Evaluation and Functional Zoning of the Ecological Environment in Urban Space—A Case Study of Taizhou, China

Functional zoning provides a basis for establishing a regional development layout with clear functions, reasonable division of labor, and complementary advantages. In the process of urban development, a large number of behaviors such as occupying ecological land and generating a lot of pollution cause damage to the urban ecological environment. Functional zoning of the ecological environment has become an important tool used by the local and central governments to establish a harmonious relationship between socio-economic welfare and the ecological environment in recent years. Guided by the concepts and principles of ecological function zoning, this study applies and extends the methodological approach of ecological function zoning to the scale of urban space. Based on consideration of an evaluation of ecological environment sensitivity, ecosystem service function importance, and socio-economic coercion, this paper divides urban space into four types, namely: ecological environment restoration zone, ecological economy bearing zone, ecological environment preservation zone, and ecological environment protection zone, utilizing a mutually exclusive matrix classification. Taking Taizhou in Jiangsu Province as a pilot study, this paper verifies the actual application of a theoretical model and its technicalities, thus advancing the general case for function zoning of the ecological environment. Furthermore, it outlines measures for ecological environment protection and the industrial development orientation of each function area, thus providing a scientific basis for Taizhou’s ecological city development and construction.