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Arid Land Geography ›› 2026, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (1): 94-105.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2025.101

• Tourism Geography • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Coordinated development and influence paths of “ecology-tourism-culture” system in China

BAI Yang1,2(), TANG Cheng2(), CHEN Mingzhu2, PENG Li3, ZHAO Ping2   

  1. 1 Key Laboratory of the Sustainable Development of Xinjiang’s Historical and Cultural Tourism, Urumqi 830046, Xinjiang, China
    2 College of Tourism, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, Xinjiang, China
    3 College of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2025-02-28 Revised:2025-04-07 Online:2026-01-25 Published:2026-01-18
  • Contact: TANG Cheng E-mail:baiyang@xju.edu.cn;tangcheng9622@163.com

Abstract:

The three subsystems of ecology, tourism, and culture form an interactive complex system, and their coordinated development is essential for promoting regional sustainable development. Using panel data from 31 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2022, this study constructs a comprehensive development evaluation index system for the “ecology-tourism-culture” system. The comprehensive evaluation function model, coordination degree model, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method are employed to examine the spatiotemporal differentiation and influence paths of coordinated development within the system. The results indicate the following: (1) The comprehensive development levels of the three subsystems vary, and the comparison order of index mean is natural ecology>ecology>social ecology>culture>tourism. Throughout this period, the ecological subsystem continues to demonstrate carrying capacity. (2) The overall coupling coordination degree of the “ecology-tourism-culture” system exhibits a cyclic alternating trend of “decline-increase”, rising from 0.507 in 2011 to 0.526 in 2022 and fluctuating between near imbalance and barely coordinated levels. The comparative ranking of regional coupling coordination degree is eastern>central>northeast>western, reflecting a distribution characterized by “high in the southeast and low in the northwest”. (3) The types of highly coordinated development include diversified development, government-led industry, and economy-market-technology driven paths, whereas non-highly coordinated development is constrained by government and technology limitations.

Key words: “ecology-tourism-culture” system, coordinated development, influence paths, China