The Interaction Between Economic Development and Environmental Protection in Yunnan Province over the Past Two Decades

Over the past two decades, urbanization and industrialization in Yunnan Province have rapidly advanced, spurring economic growth but also leading to intensified environmental challenges, particularly in urban areas where issues like air pollution and declining vegetation cover have become increasingly prominent. Balancing economic development and environmental protection has thus emerged as a core priority for Yunnan. This study quantifies and analyzes the temporal and spatial changes, coupling coordination degree, and driving factors underlying key indicators of economic development and environmental protection in Yunnan’s urban areas from 2000 to 2019. The results indicate that: (1) Economic growth is evident across all four types of regions, though growth rates have decelerated. The first type of region shows a “U”-shaped trend in FVC, the second type of region a “W” trend, and the third and fourth type of region show a consistent upward trend. (2) Overall coupling between economic development and environmental protection remains low across Yunnan, with a strong correlation between the degree of coupling coordination and urban economic development levels: the first type of region has the highest coupling coordination degree, while the fourth type of region has the lowest coupling coordination degree. (3) Industrial structure is the most influential factor in coupling coordination between economic development and environmental protection across Yunnan (74.9%). Influencing factors differ by region: secondary industry predominates in the first type of region (24.4%), foreign investment leads in the second (24.1%), technological innovation significantly impacts the third (23.9%), and marketization drives the fourth type of region (25.8%).