The global carbon neutrality target and policy context of China’s high-quality development cause pressure to and are the driving forces of the transformation and development of resource-based cities. The current paper constructs an indicator system based on the ecological niche theory to measure and spatiotemporally analyze the ecological niche for the high-quality development in 115 resource-based cities in China. The results show that, firstly, the high-quality-development niches in resource-based cities are clustered on a medium level. Secondly, the differences in the sub-dimensional niche breadths are greater overall, with minor differences in the niche of resource and energy and considerable differences in the niche of innovation potential. Thirdly, we characterize the overall development imbalance following a more pronounced temporal evolution from the low to high niche over the decade. Based on the results, recommendations are made for resource-based cities to pinpoint and classify their strategies. The exploration of the comparative status, evolutionary dynamics and development paths for high-quality development in Chinese resource-based cities in this paper provides a systematic reference for building a new pattern of synergistic and sustainable development under the new normal of China’s economy.

Quantifying and interpreting the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is critical to achieve the sustainable development of urban resources. The mismatch between urban water, energy and food allocations is a prominent problem that is particularly acute in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) of China. In this study, models for the WEF coupling degree and coupling efficiency were constructed. The WEF coupling efficiencies of the 94 cities in the YRB from 2011 to 2020 were quantified using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. On this basis, the spatial distribution characteristics and evolutionary trends of different urban WEF coupling efficiencies were analysed and explored using an exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) model and a parametric kernel density estimation model. The results show that the energy subsystem constrain the development of the WEF nexus, and the food subsystem, in turn, regulates the development of the WEF nexus. In some years, the phenomenon of 'resource curse' occurred, in which the WEF coupling degree increased while the coupling efficiency decreased. Overall, the values of the urban WEF coupling efficiency were low, ranging from 0.5300 to 0.6300, which is not effective. Spatial clustering was detected in the urban WEF coupling efficiency. The clustering types were 'high-high' clustering areas in less developed regions and 'low-low' clustering areas in developed regions. The two clusters and the median contiguous group had different evolutionary trends. Both efficiency and polarisation increased in the high-clustering group, efficiency improved in the low-clustering group, and a new efficiency pole was formed in the median contiguous group. Among the three grouped cities, we discuss the potential of policies such as cross-city cooperation, intra-city multi-sectoral cooperation and cultivating new central growth cities to improve the WEF coupling efficiency in the YRB.

To achieve the “dual-carbon” target and ensure energy security, there is an urgent need to promote the transformation of the energy system, of which the coal industry is the main battlefield. In order to study the spatial and temporal characteristics and influencing factors of the coal industry transformation and development (CITD), this article establishes an evaluation index system for the transformation and development of the coal industry, including 17 indicators in six dimensions. The projection pursuit (PP) model, which relies on the Real Coded Accelerating Genetic Algorithm (RAGA), is applied to assess the CITD index in 23 Chinese provinces between 2011 and 2021. The findings indicate that (1) the CITD index in China as a whole shows an upward trend, and the regional differences are more obvious, in the following order: eastern, central, and western. (2) There is striking spatial autocorrelation in the CITD in China, and the CITD in this region has a striking spatial spillover effect on the neighboring regions. (3) Human capital, foreign direct investment level, and employment density are positively correlated with CITD, while industrial development level and government intervention extent are negatively correlated with it. Policymakers should incorporate the findings of the study and formulate targeted policies to provide ideas for fueling the transformational development of the coal industry.

The urban development in the Yellow River basin (YRB) varies widely. Therefore, it is necessary to choose a development path that fits the characteristics of each city to achieve high-quality development. The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of how to choose a characteristic path for high-quality development and clarify its suitability for YRB cities. Firstly, based on data from 50 YRB cities from 2011 to 2020, the suitability evaluation was carried out from the perspective of an ecological niche, followed by the measurement of sub-dimensional niche breadth and overlap. The results confirmed the great diversity of development between cities and the intense competition for resources. Then, based on the classification approach using the k-means method, this study proposes a method for selecting a suitable path for high-quality development. It classifies the suitable paths into 3 major types with 7 minor types and recommends policies for the suitable paths for YRB cities. The systematic thinking and specific path selection method for the high-quality development of YRB cities is not only of practical significance for implementing city classification strategies but also provides a reference for the sustainable development of basin cities in other countries.