A coupling coordination-based framework for assessing urban resilience of water resources, eco-environment, and socio-economy

This study developed a multidimensional assessment framework to address deficiencies in multisubsystem coupling relationships and the lack of studies on microscale urban resilience in developing regions. The framework integrates the dynamic process characteristics of resilience-resistance, recovery, and adaptation-with the coupling relationships among the water resource, eco-environment, and socio-economic subsystems. Through a case study of the five cities in the source area of the South-to-North Water Diversion Middle Route Project (SNWDMRP), this study employed the coupling coordination degree and obstacle degree models to analyze the evolution of urban resilience and its hindering factors from 2014 to 2022. The results indicate that urban resilience improved across the five cities, with Shiyan consistently leading throughout the assessment period. Meanwhile, Nanyang, Hanzhong, and Shangluo transitioned from primary coordination (0.6-0.7) to high coordination (>0.8). Subsystem resilience exhibited divergent characteristics: water resource and eco-environment resilience showed synergistic enhancement, whereas socio-economic resilience varied significantly across regions. The obstacle degree proportion of the socio-economic subsystem increased significantly in four cities (Nanyang, Hanzhong, Ankang, and Shangluo), with the proportion of socioeconomic obstacles in Hanzhong reaching 57% in 2022. Allocation equity and environmental risk management manifested as universal, cross-regional challenges. The study concludes that enhancing resilience in these ecologically sensitive cities requires tailored strategies to address the prevalent socio-economic bottlenecks, alongside sustained management of resource and environmental systems. This research provides a transferable analytical framework and empirical evidence to guide targeted resilience-building.