Impacts of Urbanization on Economic Development and Ecological Protection of the Wuhan City Circle, China

The conflict between economic development and ecological protection in land use (LU) has been a significant and widely discussed topic. The city circle concept has been proposed to promote economic growth through its strong agglomeration effect. It contains the core city and its surrounding area, and economic activities and ecosystems are highly intertwined within this geographic unit. Meanwhile, population, industry, and infrastructure are often concentrated within the urban sphere, which results in a concentrated demand for land, water, and ecosystem services. As a result, LU conflicts are more pronounced in urban areas. Here, we used gross domestic product (GDP) and gross ecosystem product (GEP) to reflect economic and ecological levels, then linked LU change into the coupling relationship between GDP and GEP of the Wuhan City Circle (WHCC), China, to analyze the economic and ecological developments of WHCC. Finally, we constructed a partial least squares structural equation modeling to explore the key drivers affecting the coupling of real GDP and GEP. Our results revealed significant LU changes between 1990 and 2020 for the WHCC. Paddy fields, dry lands, and some forestlands decreased, while built-up lands and water areas both increased. Real GDP of the WHCC increased from $1.04 × 10⁶ in 1990 to $3.04 × 10⁷ in 2020. While the GEP of the WHCC increased during 1990–2010 and decreased during 2010–2020. Additionally, GEP exhibited a significant spatial heterogeneity, with high GEP concentrated in the central and southeastern regions. Moreover, we constructed a conceptual model for coupling real GDP and GEP, then used structural equation modeling to reveal their relationship. Real GDP had a positive effect on GEP. Furthermore, the proportion of construction land and ecological land as intermediate variables played an important direct and indirect role in real GDP and GEP. Consequently, landscape planning was proposed to enhance the green infrastructure of the WHCC. Our findings provide a reference and experience on land resource allocation for maintaining sustainable development in the city circle.