Coupling-Coordinated Development of the Water-Economy-Innovation Nexus: A Case Study of the Grand Canal Area in China

The water-economy-innovation nexus is an integrated system that plays an important driving role in urban and regional sustainable development. To identify, evaluate, and measure the coupling-coordinated development of the regional water-economy-innovation nexus, this study selects China’s Grand Canal area as a typical case and constructs an integrated evaluation system of the water-economy-innovation nexus. Then, the coupling coordination model is used to evaluate the regional water-economy-innovation nexus’ development. Finally, grey correlation analysis is used to evaluate the influencing factors. The results find that the water-economy-innovation nexus’ overall development level is not high and that there are significant spatial differences. The coupling coordination level keeps rising, and the coupling coordination level of the central city is obviously better than other cities. Water accounts for the largest contribution to the coupling coordination of the water-economy-innovation nexus, followed by economy and innovation. This study contributes to the knowledge body of sustainable development and provides a scientific basis for the decision of coupling the development of the water-economy-innovation nexus in China’s Grand Canal area and other regions.Practical ApplicationsWater, as a fundamental resource, plays an important role in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, water needs to interact with other factors to effectively achieve regional sustainable development. Innovation and the economy are both important drivers of sustainable development, and water is closely linked and interacted with them. Currently, the mechanism and extent of the coupled development of regional water-economy-innovation nexus remains unclear. To address this challenge, this study takes the Grand Canal area in China as a typical case and constructs an evaluation model with multiple methods to explore the coupling development of the regional water-economy-innovation nexus. This study verified the importance of multifactor coupling for regional sustainable development and demonstrated that water contributed the most, but the overall coupling development of the water-economy-innovation nexus was not high. Promoting the coupling development of the water-economy-innovation nexus through targeted policies is an important task for local governments.