Ecological Indicators (Sep 2024)
What combinations drive the urban green infrastructure development in China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt? − An empirical study based on fs/QCA methodology
Abstract
In cities, green infrastructure (GI) is a vital natural life support system that is intimately linked to the daily lives of citizens. High levels of Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) can help mitigate a series of ecological problems faced by cities, which is extremely important for preserving the stability of urban ecosystems and promoting sustainable urban development. However, current research has not fully explored the influencing factors of UGI and the interaction effect between them. Therefore, in order to better explore the results of China’s proposed policy to promote GI development, data from 110 cities in China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) region during the 12th Five-Year Plan and 13th Five-Year Plan periods were measured separately, and natural and geographic environmental conditions, quality of urban construction, level of economic development, socio-cultural development, and eco-environmental quality were selected as the influencing factors. The entropy TOPSIS was used to evaluate the development trend of UGI in the two periods of the region, and the relationship between influencing factors and UGI development was investigated through the use of fs/QCA, and the high-level development path of each city to achieve GI was explained. The results show that (1) Cities with high UGI development are mostly concentrated in economically developed areas, while cities in the YREB’s central and western regions have relatively low levels of UGI development. (2) According to the spatial and temporal differences, the factors driving the high level and non-high level of UGI development in prefecture-level cities in the YREB showed several different configurations, confirming that the development level of UGI was affected by a variety of conditions. (3) During the 12th Five-Year Plan to 13th Five-Year Plan periods, the configuration of urban high-level UGI was found to be more consistent, while the development path of non-high-level UGI is more diversified. The study explores the overall development level and trend of green infrastructure in different cities, and the citation of fs/QCA provides a better understanding of the complex mechanisms of the interactions between these variables, with a view to providing some guidance and enlightenment for enhancing the future urban UGI development and urban high-quality development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
