Characteristics and influencing mechanisms of production-living- ecological space dynamics in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA), Chongqing, China

doi:10.1016/j.regsus.2024.100139

Abstract

Abstract:

The Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA) is an important ecological barrier in the Yangtze River Basin, China. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand the spatio-temporal variation and the driving factors of production-living-ecological spaces for sustainable and high-quality development in the TGRA. This study investigated the dynamic variation of production-living-ecological spaces in the TGRA by employing land use data in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2018, and detected the influencing factors by using the Geographic detector (GeoDetector). Results implied that the structure and dynamic trajectories of production-living-ecological spaces in the TGRA varied in both horizontal and vertical directions, and the study area was dominated by ecological space. A spatial orientation towards the northeast was detected in the evolution of production-living-ecological spaces during 2000-2018. In terms of quantity, the transition from ecological space (grassland and woodland) to agriculture land accounted for the largest proportion from 2000 to 2018. However, the reverse transition from agriculture land to ecological space has increased since 2000 with the efforts of “Grain for Green”. In terms of temporal scale, there was a fluctuating trend in production space with the continuous expansion of living space, while ecological space showed an inverted U-shaped trend during 2000-2018. The dynamic pattern of production-living-ecological spaces in the TGRA was influenced by both physical and socio-economic variables as basic determinants and dominant driving factors, respectively. Finally, the harmonization and protection of production-living-ecological spaces still require policy-makers’ efforts. This work may have potential in advancing our understanding about land use conflicts, and provide a reference for rational layout of spatial functions and the realization of sustainable development in the TGRA.

Key words: Production-living-ecological spaces, Functional transition, Three Gorges Reservoir Area(TGRA), Physical and socio-economic variables, Yangtze River

ZHU Xinyi, GAO Jinlong. Characteristics and influencing mechanisms of production-living- ecological space dynamics in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA), Chongqing, China[J]. Regional Sustainability, 2024, 5(2): 100139.

Figures/Tables 10

Fig. 1.

Table 1

Definitions and statistical descriptions of variables."

Variable		Definition	Mean	Standard deviation	Minimum	Maximum
Physical variable	Elevation (m)	Obtained from the Data Center for Resource and Environmental Sciences and Data Center (https://www.resdc.cn/)	762.75	469.40	53.00	2811.00
	Average slope (°)	Calculated by dividing the difference in elevation by the horizontal distance	15.90	10.34	0.00	76.00
	Topographic relief (m)	Subtracting the minimum elevation value from the maximum elevation value	82.45	54.03	0.00	816.00
	Mean annual precipitation (mm)	Extracted from the Data Center for Resource and Environmental Sciences and Data Center (https://www.resdc.cn/)	1169.14	81.88	1002.00	1666.40
	Mean annual temperature (°C)	Extracted from the Data Center for Resource and Environmental Sciences and Data Center (https://www.resdc.cn/)	14.92	2.72	3.60	18.80
	Accumulated temperature above 10°C (°C)	Extracted from the Data Center for Resource and Environmental Sciences and Data Center (https://www.resdc.cn/)	2781.92	947.30	1194.50	6017.20
	Dryness index	Extracted from the Data Center for Resource and Environmental Sciences and Data Center (https://www.resdc.cn/)	0.84	0.09	0.38	1.57
Socio- economic variable	Total population size (10⁴persons)	Change in the number of total population between 2000 and 2018	9.86	13.06	-7.79	56.49
	Urban population (10⁴ persons)	Change in urban population between 2000 and 2018	26.28	18.21	-7.44	84.79
	Per-capita GDP (CNY)	Change in the GDP of a country divided by population between 2000 and 2018	61,290.23	30,730.26	25,389.00	163,564.00
	Share of non-agricultural industries (%)	Proportion of change in value between 2000 and 2018 in the secondary and tertiary industry in GDP	0.15	0.09	0.00	0.29
	Rural employees (10⁴ persons)	Change in the number of rural people involved in productive labor between 2000 to 2018	-4.01	7.48	-17.18	15.91
	Total retail sales of consumer goods (10⁴ CNY)	Difference of total retail sales of consumer goods between 2000 and 2018	2,338,707.00	2,005,493.57	251,873.00	6,021,620.00
	Total investment in fixed assets (10⁴ CNY)	Difference of the amount of investment in total social fixed assets between 2000 and 2018	4,777,956.00	3,130,369.50	958,972.00	14,307,946.00
	Rural income (CNY)	Change in average annual household income of rural households between 2000 and 2018	13,392.59	2972.75	8066.00	18,057.00
	Total deposits in financial institutions (10⁴ CNY)	Difference of the amount of CNY deposits in financial institutions between 2000 and 2018	12,558,429.00	16,094,150.00	1,761,021.00	63,061,857.00

Table 1

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Category	First class	Second class
Production space	Agriculture land	Paddy field
	Agriculture land	Dry farm
	Other production land	Industrial and mining land
	Other production land	Transportation land
Living space	Urban area	-
Living space	Rural settlement	-
Ecological space	Woodland	Forest land
		Shrub land
		Other woodland
	Grassland	Natural grassland
		Artificial grassland
		Other grassland
	Water body	River
		Lake
		Reservoir pit
		Beach marshland
	Other ecological land	Sand land
		Saline-alkali land
		Bare land
		Bare rock gravel land

Year	Production space		Living space		Ecological space
Year	Agriculture land (km²)	Other production land (km²)	Urban area (km²)	Rural settlement (km²)	Woodland (km²)	Grassland (km²)	Water body (km²)	Other ecological land (km²)
2000	20,628.07	49.71	260.57	111.78	17,803.95	6571.13	686.27	9.80
2005	20,353.23	66.86	313.01	136.35	18,082.25	6446.39	717.00	6.87
2010	20,297.32	261.02	456.89	173.45	18,643.76	5387.86	896.61	5.32
2015	20,087.85	449.91	479.30	179.29	18,624.49	5378.51	917.42	0.00
2018	19,870.24	585.13	742.75	203.70	18,684.31	5102.90	922.11	0.00

Variable		Eco2Pro	Eco2Living	Pro2Eco	Pro2Living
Physical variable	Elevation	0.57^**	0.20	0.79^***	0.52^**
	Average slope	0.51^**	0.04	0.74^***	0.38
	Topographic relief	0.48^*	0.05	0.74^***	0.37
	Mean annual precipitation	0.30	0.27	0.41	0.12
	Mean annual temperature	0.45^*	0.12	0.77^***	0.40
	Accumulated temperature above 10°C	0.60^**	0.23	0.78^***	0.42
	Dryness index	0.25	0.17	0.20	0.12
Socio-economic variable	Total population size	0.10	0.21	0.25	0.47
	Urban population	0.09	0.31	0.15	0.55
	Per-capita GDP	0.19	0.13	0.48^*	0.55^**
	Share of non-agricultural industries	0.26	0.12	0.66^***	0.15
	Rural employees	0.49^*	0.17	0.10	0.29
	Total retail sales of consumer goods	0.25	0.06	0.30	0.48^*
	Total investment in fixed assets	0.25	0.22	0.14	0.65^**
	Rural income	0.38^*	0.01	0.61^***	0.44^*
	Total deposits in financial institutions	0.25	0.06	0.45^**	0.53^*