Resource-based cities face complex land-use pressures. Examining the evolution of production–living–ecological spaces (PLESs) and the spatial conflicts associated with this evolution provides an important basis for reducing land-use tensions and promoting more coordinated and sustainable spatial development. Drawing on land-use records spanning 2000–2020, this study integrates a transfer-matrix approach, a PLES conflict assessment model, and spatial autocorrelation analysis to examine the spatiotemporal evolution of PLESs and their conflict patterns in Shenmu City, China. The results show that (1) industrial production land expanded more rapidly than any other land category, mainly through the conversion of agricultural production land. Agricultural production land continued to decrease as it was converted into both industrial production land and ecological land. Grassland served as an important transitional space between production and ecological spaces, with its evolution shifting from rapid expansion in the early period to relative stability in the later period. (2) In terms of spatial conflicts, moderate conflict remained the dominant category and generally increased over time. By contrast, strong and relatively strong conflicts decreased, while weak and relatively weak conflicts gradually increased. Spatially, conflict patterns shifted from highly concentrated areas in the southeastern resource-extraction zone to a more dispersed and balanced regional distribution. (3) Global Moran’s I decreased from 0.62 to 0.49, indicating a weakening of overall spatial clustering. High–High clusters contracted into fragmented patches, whereas Low–Low clusters continued to expand in the northwestern ecological zone, reflecting the gradual improvement of local environmental conditions. Overall, although spatial conflict intensity has decreased and strong conflicts have been substantially reduced, conflicts have shifted mainly toward moderate levels rather than being fully resolved. As the dominant and still expanding category, moderate conflict represents a potential risk that requires continuous monitoring and adaptive intervention. By focusing on a county-level resource-based city, this study provides a fine-grained empirical case. It identifies an evolutionary pattern characterized by the reduction in severe spatial conflicts and the accumulation of moderate conflicts, which differs from the patterns commonly observed in urbanization-driven cities. The findings suggest that spatial conflicts in resource-based cities are highly responsive to targeted ecological governance policies. Future sustainable spatial development should be promoted through differentiated zonal governance, ecological restoration, and the green transformation of the industrial structure.

The carbon mitigation benefits of urban parks are expanding beyond traditional biological carbon sequestration to encompass the regulation of urban energy demand. Direct carbon sequestration capacity (DCSC), resulting from vegetation carbon fixation, and indirect carbon-saving capacity (ICSC), arising from reductions in building cooling energy consumption induced by summer cooling effects, represent two important pathways for carbon mitigation by urban parks. However, how landscape patterns and morphological spatial patterns jointly regulate DCSC and ICSC, and what nonlinear responses and interactions exist among different spatial indicators remain to be further investigated. Focusing on urban parks in the main urban area of Harbin, this study quantified DCSC and ICSC using multisource remote sensing data and revealed the spatial differences between these two carbon mitigation functions. By developing an analytical framework integrating explainable machine learning and nonlinear response modeling, this study identified the key indicators affecting DCSC and ICSC, the directions of their contributions, and their interactions. It further characterized the nonlinear responses of key indicator combinations and identified favorable ranges for the synergistic enhancement in both carbon benefits. The results showed that: (1) DCSC ranged from 0.96 to 946.75 kg C·day⁻¹, while ICSC ranged from 0.10 to 9,828.50 kg C·day⁻¹. Total ICSC across all parks was approximately 16 times the total DCSC, and both DCSC and ICSC were generally lower in urban parks located within the inner ring. (2) The relative contributions of landscape metrics and MSPA classes to the two carbon benefits differed markedly: landscape metrics made a greater explanatory contribution to ICSC, whereas MSPA classes made a relatively greater explanatory contribution to DCSC. Mean shape index (SHAPE_MN), patch density (PD), and Perforation were identified as key indicators with the potential to enhance both DCSC and ICSC. (3) From a synergistic perspective, interactions involving SHAPE_MN were prominent, with SHAPE_MN × PD ranking among the strongest for both responses, highlighting the importance of boundary complexity and spatial fragmentation. In addition, coordinating green space coverage, spatial continuity, boundary morphology, and the integrity of core spaces can effectively promote the synergistic enhancement in both carbon benefits. These findings provide a new planning basis for optimizing urban park structures in cold-region cities under spatial constraints and advancing the goal of urban carbon neutrality.