The Effect of Urbanization Thresholds Based on Geomorphic Heterogeneity on Production‐Living‐Ecological Functions Coordination in Xiangyang City, China

ABSTRACT Prior research has predominantly concentrated its efforts on the impact degree of urbanization on production‐living‐ecological functions (PLEF), ignoring the impact thresholds of urbanization on PLEF coordination and its regional differences. This paper, taking Xiangyang City as the study area, employed the piecewise linear regression to explore the changes in PLEF coordination from 2000 to 2020, the impact thresholds of urbanization on PLEF coordination in 2020, and the threshold response of different geomorphological units. The results showed that PLEF coordination was classified into high coordination, medium coordination, low coordination, and incoordination, and had significant spatial variations from 2000 to 2020. The impact thresholds of economic urbanization, population urbanization, and land urbanization on PLEF coordination in 2020 were heterogeneous in Xiangyang City and among different landscape types, leading to locally adapted urban development policies. The findings can contribute to further understand the impact of urbanization on PLEF coordination and support for sustainable urban management and optimization of territorial spatial governance to accurately formulate differentiated policy tools. Meanwhile, this study expands the perspectives on the effect of geomorphic heterogeneity on urbanization thresholds, bridges the international research gap, and provides an analytical framework and decision‐making tool for similar regions worldwide.