<p>The high-quality development of China’s Yellow River Basin critically depends on resolving entrenched industrial spatial imbalances and agglomeration diseconomies. Focusing on the <i>π</i>-shaped Curve Area, this paper applies a multi-scale “point-line-area” framework that integrates the Triple Helix model, the Lotka–Volterra symbiosis model, and a modified gravity model to examine industrial spatial evolution from 2006 to 2023. At the enterprise scale (point), a dual path dependence emerges: Resource-based cities remain locked into natural capital, while core cities are constrained by administrative interventions, producing a paradox of geographical homogenization alongside technological simplification. At the industrial chain scale (line), imbalances between arterial and venous industries follow a trajectory of gradient symbiosis and allometric growth, with the reversal of competition coefficients in Ordos underscoring the ecological costs of conventional upgrading. At the regional scale (area), spatiotemporal mismatches between extractive specialization and manufacturing diversification accelerate the conversion of resource dividends into ecological liabilities, as administrative barriers fragment industrial linkages and limit the capacity of core cities to nurture secondary growth poles. By integrating these cross-scale dynamics into a coherent system, this study advances both a diagnostic toolkit and a theoretical paradigm for understanding agglomeration diseconomies, offering transferable insights for ecological conservation and high-quality development in resource-dependent regions worldwide.</p>