Objective The "East Data West Computing" strategy, a landmark initiative in China's efforts to balance regional development and optimize resource allocation, channels immense computational demands from the eastern seaboard to the resource-rich western regions. However, this unidirectional flow risks trapping western supply areas in a dual predicament: becoming mere "computing enclaves" disconnected from endogenous development, and falling prey to a contemporary iteration of the "resource curse," where specialization in low-value-added energy and data export inhibits economic diversification. Targeting the predicament where western supply areas are trapped in “computing enclaves” and the “resource curse” during the evolution of the “East Data West Computing” strategy, this paper constructs the “Green Energy-Oriented Development” (GEOD) theoretical framework. This framework aims to elucidate the phased evolutionary characteristics and underlying mechanisms that transition supply areas from a state of unidirectional energy transmission to a mature, bidirectional closed-loop system of "supply-empowerment." The study argues that spatial optimization within the supply area itself is a prerequisite for dismantling enclave isolation and initiating authentic regional synergy, especially under the dual constraints of absent cross-regional governance and insufficient local carrying capacity.

Methods The research methodology is structured in three phases. First, based on the GEOD theoretical framework, it systematically analyzes the phased evolutionary characteristics and underlying transition pathways from unidirectional energy transmission to a bidirectional “supply-empowerment” closed-loop system. The study argues that under the dual constraints of absent cross-regional governance and insufficient local carrying capacity, proactive spatial optimization within supply areas themselves serves as the fundamental prerequisite for dismantling enclave isolation and initiating authentic regional synergy. Second, drawing on the ecosystem service cascade model and taking Jiuquan, Gansu as a representative case, the paper proposes a multi-level “Point-Line-Matrix” synergistic spatial optimization strategy. Third, a multi-scenario simulation is conducted to quantitatively project and evaluate the differentiated outcomes of implementing the proposed spatial strategy against baseline scenarios. The simulation systematically assesses the project impacts on key variables such as intra-regional development disparities, activation effects of transit and energy corridors, and the capacity to attract and retain high-caliber talent and industries from the eastern regions.

Result The simulation results yield three principal findings corresponding to the "Point-Line-Matrix" strategy. First, the "industry-city integration" mode, a core component of the point-level strategy, significantly enhances the supply area's absorptive capacity for high-caliber talent. A comparative analysis of two representative townships in Jiuquan was conducted using the Sustainable Development Potential Index (SDPI), which integrates job-housing balance, public service accessibility, and internal ecological value. The "industry-city integration oasis" (Southwest Subdistrict, Suzhou District) achieved an SDPI of 1.0157, substantially outperforming the "functional enclave" (Old Downtown Subdistrict, Yumen City) at 0.9981. This validates that spatial reorganization prioritizing mixed-use, service-rich environments creates the micro-level anchors necessary for attracting and retaining talent from eastern regions. Second, the "multi-core driven" mode, corresponding to the line-level strategy, effectively activates underutilized transit corridors, transforming them into axes of rural development and reducing intra-regional disparities. Using an enhanced gravity model along the G30 Lianyungang-Khorgas Expressway corridor, the Economic Vitality Enhancement Index (EVEI) was calculated under multi-node activation scenarios. Compared to the single-node baseline (EVEI total = 0.00526), activating four corridor nodes increased total EVEI by 20.9 to 55.7 times across conservative to optimistic scenarios. Critically, the coefficient of variation dropped from 5.47 (baseline) to 2.43 across all activation scenarios, demonstrating that multi-node strategies distribute development opportunities more equitably along the corridor.Thirdly, the scenario incorporating cross-regional governance mechanisms demonstrates tangible mitigation of the conflict between energy development and ecological protection. Within the Jiuquan Thousand-Megawatt Wind Power Base, the Ecological-economic Synergy Index (ESI) was calculated under two governance regimes. Under fragmented governance, ESI values ranged from near zero to 0.836, reflecting severe spatial misalignment between energy potential and ecological importance. Under the regional coordination scenario, which incorporates ecological compensation mechanisms, ESI values for all six townships exceeded 0.9, with the most conflicted areas approaching 1.0.This confirms that cross-jurisdictional coordination aligning economic benefits with ecological contributions can transform oppositional relationships into synergistic spatial arrangements, providing the institutional foundation for sustainable resource utilization.

Conclusion The study demonstrates that, by transcending traditional monolithic development models, the strategic spatial reconfiguration of energy and data infrastructure into multifunctional landscape units creates tangible platforms capable of absorbing and integrating talent, capital, and technology flows from the eastern regions. This finding empirically validates the GEOD framework's core proposition: western supply areas must evolve from unidirectional energy transmission toward a bidirectional "supply-empowerment", with the physical prerequisite being the "landscape-as-infrastructure" transformation of supply area space. Based on simulation outcomes, two strategic recommendations emerge: spatially, implement "energy landscape infrastructuralization" through industry-city integration oasis and multifunctional corridors; governance-wise, establish "computing-ecology" exchange mechanisms with carbon-based fiscal transfers and flexible talent policies. As an initial theoretical construction focusing on supply-side spatial responses, future research should develop bidirectional coupling models incorporating eastern demand-side dynamics to more precisely simulate cross-regional service flows.