Rethinking Pathways of Sustainable Development Goals: Insights from the Multidimensional Urbanization- Ecosystem Health Hierarchical Responses

Rethinking Pathways of Sustainable Development Goals: Insights from the Multidimensional Urbanization- Ecosystem Health Hierarchical Responses | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Rethinking Pathways of Sustainable Development Goals: Insights from the Multidimensional Urbanization- Ecosystem Health Hierarchical Responses Hongjiao Qu, Weiyin Wang, Chen-Chieh Feng, Luo Guo This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6408227/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Against the backdrop of accelerating global urbanization and mounting sustainability challenges, this study aims to quantify the nonlinear relationships between urbanization and ecosystem health, while integrating these relationships into an updated Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) classification framework—essential needs, governance, and objectives. This approach provides a transformative understanding of hierarchical responses between ecosystems and SDGs during urbanization processes. This study developed a sustainable urban development-oriented multidimensional urbanization level (MUL)-ecosystem health index (EHI)-SDGs hierarchy framework in Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), identified the nonlinear relationships between MUL and EHI via Boosted Regression Tree (BRT) model, and revealed the divergent influence pathways of MUL and EHI on SDGs, along with their hierarchical interaction responses by employing factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings reveal three key insights: (1) From 1990–2020, high MUL values were concentrated in downstream cities with intensive construction and unused land. The EHI exhibited significant spatiotemporal heterogeneity with an upward trend, while upstream cities lagged in SDG progression compared to downstream regions. (2) Economic, social, demographic, and Spatial urbanization exerted nonlinear threshold effects on EHI via spatial interactions, and EHI demonstrated significant spatial spillover effects on SDGs. (3) EHI significantly moderates the linkage between MUL and SDGs, YREB should strategically concentrate on achieving SDGs 9, 11, and 12. Prioritizing these goals in YREB could enhance sustainable development. Notably, interactions among land use, ecosystems, and SDGs highlight the potential of systemic planning for megagglomerations to integrate resource management and sustainability, offering a novel theoretical framework and methodology for similar regions. Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Ecosystem services Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Sustainability Sustainable development goals Ecosystem health Multidimensional urbanization Differential impact pathways Boosting Regression Tree model Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6408227","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":451910384,"identity":"a3f46a7c-246c-40cd-ad72-a0cdeb9b7b89","order_by":0,"name":"Hongjiao Qu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Minzu University of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hongjiao","middleName":"","lastName":"Qu","suffix":""},{"id":451910385,"identity":"ab9a9d71-4475-42b1-8dc1-575998c529f5","order_by":1,"name":"Weiyin Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Minzu University of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Weiyin","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":451910386,"identity":"555a6d89-b2d9-4cb9-b0b3-a217871cf706","order_by":2,"name":"Chen-Chieh Feng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National University of Singapore","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chen-Chieh","middleName":"","lastName":"Feng","suffix":""},{"id":451910388,"identity":"c860a272-686c-4669-99a2-9bc97ffabbd1","order_by":3,"name":"Luo Guo","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAuUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACxgMMDDYQJg+xeoBa0kjXcpgELfIRyQcO81ScjzY4foDxwds2BnlzQloMb6QlHOY5czt3w5kEZsO5bQyGOxsIaZmRY3CYtw2o5QYDmzRvG0OCwQHitJwDaWH/TZQWeQmwlgNgW5iJ0mLA8yzh4JwzybkzzyQ2S845J2G4gaAt7ckHH7ypsMvtO3744Ic3ZTbyhG1BKGBsABISBNSDbGkgrGYUjIJRMApGOgAAxYFDmc5Oc4UAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Minzu University of China","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Luo","middleName":"","lastName":"Guo","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-09 05:38:05","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6408227/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6408227/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92177108,"identity":"f4e9f4b4-814e-482e-afc8-e8143398ac10","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-25 13:02:22","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1338742,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6408227/v1_covered_8d277eb9-cee9-464a-90c8-d7286609d136.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Rethinking Pathways of Sustainable Development Goals: Insights from the Multidimensional Urbanization- Ecosystem Health Hierarchical Responses","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Sustainable development goals, Ecosystem health, Multidimensional urbanization, Differential impact pathways, Boosting Regression Tree model","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6408227/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6408227/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eAgainst the backdrop of accelerating global urbanization and mounting sustainability challenges, this study aims to quantify the nonlinear relationships between urbanization and ecosystem health, while integrating these relationships into an updated Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) classification framework\u0026mdash;essential needs, governance, and objectives. 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(2) Economic, social, demographic, and Spatial urbanization exerted nonlinear threshold effects on EHI via spatial interactions, and EHI demonstrated significant spatial spillover effects on SDGs. (3) EHI significantly moderates the linkage between MUL and SDGs, YREB should strategically concentrate on achieving SDGs 9, 11, and 12. Prioritizing these goals in YREB could enhance sustainable development. 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