The Green and Adaptable Development Paths of Provincial Characteristic Towns in Taihu Lake Basin: A Synergy Perspective on Face Value and Resilience

Enhancing the synergistic development level of face value and resilience is the key to achieving green and high-quality development of characteristic towns. This study takes 83 characteristic towns in Taihu Lake Basin as research samples, constructs a systematic evaluation index system of the face value and resilience, and scientifically classifies the face value and resilience of Taihu Lake Basin into high level, medium–high level, medium level, and low level, respectively, and explores the intrinsic influence mechanism of the deviation between the face value and resilience via the deviation index and synergy development degree model. The results show that (1) the face value of about 60% of the characteristic towns is above average, which is distributed in the northern and southeast regions of Taihu Lake Basin. In terms of the industry type, the face value level of characteristic towns of tourism, digital economy, information, and finance is high. (2) The number of characteristic towns with moderate resilience is the largest, accounting for 36.1%. Spatially, the characteristic towns with medium–high and high levels are mainly concentrated in Hangzhou, Kunshan, Wuxi, and Shanghai. In terms of the industry type, the resilience levels of tourism towns, digital economy towns, and modern service towns with distinctive industrial characteristics are higher. (3) The face value and resilience of most characteristic towns in Taihu Lake Basin are not synchronized, and 67.5% of the towns have a large deviation. We classify 83 characteristic towns into four categories: high robustness (Hj > 4.80), medium–high robustness (4.02 ≤ Hj ≥ 4.79), medium robustness (4.03 ≤ Hj ≥ 3.11), and low robustness (Hj < 3.10); the high robustness areas are concentrated in Suzhou–Wuxi–Changzhou and the northern part of Zhejiang. (4) We propose the differentiated development paths of synergistic development between face value and resilience, and the synergistic cooperation and governance mechanism of multiple subjects for the achievement of balanced development in characteristic towns. The conclusions of this study have important research value and practical significance for the sustainable development of similar characteristic towns.