Composite Ecological Spaces as Governance Units for Comprehensive Land Consolidation: Identification and Evaluation in a Water-Town Region of China

In China’s water-town regions, rural spatial governance is transitioning from land-use restructuring toward multifunctional ecological management, creating a demand for spatial units that capture interactions among land-use patterns, ecological processes, and governance objectives. To address this challenge, this study proposes the concept of Composite Ecological Space (CESpace) and develops an integrated identification–evaluation framework for ecological-oriented spatial governance. Using 38 indicators derived from remote sensing, terrain, soil, and hydrological data, CESpaces were identified through a two-stage SOM–K-means clustering approach, while their ecological performance was evaluated through ecosystem services and ecological vulnerability assessments based on an Indicator–Land Use–Dimension framework with entropy weighting. Applied to the Zhoupu Town Comprehensive Land Consolidation Pilot Area in Shanghai, the framework identified four dominant CESpace types. Type 2 (Watercourse Confluence—Productive Agroforestry) exhibited the highest ecosystem service performance and relatively low ecological vulnerability, whereas Type 4 (Build-up Settlement—Impervious Surface) showed limited ecological functions and the highest vulnerability. Spatial differentiation among CESpace types was mainly associated with variations in hydrological dynamics, vegetation productivity, and soil conditions. The proposed framework provides an operational approach for identifying CESpaces and linking spatial classification with ecological diagnosis and differentiated governance in similar water-town landscapes.