Yinshuai Li, Nan Jia, Lilin Zheng, Chenglong Yin, Kai Chen, Na Sun, Anyao Jiang, Mengting Wang, Ruishan Chen, Zhenju Zhou
Rapid urbanization exacerbates conflicts between land expansion and ecosystem preservation, particularly in urban agglomerations, posing challenges to sustainable urban development. Nevertheless, existing research often overlooks the three-dimensional urbanization process. Here we established a framework for coupling coordination degree analysis based on meta-coupling theory to explore relationships between three-dimensional urbanization (both horizontal and vertical dimensions) and multiple ecosystem services, using 19 major urban agglomerations in China from 2005 to 2020 as case studies. The results reveal that, although the coupling coordination degree has generally improved, some urban agglomerations (e.g., Chengdu-Chongqing and Qianzhong) have experienced degradation, and several western and inland regions show persistent or worsening imbalances. Differences between regions are the main contributors to overall variation, yet cross-regional coupling coordination is strengthening. These findings underscore the importance of strengthening inter-regional cooperation by leveraging the spillover influence of advanced cities to support resource sharing—such as ecological data, technology, and restoration funding—and policy alignment in land-use planning and ecological compensation, thereby supporting more balanced and sustainable development. A study of 19 major Chinese urban agglomerations finds poor or uneven coordination between 3D urbanization and ecosystem services, using coupling coordination degree across intra-, peri-, and tele-coupling scales.