A comparative study on urban land use eco-efficiency of Yangtze and Yellow rivers in China: From the perspective of spatiotemporal heterogeneity, spatial transition and driving factors

Increasing urban land use eco-efficiency (ULUEE) is conducive to alleviating the human-land conflict in cities, especially in densely populated and ecologically sensitive areas. ULUEE research in the past has been less focused on different river basins from a comparative perspective, and largely ignored the regional heterogeneity in driving factors. Thus, this study aims to compare the spatiotemporal dynamics and driving factors of ULUEE in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) and Yellow River Basin (YRB) in China. The ULUEE was first evaluated using the Slack Based Model-Undesirable, and then the Theil Index and spatial Markov Chain were used to reveal the differential changes and shifting direction of the ULUEE, followed by an analysis of the driving factors of different segments of different river basins and sized cities using the Tobit model. Results show that: (1) in both YREB and YRB, the ULUEE shows the characteristic of "lower reaches > middle reaches > upper reaches", however, notable differences in Theil index values are evident among basins and basin segments. (2) ULUEE exhibits spillovers and convergence phenomena during its spatial variations. (3) There is a significant U-shaped relationship between ULUEE and GDP in the whole basin and different segments of YREB, but only in the middle and lower reaches of YRB. Additionally, urban spatial form and environmental regulations have heterogeneous impacts on ULUEE in different-sized cities. In order to maintain sustainability in urban land resource manage-ment and coordinate city development of varying sizes, governments must take a systematic approach that ac-counts for the complexity of spatial characteristics and drivers of ULUEE.