Correlation between urbanization and ecosystem services in Xiamen, China

The high degree of urbanization has significantly changed the land use structure of the special economic zone cities in China, leading to a decline in ecosystem services value (ESV). This paper chose Xiamen as the research object, which analyzes the relationship between urbanization level and ESV from three aspects: population urbanization (POP), gross domestic product, and construction land proportion (CLP). Results reveal that: (1) from 2000 to 2015, the degree of urbanization increased in Xiamen City; (2) the urbanization level of Xiamen is starting in the center of the inner city and showing a trend of spreading to adjacent areas as the overall level of urbanization increases; (3) there is a negative correlation between POP, CLP, and ESV. In the ESV subsystem, the correlation between different types of ecological services and urbanization indicators is varied; (4) due to the influx of population, construction land has to continuously expand to meet the needs of development in the inner cities. The outer cities have a high level of ESV due to its low level of urbanization and healthy ecological environment; (5) comparing the importance of Moran’s I statistic for urbanization and the ESV from 2000 to 2015, most of the negative correlations were strengthened. These results demonstrate that it is possible to control the quantity and distribution of land and population while strengthening social and economic urbanization to achieve urban ecological sustainability and economic development.