Measuring the Evolutionary Gaming Process of Three Functional Spaces at the County Scale in Henan Province, China

The objective of this study was to apply Game theory to quantitative assess the evolutionary gaming process of three functional spaces (agricultural production, urban-rural living, and blue-green ecological) over the past four decades during the past period of multi-planning conflicts in China, as a case study of Henan Province. The quantitative research framework of the spatial game process was established, and the measurement method of spatial game type and intensity was proposed. The results demonstrate that the evolutionary gaming process of three functional spaces exhibited significant spatial and temporal variations and space agglomeration characteristics from 1980 to 2020. The spatial game intensity (SGI) of the three functional spaces increased from low to high and then decreased again, and the spatial game type changed from positive-sum to zero-sum and then reverts to positive-sum with the year 2000 and 2010 was the pivotal turning point. In addition, the urban center with a higher urbanization level resulted in a zero-sum game at the expense of agricultural production space. Moreover, the counties on the urban fringe and urban development axis frequently had the most variable types and intensities of space gaming. In the future, distinct development strategies should be formulated based on local conditions.