The Yangtze River Economic Belt is a crucial driver of China’s economy, and its shoreline is a strategic, finite resource vital for ecological security, flood control, navigation, and socioeconomic development. However, intensive development has resulted in functional conflicts and ecological degradation, underscoring the need for accurate identification and suitability assessment of shoreline functions. Conventional methods, which predominantly rely on land use data and remote sensing imagery, are often limited in their ability to capture dynamic changes in large river systems. This study introduces an integrated framework combining macro-level “Three-Zone Space” (urban, agricultural, ecological) theory with micro-level Point of Interest (POI) data to rapidly identify shoreline functions along the Yichang section of the Yangtze River. We further developed a multi-criteria evaluation system incorporating ecological, production, developmental, and risk constraints, utilizing a combined AHP-Entropy weight method to assess suitability. The results reveal a clear upstream-downstream gradient: ecological functions dominate upstream, while agricultural and urban functions increase downstream. POI data enabled refined classification into five functional types, revealing that ecological conservation shorelines are extensively distributed upstream, port and urban development shorelines concentrate in downstream nodal zones, and agricultural production shorelines are widespread yet exhibit a spatial mismatch with suitability scores. The comprehensive evaluation identified high-suitability units, primarily in downstream urban cores with superior development conditions and lower risks, whereas low-suitability units are constrained by high geological hazards and poor infrastructure. These findings provide a scientific basis for differentiated shoreline management strategies. The proposed framework offers a transferable approach for the sustainable planning of major river corridors, offering insights applicable to similar contexts.

As the world’s third-longest river supporting 40% of China’s population, the Yangtze River Basin exemplifies the critical challenges of balancing riparian development and ecological resilience for major fluvial systems globally. This study analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution, proximity dynamics to the Yangtze River, and driving mechanisms of the “three types of spaces” (urban, agricultural, and ecological) in 130 counties along the Yangtze River mainstem from 2000 to 2020, utilizing an integrated approach incorporating land use transfer matrices, centroid-based distance metrics and GeoDetector models. Key findings reveal: (1) Urban space exhibited significant irreversible expansion while agricultural space continued to shrink, with ecological space maintaining overall stability but showing high-frequency bidirectional conversion with agricultural areas in localized zones. (2) Spatial proximity analysis demonstrated contrasting patterns—eastern riparian counties showed urban spatial agglomeration towards the river, whereas most mid-western regions experienced urban expansion away from the watercourse, with marked regional disparities in agricultural and ecological spatial changes. (3) Driving mechanism analysis identified topography as the dominant natural factor influencing ecological space evolution, while socioeconomic factors exerted stronger impacts on proximity variations of agricultural and urban spaces, with natural–socioeconomic interactive effects showing the most significant explanatory power. These spatial dynamics reflect universal trade-offs between economic development and ecosystem conservation in large river basins worldwide. We advocate differentiated spatial governance strategies, including rigorous riparian ecological redlines, eco-agricultural models in agricultural retreat zones, and proximity-based real-time monitoring for ecological early warning. The integrated methodology and spatial governance framework offer transferable solutions for sustainable management of major fluvial systems under rapid urbanization pressure. These findings provide scientific evidence and implementable pathways for coordinating socioeconomic development with ecosystem resilience in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.