Abstract:
Promoting the high-quality development of urban leisure agriculture in China is vital for advancing urban–rural integration and rural revitalization. Based on the new development concept, this study constructs an evaluation index system covering five dimensions: innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing. The entropy weight method and the coupling coordination degree model are employed to assess the development level and interdimensional interactions of urban leisure agriculture in eight major cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. The results indicate that urban leisure agriculture in China exhibits an uneven pattern in which green development leads while innovation and sharing lag behind. Marked regional disparities are evident. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration performs well in innovation, coordination, and sharing but shows insufficient momentum in green and openness. The Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration demonstrates a strong sharing orientation with gradient differentiation. The Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration displays open, green and coordinated strengths but remains weak in innovation and sharing. The middle reaches of the Yangtze River urban agglomeration holds advantages in openness, green, and innovation, yet lags in coordination and sharing. The Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration features distinctive characteristics but faces systemic imbalance. In terms of coupling coordination, Wuhan, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou are classified as benign coupling with moderate coordination; Beijing shows high-level coupling with moderate coordination; Changsha falls into antagonistic with primary coordination; Chengdu and Chongqing are characterized by low-level coupling with primary coordination. Institutional barriers include the exclusion of resource allocation under urban functional positioning, weak institutional arrangements for industrial collaboration and regional coupling, misalignment between ecological constraints and green transformation incentives, and insufficient protection of local community rights and interests. Policy recommendations are proposed to optimize differentiated resource allocation, address bottlenecks in key dimensions, promote regionally complementary development, and enhance industrial coupling efficiency.