Evolution characteristics of “production-living-ecological” function on the Erhai lakeshore and mechanism based on actor network analysis

[Objective] The lakeshore of plateau lakes is the concentrated area of production and living in the location, the key area of ecological construction, and the typical area of change of “production-living-ecological” functions. Understanding the evolution of the “production-living-ecological” space is of great significance for the sustainable development of the concerned regions. [Methods] Based on the data from interviews and web texts, the actor network theory and NVIVO11 software were used to explore the key actors and their behaviors in the evolution of “production-living-ecological” functions of the Erhai lakeshore. [Results] (1) Since 2000, the Erhai lakeshore has experienced two periods of change, one was a gradual spatial change from living to production function, and the next was an abrupt spatial change from production to ecological function. (2) In the process of gradual spatial change, the key actor was the innkeepers, the identity of the Erhai Lake was the waterscape, and the role of the homesteads and houses was to provide commercial services. In the process of abrupt spatial change, the key actor was the local government, the identity of the Erhai Lake was the water environment, and the role of the homesteads and houses was to provide living services. (3) The gradual spatial change was due to the process of innkeepers leading other actors to form a capital tension network around the obligatory passage point (OPP) “landscape consumption of the Erhai Lake”, promoting the socially self-organized tourism development of the lakeshore; and the abrupt spatial change was due to the process that the local government instructed other actors to form a power pressure network around the OPP “ecological restoration of the Erhai Lake”, realizing the ecological restoration of the lakeshore by administrative forces. [Conclusion] The lakeshore is the focus of the game between stakeholders, based on the differentiated network formed by different key actors, resulting in alternating changes in living, production and ecological functions of the lakeshore.