Spatial and Temporal Evolution of Coupling and Coordination between Scientific and Technological Innovation and Green Economy in Anhui Province

Scientific and technological innovation (STI) is an important way to develop green economy (GE), and GE is an important strategy to promote high-quality development. In order to promote the coupling and coordinated development of STI and GE systems, and we analyzed the levels of development and coupling coordination, and the spatial correlation characteristics of STI and GE in Anhui by constructing an evaluation index and measuring the panel data of 16 prefecture-level cities from 2012-2021 using an entropy weights method (EWM) and coupling coordination and spatial autocorrelation models. The results indicate that the level of STI is a fluctuating upward trend, while that of GE is steadily rising. The level of STI has been lower than that of GE, yet the former has increased more rapidly. Regional development is unbalanced and spatial differences are significant, and the development level of southeast region is higher than that of northwest region. The degree of coupling of the two systems has fluctuated and increased in the highly coupled area, and the coupling coordination index has trended upward, forming a divergent gradient with the city of Hefei as the center. The spatial distribution of coupling coordination showed a significant positive correlation, and the low- and high-level areas tended to exhibit a bimodal clustering distribution. Finally, according to the coupling and coordination relationship between STI and GE, it puts forward the coordinated development strategy of overall development and local conditions.