Spatial-temporal changes and driving factors of the coordinated relationship among multiple land use efficiencies integrating stakeholders' vision in eastern China

Analysis of land use efficiency (LUE) integrating stakeholders' vision for the coordinated development among agriculture, economy and ecology can provide a harmonized avenue for localized and efficient resource management strategies. In this research, a new analysis framework for LUE integrating stakeholders' vision was proposed, and further applied to Jiangsu Province, a typical region with rapid urbanization in eastern China, to systematically explore the coupling and coordination relationship among multiple land use efficiencies in agriculture, economy and ecology and its driving factors. Results showed that: (1) Most areas of Jiangsu failed to meet the land-use stakeholders' vision in terms of agricultural production, economic development, and ecological maintenance during 2000–2018, with an average improvement potential of 26.84%, 30.27% and 36.58% respectively at the township level; (2) Interactions among multiple land use efficiencies in 2000–2018 were developing towards coordination in terms of temporal evolution, spatial association, and interaction types and their spatial transformations, but overall they were still at a medium level of coordination; (3) Economic factors had a certain priority for the coordinated development of multiple efficiencies, but they mostly played negative roles, while both agricultural factors and ecological factors mostly played positive roles. This study should be useful in assisting stakeholders to proactively focus on specific solutions for more effective land resource management and decision-making, and identify which land use behaviors should be encouraged or prohibited for the future coordination among agriculture, economy and ecology.