Urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River is key to the rise of central China, and an important engine for the high-quality development of the Yangtze River economic belt. Research on urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River focuses mainly on economic development, ecological environment, and innovation. Few studies focus on evaluation combining development levels. This study uses the entropy weight TOPSIS method to build an urban high-quality development level indicator system with “innovation, coordination, greenness, openness, and sharing” as the indicators, comprehensively measuring the high-quality development level of 31 cities in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River from 2010 to 2019 and analyzing the evolution of spatial distribution and autocorrelation. The results show that the high-quality development level of the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River varies greatly, and fluctuations are significant. The spatial distribution also shows an evolution from belt-shaped agglomeration to point-shaped diffusion distribution, and the spatial autocorrelation shows a negative correlation. Finally, this paper proposes suggestions to promote high-quality development from three aspects: system coordination, industry coordination, and sustainability.

The harmonious development of human settlement environments (HSEs) and resident demands (RD) contributes to the sustainable development of areas. However, few studies have focused on development-level evaluations and analyses of coupling coordination between the two. This study used a comprehensive evaluation index model and a coupling coordination degree model to measure the development level, coupling coordination degrees, and spatial characteristics of HSE and RD in 31 regions of China. The results display the following: (1) The developing degree of HSE and RD continued to improve, with spatial heterogeneity, whereas the development level of RD and the regional economy was positively correlated; (2) the degree of coupling between the two was relatively high, with high-level coupling areas accounting for 77%, and the coupling coordination level included a medium level and primary levels; (3) in the coupling and coordination relationship between subsystems, living needs > security requirements > respected needs > social needs > self-realization needs, and environmental safety > ecological environment. This study offered a new research perspective for the sustainable development of areas and put forward suggestions for promoting development.

The ecological environment (EE) is an important factor affecting the sustainable development of the marine economy (ME): achieving coordinated development between the ME and EE remains a problem to be explored. From three perspectives—comprehensive development level, coupling coordination degree spatiotemporal analysis, and obstacle degree recognition—this paper explores the development level and spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of ME and EE coupling coordination in 11 coastal areas in China from 1999 to 2019. The results indicate the following: (1) During the research period, the comprehensive development levels of the ME and EE in China’s coastal areas continued to improve, with relatively high levels of economic structure subsystems and pressure subsystems. (2) There was a clear coupling relationship between the ME and EE, with a high degree of coupling, mainly consisting of high-quality coupling and good coupling. The increase in coupling coordination was significant, especially in Guangdong, Shandong, and Liaoning. (3) The analysis of the obstacle degree found that the crucial obstacle elements affecting the coordinated development of the ME and EE included the ME vitality subsystem and the EE response subsystem. Finally, policy suggestions are put forward, including promoting the development of an ecotype ME, promoting marine technology innovation, and adopting differentiated EE governance policies according to local conditions. This study helps evaluate the development capacity of the ME in China’s coastal areas and provides a basis for formulating targeted ME development strategies.

The coordinated development of public cultural services (PCS) and cultural industries (CI) is conducive to sustainable regional development. Few studies focus on the coordinated development of PCS and CI. This study builds an evaluation index system for the coordinated development of PCS and CI and uses the entropy weight method, synchronous development model, coupling coordination model, and exploratory spatial data analysis method on 31 regions in China. It evaluates the synchronous development levels, coupling coordination levels, and spatial evolution characteristics of the coordinated development of PCS and CI from 2011 to 2020. The results are as follows: (1) The coordinated development level of PCS and CI has risen steadily. The leading type is dominant in space, with the leading type > synchronous type > lagging type. (2) The overall coupling degree is high. The high-level coupling in space is dominant. (3) The degree of coupling coordination has improved. Regions with good spatial and high-quality coordination are concentrated in the eastern, central, and coastal areas. (4) The coordinated development of PCS and CI shows positive spatial correlation agglomeration. The degree of agglomeration is increasing, mainly high high, forming an important growth region in the Yangtze River Delta economic region and its surroundings. Finally, we propose policy recommendations for the coordinated development of PCS and CI, and provide new ideas for the collaborative development of PCS and CI in China.