Based on the adaptive analysis paradigm,this paper constructs an evaluation index system and an evaluation model of the level of industrial ecology of a restricted development zone from the perspective of the industrial system and of the environmental sys-tem,and studies the spatial-temporal differentiation characteristics and the driving factors of the level of industrial ecology of the restric-ted development zone of the Shandong Province,China,by using a variety of measurement methods.The results show that:1)In the temporal dimension,the level of industrial ecology of the research area increased from 2005 to 2017,while in the regional dimension,it was higher in the eastern coastal areas,followed by the northwestern area and the southwestern area;2)In the spatial dimension,from 2005 to 2017 the level of industrial ecology of the research area had a clear spatial dependence,and the regional spatial agglomeration of the restricted development zones with similar industrial ecology levels become increasingly evident;3)On the whole,the industrial eco-logy level in the study area had a clear spatial differentiation pattern,as it was higher in the north and in the east and lower in the south and in the west.Moreover,its evolution model changed from a'three-core driven model'to a'spatial scattered mosaic distribution mod-el',and then to a'single-core driven model';4)Industrial ecology was positively correlated with economic development,foreign invest-ment,science and technology,and negatively correlated with the government role,while industrial structure and environmental regula-tion failed to pass the statistical significance test.