hierarchical scales. Subsequently, the aridity index was applied to modify the resistance surface, and the circuit theory model was employed to quantify ecological corridors and strategic points. The results showed that the ecological sources in Zhangye spanned 18,367.93 km 2 , occupying 47.6% of the city's total area. Among them, the first‐level source area covered 12,674.73 km 2 (69%), the second level covered 2274.05 km 2 (12.38%) and the third level covered 3419.15 km 2 (18.62%). Notably, 31% of these ecological sources exhibited scale‐dependent variations in their protection requirements. In total, 35 ecological corridors were delineated, totaling 211.65 km. These included 11 at the first level, 7 at the second level, and 17 at the third level, along with 11 pinch points and 41 ecological barriers. Finally, the ESP was optimized into a “three zones and three belts” spatial pattern, and targeted suggestions were proposed for the ecological planning of Zhangye. This study demonstrated an effective approach to harmonizing macro‐regional conservation objectives with micro‐local ecological protection needs, providing a transferable solution for inter‐regional planning challenges.