Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Evolution Patterns in the Green Development of Cluster-Type Cities: A Case Study of Zibo City in China

The cluster-type city, characterized by a unique spatial configuration of relatively independent urban regions, grapples with substantial obstacles in its quest for high-quality urban development, a context in which the importance of green urban development has increased markedly. This research, taking Zibo City in China as an illustrative case, employs the Entropy Value Method-Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) model to comprehensively gauge the degrees and spatio-temporal traits of urban green development across disparate districts and dissect influential determinants. The investigation’s outcomes suggest that the levels of urban green development in all districts of Zibo City exhibit an overall undulating but ascending trajectory, with regions of high value chiefly centralized and areas of low value dispersed in the northern and southern zones. The weighted examination of indicators at each tier unveils that high-quality economic development and the extent of environmental construction serve as substantial catalysts in bolstering resource utilization efficiency, thereby playing a pivotal part in the city’s green development. Zibo, as both an industrial city in transition as well as a regenerative city, confronts disparities and challenges in its urbanization progress.