Balancing urban expansion with ecological integrity: An ESP framework for rapidly urbanizing small and medium-sized cities, with insights from Suizhou, China

In China, the Huang-Huai Plain and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, which are populated with numerous small and medium-sized cities, have emerged as critical regions for future urbanization. As a result, these regions face significant ecological risks due to this rapid urbanization. This study employs the concept of the ecological security pattern (ESP), which synergizes landscape patterns and ecological processes by emphasizing ecological connectivity. This integration facilitates a balance between ecosystem protection and economic development. Utilizing Suizhou as a case study, a framework for establishing an ESP in rapidly urbanizing small and medium-sized cities is proposed, with the aim of addressing the ecological challenges posed by rapid urbanization. A principal component of this framework involves optimizing the identification of ecological sources. The ordered weighted average (OWA) method was used to accurately pinpoint areas of significant ecological services while considering necessary trade-offs. Furthermore, the ecological sensitivity and landscape connectivity were integrated to identify ecological sources. Subsequently, ecological corridors, totaling an area of 416.08 km2 and a length of 211.43 km, were delineated using circuit theory. In Suizhou, extensive urban development, particularly in the central area, has notably disrupted the ecological continuity between the northern and southern regions. A multifactorial superposition analysis was conducted to locate potential ecological sources and identify prevalent ecological issues, leading to the formulation of targeted strategies for resolution. If certain potential areas are modeled as optimized ecological sources, it is projected that the number of ecological sources will increase to 46, covering an area of 3090.4 km2; the length of ecological corridors will also increase to 799.8 km. This expansion will significantly enhance both network density and corridor connectivity. Therefore, the development of green infrastructure is recommended to improve ecological sensitivity and resilience in urbanized areas. Additionally, a focus on enhancing ecological bottleneck areas within corridors to facilitate species connectivity is emphasized. The approach and findings of this study have broad implications for other rapidly urbanizing small and medium-sized cities. •Optimized framework for building ecological security patterns in rapidly growing cities.•Evaluate and extract ecological sour