Spatial-Temporal Coupling Coordination Relationship between Urbanization and Green Development in the Coastal Cities of China

With the rapid development of urbanization, coastal cities of China have made significant achievements in economic development. However, the eco-environment of these cities has been under tremendous pressure due to the interference of human activities. Therefore, it is of great significance to find the interrelationship between urbanization and regional development. As an environmental-friendly and social-inclusive way of economic growth, the level of green development (GD) represents the comprehensive status of regional economic, social, and ecological development. As few researchers have studied the relationship between urbanization and GD, especially in the coastal areas, this paper detailed an empirical investigation into the spatio-temporal variations of the coupling and coordination relationship between urbanization and GD in the coastal cities of China. The results showed that: (1) the coupling and coordination relationship is constantly improving, especially in big cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, all of which have entered into coordination development stage; (2) small prefecture-level cities, mostly agglomerated in the northeast and southwest of China, most of which lagged in urbanization, are still in the maladjusted coordination stage; (3) the contribution to the coordination relationship between urbanization and GD mainly comes from the industrial structure optimization and urbanization. However, at present the eco-environmental protection is not enough to support the coordination development between the two systems. Based on the findings of this paper, a series of policy implications for improving the coordination development between urbanization and GD is proposed.