DOI: 10.11648/j.si.20261404.11 ISSN: 2328-787X

Exploration on the Optimisation the Spatial Pattern of Islands in Fujian Province, China

Bo Huang, Jinyan Xu, Xueping Lin, Yuyue Chen, Junhui Chen, Nannan Geng, Qingli Zheng
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Islands are crucial for the ecological security, coastal economy, and safeguarding national maritime rights and interests, with their high-quality growth being a key regional transformation issue. Fujian is characterized by a spatial agglomeration of numerous islands and diverse developmental endowments. However, the island development in Fujian is confronted with structural challenges, mainly manifested in: over-reliance on tourism in central islands, leading to severe industrial homogenization; insufficient connectivity with remote islands; and poor alignment between the management of uninhabited islands and development demands, all of which constrain the high-quality development of the marine economy. This study, employing a comparative analysis of island economic development levels, underscores the urgent need to construct a scientific, competitive, and new pattern for island development. Based on the spatial planning pattern of “One Belt, Two Cores, Six Bays, and Multiple Islands” in Fujian Province, this study draws on typical cases of international island development from South Korea, Japan and Ecuador, and proposes a differentiated spatial pattern construction path characterized by “classified policy implementation and functional complementarity”. By comprehensively evaluating islands' scale, location, resource endowments, and ecological carrying capacity, this study innovatively proposes the establishment of an island development and utilization pattern characterized by classified strategies and complementary functions. Specifically, for county-level islands, we suggest promoting diversified comprehensive development, moderately introducing high-tech industries and emerging marine industries that have minimal environmental impact, thereby avoiding the dominance of tourism to the neglect of other industries' coordinated development. For offshore islands with excellent tourism resources, the focus should be on improving infrastructure, enhancing service quality, and creating livable and travel-friendly boutique tourist destinations. As for remote islands, active exploration of the "zero-carbon island" development model is recommended, using clean energy to improve residents' lives under strict ecological protection. This research provides robust theoretical and practical guidance for Fujian's islands to transition from extensive to high-quality development, offering valuable insights for sustainable growth in similar coastal regions. The research aims to break the bottleneck of island development homogenization, provide scientific decision-making support for the practical application of the land-sea coordination theory, and holds both theoretical and practical significance for promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of Fujian’s marine economy and constructing resilient island spaces.

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