Spatiotemporal Evolution and Factors Influencing Ecological Civilization Development in Chinese Watersheds

Binsen Chen; Bin Zhao; Yi Li; Qiuyue Yu; Bingjian Zhao; Junyin Tan; Chuanhao Wen

doi:10.3390/ijerph191710728

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Factors Influencing Ecological Civilization Development in Chinese Watersheds

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 29;19(17):10728. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191710728.

Authors

Binsen Chen¹, Bin Zhao¹, Yi Li¹, Qiuyue Yu¹, Bingjian Zhao², Junyin Tan³, Chuanhao Wen⁴

Affiliations

¹ Research Center for Economy of Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, China.
² School of Economics, Xihua University, Chengdu 610039, China.
³ School of Economics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
⁴ School of Economics, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China.

Abstract

The construction of ecological civilization plays an important role in realizing the harmonious coexistence between man and nature. The aims of this study were to explore the development of ecological civilization in China's top 10 river basins from 2004 to 2018 and construct an evaluation index system of ecological civilization. Factor analysis was used for the evaluation, and intergroup gap and panel regression analyses were utilized to determine the evolution of the spatiotemporal patterns and factors affecting the development level of ecological civilization in Chinese river basins. The results show that areas with a high level of ecological civilization development gradually spread to peripheral basins such as the Liaohe, Yellow, and Songhua River basins. The level of ecological civilization in China's watersheds is undergoing continuous development. The degree of opening up, forest cover, and education have markedly positive effects on the development of ecological civilization in the basins, whereas urban development and financial autonomy have significant negative effects. The results of this study provide new ideas for evaluating the level of ecological civilization construction, as well as a reference for the government to formulate policies related to the construction of ecological civilization in river basins.

Keywords: ecological civilization; factor analysis method; watershed.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

China
Civilization*
Humans
Rivers*

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the major project of the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant No. 20&ZD095), the Philosophy and Social Science Expert Workstation of Yunnan Province (Project No. 2021GZZH01), the general project of the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant No. 18BGL006), the Science and Technology Research project of Chongqing Education Commission (Grant No. KJQN202102103), and the Chongqing Social Science Planning social Organization Project (Grant No. 2021SZ26).