Against the background of ecological civilization construction and the transformation of state-owned forest regions after the logging ban, balancing economic development with ecological protection has become an important issue in China’s forest areas. The development of the non-timber forest-based economy plays a critical role in advancing high-quality, green economic growth in China and contributes significantly to sustainable resource utilization. This study examines data from key state-owned forests and the natural environment in the Changbai Mountain region of Jilin Province from 2013 to 2023. A comprehensive evaluation model and a coupling coordination model, based on the human–land relationship framework, are employed to assess temporal changes in economic growth quality, ecological environment carrying capacity, and their coupling coordination. The quality of non-timber forest-based economic growth exhibited an overall upward trend. Fusong County, Wangqing County, and Dunhua City consistently maintained high levels, while Helong City experienced the largest decline. The spatial distribution followed a “high center, low periphery” pattern, with the 2015 logging ban serving as a key turning point in promoting ecological transformation. The per capita ecological environment carrying capacity improved across the region, with significant increases in Dunhua, Helong, and Antu Counties. A radial decline from the central to peripheral areas was observed, with the highest values in Wangqing and Antu Counties. The coupling coordination degree between economic growth and ecological environment fluctuated between 0.4 and 0.6. In 2023, Wangqing County reached a state of intermediate coordination (index > 0.7), whereas Linjiang remained in a dysfunctional state (index < 0.5). Spatial clustering of coordination weakened over time, as indicated by Moran’s I values of 0.32, 0.21, and 0.09 in 2013, 2018, and 2023, respectively. These findings provide a quantitative foundation for promoting the coordinated development of human–land systems and guiding high-quality regional growth in forest-based economic zones.

As a key spatial platform for implementing China’s Northeast Revitalization Strategy, coordinated development of production–living–ecological (PLE) functions in the Changchun Metropolitan Area is crucial for high-quality regional development. This study uses 24 counties (districts) in the metropolitan area as analytical units and develops a quantitative indicator system to evaluate PLE functions. We integrate the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method, social network analysis (SNA), and geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) to examine the spatiotemporal dynamics, spatial correlation networks, and driving mechanisms of the three functions from 2013 to 2023. Temporally, the production function follows a growth–decline–recovery trajectory, the living function increases overall despite fluctuations, and the ecological function strengthens continuously. Overall, the three functions increasingly exhibit coupling and synergy. Spatially, the production function concentrates in core areas and diffuses along major axes. The living function is led by the core and followed by county-level catch-up. The ecological function is higher in the east, relatively stable in the west, and connected by corridors, together forming a multi-center, axis-based synergistic pattern. In the spatial correlation networks, densities of the production and ecological networks remain largely stable, whereas the living network becomes markedly denser. The three networks display distinct topologies and continue to evolve structurally. For driving mechanisms, the GTWR model provides the best fit. Geographic proximity positively contributes to the formation of all three functional networks, while the eight explanatory factors show pronounced spatiotemporal heterogeneity. These findings provide an evidence base for optimizing functional coordination and implementing differentiated spatial governance in metropolitan areas.