How to Perceive the Trade-Off of Economic and Ecological Intensity of Land Use in a City? A Functional Zones-Based Case Study of Tangshan, China

China, in a rapid urbanization process, is accompanied by the expansion of built-up land, population accumulation, and intensive land investment, while the improvement of the urban environment cannot keep up with the population and economic density growth. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the balance between urban land use economic intensity (built-up area density, population density, land price) and ecological intensity (the depth, breadth, and integration of ecological spaces) in Tangshan. From the perspective of functional zones (FZs), the trade-off of economic and ecological intensity of different types of land use is detailed from the evaluation system. Finally, this paper explores a common intensive development model for different FZs to reach both reasonable economic and ecological purposes in Tangshan. The upshot indicates that the economic and ecological intensity of all FZs in Tangshan follows an opposite spatial distribution, and different types of FZ own their characteristics. The Gini index and Theil index for measuring the typical FZ indicate the unbalanced state between ecological spaces and population in residential areas. To sum up, a resource-based city, such as Tangshan, in the rapid development stage of urbanization tends to pay more attention to economic output and neglect ecological benefits.

Automated summary

This paper explores the balance between urban land use economic intensity and ecological intensity in Tangshan, China. It details the trade-off of economic and ecological intensity of different types of land use from the perspective of functional zones. The study reveals an opposite spatial distribution of economic and ecological intensity in all functional zones in Tangshan, with an imbalance between ecological spaces and population in residential areas.