Modeling between Water Resources Security and Regional Economic Growth in the Yellow River Basin Based on Entropy Weight Method—A Case Study for Future Smart City

In order to explore the relationship between water resource security and regional economic growth, the Yellow River Basin was taken as the study area, and a relationship model between water resource security and regional economic growth in the Yellow River Basin based on the entropy weight method was constructed. After investigating the geographical location, changes in water resources, and economic status of the study area, combined with the principle of coupling coordination in water resources and economic systems, the Yellow River Basin water resources security index system was constructed based on the five aspects, including water resources characteristics, water supply facilities, and water resources management capacity and regional economic growth index system was constructed based on survival and development poverty two aspects. The entropy weight method was used to measure the variation degree of the indexes, and the information entropy was used to calculate the weight of each index. The TOPSIS method can be applied in optimizing the coupling algorithm and building a coupling coordination relationship model. Based on the coupling coordination index, the relationship between water resources security and regional economic growth in the Yellow River Basin was analyzed. The results show that the model analysis results can reflect the actual situation of water resources security and regional economic growth in the Yellow River Basin and show that there is a high degree of coupling between water resources security and regional economic growth in most provinces (cities). The cities showing extreme coupling relationships are mainly distributed in the economic zones, including Henan, Ningxia, Shanxi, and Gansu, and the cities showing moderate coupling relationships are mainly distributed in Xining and Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures. At the same time, policy suggestions are put forward based on the relationship between water resources security and regional economic growth in the Yellow River Basin.