Identifying network structure characteristics and key factors for the co-evolution between high-quality industrial development and ecological environment

The rapid growth and development of the industrial economy with high energy consumption and pollution as a traditional extensive development model in China causes serious damage to the ecological environment. The promotion of high-quality industrial development (HQID) and the protection of ecological environment (EE) are of vital importance for achieving sustainable development to alleviate this issue. First, the paper constructed a co-evolutionary theoretical framework of HQID and EE based on the innovation–coordination–green–openness–sharing development concept and the pressure–status–response (PSR) model. Second, combining the Lotka–Volterra model and complex network theory, the co-evolution network of high-quality industrial development and ecological environment (CNHIEE) in Shaanxi Province was established. Finally, the structural characteristics and key factors of the CNHIEE were analyzed. The results demonstrated that the network structure characteristics of the co-evolution of HQID and EE in Shaanxi Province were obvious. The network was well connected, highly aggregated, and robust. Moreover, the foreign capital dependence, the intensity of industrial waste gas emission, and the proportion of the area of nature reserves were at the core of the network and were the key influencing factors of the CNHIEE. Additionally, the 37 indicators of the CNHIEE were divided into four different blocks, each of which was closely connected. On that basis, policy implications to promote the co-evolution of HQID and EE in Shaanxi Province were presented. These studies provide theoretical guidance and new research perspectives to promote the development of HQID and EE, for Shaanxi Province and other regions.