The Coupling Coordination and Interaction Mechanism of Land Ecological Security and High-Quality Economic Development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region

Land ecological security (LES) and high-quality economic development (HED) are mutually influential. China has three world-class urban agglomerations; the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region is one of them. It is an important platform for participating in international competition and cooperation. To promote regional sustainable development, it is critical to study the coupling coordination and interaction mechanism of LES-HED subsystems over time and space in the BTH region. This study involved the construction of an aggregated index system to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the subsystems, and then investigated the coupling coordination degree (CCD) of the LES-HED subsystems from 2007 to 2018 using a CCD model. Additionally, a panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model was applied to analyze the interactive mechanism of the LES-HED subsystems. Finally, a model of the degree of relative development was used to classify the types of regional development. The results showed that the CCD of the LES-HED subsystems in the BTH region had significant spatial and temporal differences. The spatial distribution could be characterized as low in the central area and high in the peripheral area, and the evolutionary law of CCD in the system was from lower to higher levels over time. In addition, improvements in LES promoted HED, but the impact of HED on LES was limited. The development patterns within the cities of the study area included three development types, including an slightly lagging type of LES, a slightly lagging type of HED, and a significantly lagging type of HED. Given the spatial variability of the coupled and coordinated development of LES-HED subsystems, it is necessary to implement different development strategies. This study can inform decisions promoting the coordinated development of LES-HED subsystems for sustainable regional development.