Diagnosing tourism-ecology conflicts: a city-scale framework for China

Scientifically diagnosing the coupling and coordination levels between tourism development (TD) and ecological quality (EQ) and clarifying their underlying mechanisms is crucial for optimizing territorial spatial planning and achieving sustainable city development. To address long-standing debates on the relationship between TD and EQ, this study develops a city-scale TD-EQ coupling coordination evaluation framework that integrates tourism attraction (TA), tourism benefits (TB), ecosystem quality (ESQ), and eco-environmental quality (EEQ). Applied to 355 cities across China, the analysis reveals the non-linear coupling relationship with multidimensional heterogeneity and formation mechanisms. The findings indicate that: (1) TD and EQ exhibit significant spatial heterogeneity and non-linear mutual feedback, where coordination levels are co-influenced by natural constraints, social regulations, and economic drivers, necessitating development within ecological thresholds. (2) Tourism function critically shapes coordination patterns, manifesting as tourism-driven, ecologically constrained, frictional-loss, and reciprocal-synergistic. (3) Differentiated strategies under dual ecological constraints (carrying capacity and redlines) facilitate a shift from conflict to synergy, balancing static conservation with adaptive management. This study provides a quantitative tool for coordinating tourism growth and ecological protection, offering insights for advancing SDGs 11 and 12.