Comparative Analysis of Coupled Coordination Between Tourism Urbanization and Ecological Environment: Evidence from Tourism and Non-Tourism Coastal Cities in China

This study aims to explore the coupled and coordinated development of tourism urbanization and the ecological environment in China’s coastal cities. By constructing an index system for tourism urbanization and the ecological environment, this research evaluates the spatiotemporal characteristics of tourism urbanization and ecological environment changes, as well as their coupling and coordination levels in China’s coastal cities from 2010 to 2019. The results are as follows: (1) From 2010 to 2019, the level of tourism urbanization, ecological environment conditions, and the degree of coupling and coordination in China’s coastal tourism cities were all superior to those in non-tourism cities. (2) During the period from 2010 to 2019, the level of tourism urbanization in coastal cities showed an upward trend, the ecological environment exhibited significant fluctuations, and the overall level of coupling and coordination showed an increasing trend. (3) Overall, there is a clear gradient difference in both the comprehensive index of tourism urbanization and the ecological environment index, which has created a disparity in the levels of coupling and coordination between the tourism urbanization and ecological environment of different cities. Most cities are at a stage where tourism urbanization is lagging, and the coupling and coordination level of some large cities is constrained by the ecological environment. Different cities need to develop differentiated development strategies based on their characteristics to promote the sustainable development of coastal tourism cities.