Evolution of the coupling coordination between the marine economy and urban resilience of major coastal cities in China

Exploring the coordinated relationship between the marine economy and urban resilience can help improve urban resilience and the quality of the marine economy. Based on panel data from 2010 to 2019 in 20 major coastal cities in China, we adopted the entropy method, coupling harmonious degree model, and Theil index to measure and calculate the interval index differences in the marine economic quality and urban resilience level. Coordination between the marine economy and urban resilience was also calculated. First, we found that the quality level of the marine economy climbed in waves, forming a spatial distribution pattern that was highest in the Circum–Bohai Sea Region, followed by the Yangtze River Delta Region and the Pearl River Delta Region, and lowest in the Urban Agglomeration in the West Coast, and the gap between regions gradually narrowed. Second, the level of urban resilience gradually increased, and the regional differences varied greatly among cities, exhibiting a spatial distribution pattern that was high in the center and low in the surrounding area. Third, the coordination between the marine economy and urban resilience steadily increased, forming a spatial distribution pattern that was high in the Circum–Bohai Sea Region and Yangtze River Delta Region, and low in the Pearl River Delta Region and Urban Agglomeration in the West Coast. Fourth, the coordination gap between the regional and intra-regional marine economy and urban resilience was reduced, and the coordination between regional marine economy and urban resilience changed from two-level differentiation to diversification.