An analysis of coupling coordination relationship between regional economy and transportation: empirical evidence from China

The increasing discrepancy between a regional economy and transportation imposes higher requirements for their coordinated development. This paper utilized the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model and entropy method (EM) to quantitatively study the coupling coordination state between regional economy and transportation and its spatial distribution of 30 provinces in China from 2004 to 2017. The results show the following: (1) The comprehensive level of regional economy and transportation development in China has shown a growing trend, and the development of regional economy is faster than that of the transportation. (2) The CCD between regional economy and transportation in China is changing from incoordination to high-level coordination. The imbalance of CCD levels among the regions studied varies significantly. The CCD in the eastern regions is slightly higher than that in the central, western, and northeast regions. (3) In the region with a higher CCD, the discrepancy between the development of regional economy and transportation is higher than that in other regions. Moreover, suggestions are provided to promote the coordinated development from a regional perspective. This study provides references to policymakers to help them properly plan and design transportation systems while considering the regional economy, thus stimulating the coordinated and sustainable development between regional economy and transportation.