A Multi-Dimensional Efficiency Evaluation Framework for Sustainable Territorial Management: A Focus on Production–Living–Ecological Spaces

Territorial space use efficiency (TSUE) serves as a core quantitative metric for evaluating the sustainability of space use, which constitutes a vital component of regional sustainable development. Nevertheless, existing studies have not established a systematic quantitative system for assessing the status of the sustainability of space use based on TSUE. From the perspective of production–living–ecological spaces, this study constructs a multi-dimensional efficiency evaluation framework for sustainable territorial management. This study adopts geographic data envelopment analysis (GeoDEA), spatial autocorrelation analysis and multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR). It calculates TSUE, applies efficiency levels to characterize the status of the sustainability of space use, and further reveals its spatiotemporal evolution and driving mechanisms. The results indicate that the level of the sustainability of space use generally exhibits a fluctuating evolution, with distinct phase transitions emerging around 2010. Only 20% of cities attain medium-high or higher levels of sustainability in space use, with pronounced spatial disparities across the country. Areas with high-efficiency production and living spaces are mainly clustered in eastern and central China, while high-efficiency ecological spaces are concentrated in western and northeastern China. In addition, driving factors exert markedly heterogeneous effects on the three types of territorial functional spaces. This study provides scientific support for implementing differentiated territorial spatial governance and advancing regional sustainable development.