Spatiotemporal Evolution of Land Use Structure and Function in Rapid Urbanization: The Case of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region

The rapid increase in urbanization is accompanied by the evolution of land use structure and function. Since its reform and opening up, China has entered a stage of rapid urbanization, which has brought about higher requirements in terms of rational allocation within land use structure and the optimization of land use function. However, most existing studies have evaluated the structure and function of land use separately, resulting in a decoupling of the two, and have not accurately depicted the spatiotemporal characteristics of the evolution of land use. Here, based on statistical data and remote sensing image data, we constructed a dual evaluation index system for land use structure and function which uses the characteristics of land use structure to evaluate the property of land use function directly. We used the entropy weight method to characterize the spatiotemporal evolution of urbanization and land use structure and applied a land use function deviation degree model to discuss the evolution path for land use function. Our results showed that the dominant dimension of urbanization changed from eco-environmental urbanization to economic urbanization in the rapid economic development stage. In terms of quantity within land use structure, urban-agricultural-ecological spaces have developed in a synergistic direction. Regarding the quality of land use structure, its development level exhibited an upward trend in Beijing and Hebei, while Tianjin demonstrated a U-shaped development trajectory. With urbanization development, the dominant function of regional land use has evolved to a higher level of synergy in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. These results offer inspiration for formulating regional dynamic land use policy and phased planning of urbanization development in rapidly urbanizing regions.