Spatiotemporal Analysis of Economic and Ecological Coupled Coordination: A Case Study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration

The coordination and stability of the regional economy (RE) and ecological quality (EQ) are essential for the synergistic development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration (BTH). In this paper, based on remote sensing data and economic statistics data, this paper analysed the current situation and evolution of the RE and EQ in the BTH region. Based on the coupled coordination degree (CCD) model, this paper has developed an evaluative framework and quantifies the spatiotemporal coupled coordination of the RE and EQ in the BTH region from 2000 to 2020. The results show that: (1) in 2020, the GDP of the poverty-stricken counties (PSCs) around BTH accounted for 4.57% of the total BTH region, and the area of high-quality ecosystems, Net Primary Productivity (NPP), soil conservation, water conservation, and sand fixation accounted for more than 40% of the total BTH region; (2) the GDP growth of the PSCs accounted for 4.45% of the total growth in BTH, the reduced area of high-quality ecosystems accounted for 21.04%, and the increase in NPP, soil conservation, water conservation, and sand fixation accounted for more than 40% of the total growth in the BTH region; (3) the CCD of the RE and EQ in the BTH region showed a tendency to increase, but the gap between the regions gradually expanded, and the development type changed from a lagging RE to a lagging EQ, in which the coupled coordination grade of the PSCs was in a dissonance stage for a long time, and the level of economic development had to improve. Deepening the understanding of the spatiotemporal coupling relationship between the RE and EQ and adopting appropriate development policies is of great significance for achieving the coordinated and integrated development of the BTH region.