{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,17]],"date-time":"2026-05-17T08:33:18Z","timestamp":1779006798781,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,1]],"date-time":"2025-07-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1751328000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Focusing on the dynamic change process of urban ecology and economy, this paper explores the spatial correlation pattern of cities in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region for sustainable development from 2012 to 2023 based on the coupled coordination model, gravitational model, and social network analysis (SNA). First, the sustainable development level of the city shows a certain upward trend in the time dimension. In the spatial dimension, there is significant regional differentiation, which roughly shows the development characteristics of gradual increase from the interior to the coast. Second, cities with lower-level sustainable development and higher-level sustainable development always maintain their own stability, but being adjacent to a city with lower-level sustainable development increases the probability of an improvement. Third, cities that play an important role in driving the level of spatial correlation for sustainable development are mainly concentrated in the central and eastern parts of the YRD, with Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, and Hangzhou being the most important radiation centers in the pattern of spatial correlation. Fourth, the affiliation system of sustainable development gradually changes from the double core system of Shanghai\u2013Suzhou to the triple core system of Shanghai\u2013Suzhou\u2013Hangzhou to drive and lead the development of the subordinate cities. Fifth, the spatial network can be categorized into four plates: benefit, overflow, bilateral spillover, and broker, with obvious linkage effects between plates.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems13070533","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,1]],"date-time":"2025-07-01T06:56:54Z","timestamp":1751353014000},"page":"533","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Research on the Spatial Correlation Pattern of Sustainable Development of Cities in the Yangtze River Delta Region of China, Based on the Dynamic Coupling Perspective of \u201cEcology-Economy\u201d"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Zhujie","family":"Chu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200230, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qi","family":"Ge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200230, China"},{"name":"Institute of Healthy Yangtze River Delta, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200230, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lufa","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200230, China"},{"name":"Institute of Healthy Yangtze River Delta, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200230, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"137475","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chemosphere.2022.137475","article-title":"Ecological disturbances and abundance of anthropogenic pollutants in the aquatic ecosystem: Critical review of impact assessment on the aquatic animals","volume":"313","author":"Thanigaivel","year":"2023","journal-title":"Chemosphere"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"130423","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2022.130423","article-title":"A novel framework-based meta-analysis for in-depth characterization of microplastic pollution and associated ecological risks in Chinese Bays","volume":"444","author":"Liu","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. 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