Coupling coordination evaluation and sustainable development pattern of geo-ecological environment and urbanization in Chongqing municipality, China

Geo-ecological environment has extremely complex relations with urbanization, and thus summarizing the evolution trend, time rules and spatial differences from the aspect of time and space contributes to the coordinating development between the two. Taking Chongqing municipality as the case study, this paper selects appropriate indicators in the perspective of time and space, and utilizes the coupling coordination evaluation models (CCD) and GIS spatial methods to analyze the correlation degree, coupling degree and coordination degree. The results show that: (1) the Economic urbanization (0.37) and Greening ecological level (0.28) make the largest share of contribution to the system of urbanization and Geo-ecological environment, respectively. From 1990 to 2015, the coupling coordination in Chongqing has shown a continuous growth trend, and has transitioned to moderate and favorable coupling coordination from disorder. (2) The coupling coordination in 2015 has undergone significant regional differences. The coupling coordination in more developed areas (western Chongqing) was generally higher than in less developed areas (northeastern and southeastern Chongqing). (3) Moreover, four kinds of sustainable development pattern are proposed according to research conclusion and reality problems, including the ecological industry development model, cultural tourism integration model, industry-city integration model and life service model.