Resilient System, Flexible Boundary, and Dynamic Adaptation: A Case Study on the Planning Control on Eco-Space in Haicang District of Xiamen

In line with the strategy of Ecological Civilization Construction, maintaining and increasing the value of natural resources is a core issue of China's territorial and spatial planning. Ecological space, eco-space in short, is not only the guarantee of a city's ecological security, but also the main body for realizing the value transformation of ecological resources. Currently, it is generally believed that the definition of eco-space is limited by natural attributes, leading to an either/or situation between eco-space and urban space in planning control. Although this approach may assure rigid bottom lines, it results in the freezing of ecological resources and the separation of eco-space from urban space, as well as the missing of many possibilities for future urban development. In order to optimize the planning control on eco-space of the territorial and spatial planning system, this paper reconsiders the concept of eco-space and proposes the theoretical framework of "resilient system, flexible boundary, and dynamic adaptation," as well as the categorization of eco-space into the three zones of mandatory protection, strategic reservation, and potential development. Taking Haicang District of Xiamen as an example, it puts forward an analysis model on the development potential of eco-space by superimposing the weight of five influence factors for a scientific result of zoning. It concludes that the mapping of overall ecological pattern, the spatial interaction crossing flexible boundaries, the management allowing dynamic conversion, and the refined control incorporating both rigid and elastic principles may provide guidelines for increasing the value of eco-space, so as to maximize the ecological benefits of the city.