Research on the Coupling Coordination of Small Towns’ Shrinkage and Social-Ecological Systems Resilience in Northeast China—Take Xinlin District of Daxing’anling City as an Example

Abstract

Since 2000, there has been a general phenomenon of continuous urban contraction in Northeast China, and the trend is becoming increasingly evident. The social-ecological system of shrinking towns is facing more risks and challenges. This study takes the typical shrinking town in Northeast China—Xinlin District as an example using the resilience research framework. The data used in the study is from the statistical yearbook from 2012 to 2016, which has significantly shrunk. Moreover, it uses the DPSIR model to build an evaluation system to evaluate its social-ecological system resilience, then reveals the mechanism of urban resilience change. The paper also conducts a coupling and coordination analysis on the social-ecological system resilience and shrinkage, dividing the town into different development stages. Then reveals the gap between each stage and the smart shrinkage, which should be coordinated development, and analyzes the reasons to provide a reference for the sustainable development of Northeast China. The results showed that: (1) The resilience and coordinated development of the social-ecological system in the Xinlin District showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. (2) The Xinlin District has excellent development potential in carbon exchange, eco-tourism, and green food industries, which can be industrial support for its smart shrinkage. (3) To achieve coordinated development as soon as possible, Xinlin District still needs external funds and policy support to activate its endogenous power.