关键词: 生态文明, 土地生态文明, 土地利用系统, 评价体系, 时空格局, 影响机制

Abstract:

[Objective] Land is the fundamental carrier of human production and living activities, a key factor of production supporting economic, social, and ecological development, and the foundation of civilization. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, China has advanced ecological civilization construction with unprecedented intensity, integrating the principle of “ecological priority and green development” into the entire process of land resource management. Innovation in land management has become an important component of comprehensively deepening reform and plays an important foundational role in achieving the goals of China’s modernization. Therefore, integrating the concept of ecological civilization into the entire process of land development, utilization, protection, and management is an important component of China’s ecological civilization construction. Existing studies have mainly focused on conceptual connotations and evaluation frameworks. Although ecological civilization construction has been investigated in fields such as forestry, water resources, and marine resources, research specifically focusing on land ecological civilization construction remains insufficient. Ecological civilization represents a new paradigm for human development, and the transition toward ecological civilization entails a pathway that integrates ecological transformation and institutional reform. Exploring the spatiotemporal patterns and influencing mechanisms of land ecological civilization construction is of great significance for promoting innovation in land management and advancing ecological civilization construction. This study aims to explore the application and further development of ecological civilization theory in the field of land management, clarify the basic connotation of land ecological civilization construction, and construct an evaluation system for the level of land ecological civilization construction by integrating the evaluation of ecological civilization demonstration zones with that of land use and management. By extending the study to 285 cities across China, this research reveals the spatiotemporal evolution, spatial disparities, spatial agglomeration, and influencing mechanisms of land ecological civilization construction nationwide, thereby providing a basis for optimizing territorial space and advancing ecological civilization construction in the new stage of development. [Methods] Based on panel data from 285 cities in China from 2012 to 2023, this study constructed an evaluation system for land ecological civilization construction encompassing four dimensions: land ecological culture, land ecological economy, land ecological security, and land ecological management. The entropy weight method, kernel density estimation, the Theil index, spatial hot spot analysis, and Geodetector were employed to investigate the spatiotemporal patterns and influencing mechanisms of land ecological civilization construction in China. The entropy weight method was used to determine indicator weights. Kernel density estimation was used to analyze the evolution of index distributions, and the Theil index was used to measure overall regional disparities and decompose the sources of disparities within and between China’s seven major regions. Spatial hot spot analysis was employed to identify the spatial agglomeration characteristics of high- and low-value areas, while the obstacle degree model was used to identify the major internal constraints on land ecological civilization construction. With regard to the external development environment, factors were selected from three dimensions—economic, social, and technological—and Geodetector was employed to examine the explanatory power of individual factors and their interactions. [Results] 1) From 2012 to 2023, the overall level of land ecological civilization construction in China exhibited a fluctuating upward trend, with the comprehensive index increasing from 0.019 to 0.027, representing an increase of 42.11%. Among the four dimensions, land ecological culture had the highest level and the largest increase, reaching 92.82%; the land ecological economy index increased by 23.37% and maintained an overall upward trend; the land ecological security index remained relatively stable, increasing by 4.33%; and the land ecological management index was the lowest but recorded a relatively large increase of 45.68%. At the regional level, the comprehensive index of land ecological civilization construction generally followed the pattern of South China > East China > Central China > North China > Southwest China > Northeast China ≈ Northwest China. South China recorded the largest increase, at 76.92%, followed by East China, at 65.21%. The increases in the other regions were relatively similar, with Central China performing comparatively well and Northeast China showing relatively slow growth. 2) Land ecological civilization construction exhibited pronounced spatial disparities and a certain degree of spatial agglomeration, with spatial disparities showing a widening trend. Spatially, the overall pattern was characterized by higher levels in eastern China and lower levels in western China, with agglomeration around large and medium-sized cities. High-level areas were mainly concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the coastal areas of South China, whereas low-level areas were mainly distributed in western and northeastern China. From 2012 to 2023, Global Moran’s I for land ecological civilization construction remained significantly positive, ranging from 0.104 to 0.168, indicating persistent positive spatial autocorrelation and spatial agglomeration among cities. The 2023 hot- and cold-spot analysis showed that high-value clusters of the comprehensive index were mainly distributed in the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, whereas low-value clusters were mainly located in the arid areas of Northwest China, central and western Inner Mongolia, the northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, southwestern border areas, and the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China. 3) Land ecological civilization construction was jointly influenced by internal system factors and the external development environment. Land ecological culture was an important obstacle dimension, while technological investment intensity was the most important obstacle factor. The explanatory power of pairwise interactions among external environmental factors was generally greater than that of individual factors. The dominant interaction combinations changed over time and varied across the seven major regions. During the study period, the overall importance of technological factors and their interactions with economic and social conditions increased. [Conclusion] From 2012 to 2023, China made considerable progress in land ecological civilization construction. However, the overall level still has substantial room for improvement, and regional disparities remain pronounced. Accordingly, this study proposes promoting land ecological civilization construction according to local conditions, strengthening land ecological civilization construction in western and northeastern China, formulating a technology-society-driven development strategy for land ecological civilization construction, and continuously and steadily improving its overall level. The findings can provide decision-making support for innovation in land resource management and the further improvement of land ecological civilization construction.

Key words: ecological civilization, land ecological civilization, land use system, evaluation system, spatiotemporal pattern, influencing mechanisms