PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2017, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (1): 87-98.doi: 10.18306/dlkxjz.2017.01.009

• Special Issue:Coordinated Development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatial pattern and evaluation of eco-efficiency in counties of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration

Yufei REN1(), Chuanglin FANG2,*()   

  1. 1. College of Resource Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
    2. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
  • Received:2016-12-01 Online:2017-01-20 Published:2017-01-20
  • Contact: Chuanglin FANG E-mail:renyuf@126.com;fangcl@igsnrr.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    Major Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41590840, No.41590842

Abstract:

Urbanization in China has resulted in an increased consumption of resources, energy, and materials and led to negative environmental effects. Urban agglomeration plays pivotal roles in the China's new urbanization. These factors have motivated the widely discussed topic of urban agglomeration's eco-efficiency. This research developed an index system of eco-efficiency and evaluated the eco-efficiency of counties in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration using the modified Topsis model for the spatial pattern of consumption of resources, economic benefit, and environmental pollution outputs. We also quantified eco-efficiency by the undesirable-output SBM model in 2006, 2010, and 2014 using environmental pollution as an undesirable output. Spatial autocorrelation index and local Moran's I index were used to analyze the spatial correlation pattern of eco-efficiency at the county level in the study area. The results show that there exist significant spatiotemporal differences of consumption of resources, economic benefit, and environmental pollution outputs. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area had high values of inputs and outputs in the research period. Eco-efficiency of counties in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration was relatively low. Mean values of eco-efficiency were 0.324, 0.305, and 0.347 in 2006, 2010, and 2014. It decreased first and then increased. The reasons for the spatial differences of eco-efficiency are location and natural backgrounds, and low economic benefit and high environmental impact are the main factors that restrict the improvement of eco-efficiency. The global Moran's I index values were 0.2539, 0.3007, and 0.3088, indicating that the impact factors of eco-efficiency were not only related to the economic development level of each county unit, but also associated with the eco-efficiency of adjacent counties. The positive agglomeration effect has been increasingly obvious since 2006, and the gap of eco-efficiency of neighboring counties has reduced.

Key words: eco-efficiency, modified TOPSIS model, undesirable-SBM model, spatial correlation pattern, county, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration