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. 2023 Dec;52(12):1910-1927.
doi: 10.1007/s13280-023-01937-x. Epub 2023 Oct 27.

The development of ecological civilization in China based on the economic-social-natural complex system

Rui Xiao  1 , Haiguang Hao  1 , Huiyuan Zhang  2 , Yujie Liu  1 , Mengxiao Liu  1
Affiliations

The development of ecological civilization in China based on the economic-social-natural complex system

Rui Xiao et al. Ambio. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

China is making great efforts to build an ecological civilization. To reveal the effectiveness and spatial characteristics of the ecological civilization development in China, we constructed an Ecological Civilization Evaluation Index (ECI) based on the economic-social-natural complex system. We evaluated the development level of the ecological civilization in China from 2004 to 2020 and discussed the coupling and coordination relationship between subsystems. We found that the ecological civilization of China has achieved remarkable results. The relationship among the three subsystems has been improved to some extent, but the high-quality development of the economic system still requires effort. The development level of the ecological civilization in China presents spatial heterogeneity. From east to west, 30 provinces can be classified into four different types of development. On the whole, the development of China's ecological civilization has provided experiences for the world.

Keywords: Coupling and coordinated development; Ecological civilization construction; Spatiotemporal characteristics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Map of the study area
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The average score of ECI and subsystems in 30 provinces (A) and the average coupling coordination degree between subsystems in 30 provinces (B)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
ECI and subsystem scores for 30 provinces (A), where subsystem scores are weighted results. The spatiotemporal pattern evolution of ECI in 30 provinces (B)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Annual average growth rate of subsystem scores in 30 provinces from 2004 to 2020 (A), and the classification chart of the average value and growth rate of ECI in 30 provinces in 17 years (B). The dotted line (B) is the average value of the 30 provinces in the horizontal and vertical axes, and above average is considered high, below average is considered low
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The panel diagram of coupling coordination degree among the three subsystems in 30 provinces (A) and the number of coupling coordination degrees among the three subsystems in 30 provinces from 2004 to 2020 belonging to each level (B), as well as the average coupling coordination degree between two subsystems in each province from 2004 to 2020 (C)
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
NMDS ranking analysis of 30 provinces in China (A), and the spatial distribution of four types of provinces (B)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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