Evaluating the Coupling Coordinated Development between Regional Ecological Protection and High-Quality Development: A Case Study of Guizhou, China

Promoting the coupling coordinated development between ecological protection and high-quality development is an important path to achieve sustainable regional development around the world. Taking Guizhou, China as a typical case, this study builds a comprehensive evaluation index system for ecological protection and high-quality development, and then uses the coupling coordination degree model to assess the spatiotemporal characteristics of ecological protection and high-quality development. According to the findings, Guizhou's ecological protection index and high-quality development index both exhibit an upward trend and a center-edge spatial pattern, but they also exhibit a "spatial misalignment relationship". The coupling coordination between ecological protection and high-quality development in Guizhou has shown a continuous growth trend from near-disorder to a primary coordination, with a spatial pattern of "central > western > eastern". This study enriches the knowledge body of sustainable development, helps Guizhou make decisions that are best for ecological protection and high-quality development, and is useful as a reference for other regions and countries.