Does new-type urbanization help reduce haze pollution damage? Evidence from China's county-level panel data

Can environmental policies improve marine ecological efficiency? Examining China's Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones

Terrestrial ecosystems can benefit from environmental protection policies; however, their impact on marine ecological efficiency deserves further exploration. This study uses China's Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone (ECZ) policy as an example of a quasi-natural experimental study, with data from 11 coastal provinces in China from 2006 to 2019 as the initial sample. First, a Super-SBM model considers undesired outputs to measure marine eco-efficiency, while a synthetic control method (SCM) investigates the effect of environmental regulations on marine eco-efficiency. The results show that ECZ policies can promote marine eco-efficiency and the effect mechanisms of these policies are discussed from national and regional perspectives. This study contributes to the current literature by theoretically evaluating the impact of ECZ policies on the marine environment in coastal areas, enriching the mechanism of integrated environmental policies on marine ecological protection, and providing references for formulating and implementing environmental policies.

Can the construction of a high-speed rail alleviate haze pollution: an empirical analysis based on social networks and dynamic spatial econometric models

With the increase in haze pollution in Chinese cities, answering the question of whether using a high-speed rail (HSR) as a green and efficient transportation system can alleviate haze pollution in China has become a research hotspot. This study empirically tests the impact of HSR network construction on haze pollution and its spatial spillover effects. (1) The construction of a HSR would have a mitigation effect on haze pollution in node cities and surrounding cities, and the more developed the HSR is, the more significant that this effect would be. (2) Haze pollution persists for a long time, the haze pollution from the previous year may have a positive promoting effect on the haze pollution in the following year. (3) The use of a HSR reduces haze pollution by replacing traditional road transportation and promoting industrial structure upgrading and technological innovation. (4) The inhibitory effect of HSR use on haze pollution varies due to regional differences and variation in city size.

Low carbon city and FDI inflows: evidence from China

Achieving the goals of "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality" becomes one of the important elements of the ecological civilization strategy in China. Based on the strong balanced panel data of 281 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019, we investigate the impact of Low-carbon city pilot policy (LCCP policy) on FDI inflows by using the multi-period DID model and intermediary model. After that, we discuss the heterogenous impact in terms of both policy tools and geographic locations. Furthermore, we investigate the spillover effects of the LCCP policy on the FDI inflows of surrounding cities using the Spatial Dubin DID model. The results show that (1) the LCCP policy can significantly attract FDI through reducing compliance costs and promoting technological innovation, and the Bacon decomposition and the placebo test show that the estimation error is small and the regression result is relatively stable; (2) command-mandatory tools have negative effects on FDI, while market-oriented tools can effectively attract FDI in pilot cities, but voluntary tools have no significant effect on FDI in pilot cities; (3) the LCCP policy can significantly promote the inflows of FDI in the eastern and western regions, but it does not significantly promote the FDI in central regions; (4) there is a positive spillover effect on FDI inflows to surrounding cities.

Connotation, status, and governance of land ecological security in China's new urbanization: recent advances and future prospects

The rapid development of China's new urbanization has created favorable conditions for economic growth and social development. Urbanization includes population urbanization and land urbanization, among which land urbanization leads to land ecological security problems. At present, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of land ecological security in China's new urbanization construction. This paper aims to fill the gap by systematically combing relevant literature on the connotation, status, and governance of land ecological security in China's new urbanization. Literature review shows that China's land ecological security is still at a low level, and the new urbanization construction has significant impacts on land ecological security. Land contamination is the most critical factor threatening land ecological security, and there are differences in the levels of land contamination and types of pollutants in different new urbanization construction forms. According to an example of land ecological security governance with enterprises as the main body and multiple subjects cooperating, the governance of land ecological security needs to integrate a variety of different subjects to coordinate governance. Future research directions should focus on the construction of land ecological security assessment index system, development of land contamination multi-level control technology, and construction of multi-subject collaborative governance model with "government-enterprise-social organization-residents."

Effects of urbanisation on PM2.5 concentrations: A systematic review and meta-analysis

While urbanisation greatly improves a population's quality of life, it also has significant effects on urban air pollution. Previous studies have determined how urbanisation affects PM2.5 concentrations; the findings, however, have not been consistent. This study conducts a meta-analysis to systematically organise existing research and draw more conclusive and broadly applicable results regarding the impact of different factors of urbanisation on PM2.5 concentrations. The main research findings are as follows: (1) the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is proven to hold true in terms of the effect of population and land urbanisation on PM2.5 concentrations, while there is no consistent conclusion on the non-linear relationship between economic urbanisation and PM2.5 concentrations; (2) publication bias is evident in research on the economic and comprehensive urbanisation dimensions under linear assumptions; (3) there are notable heterogeneities in existing research in this field. The meta-regression model further indicates that model design, sample design, and publication characteristics might be responsible for these heterogeneities. This study innovatively applies a meta-analysis to investigate the effect of urbanisation on PM2.5 concentrations. The findings will contribute to scholars designing more rigorous research frameworks in this field.

Coupling coordination of new urbanization in Chinese urban agglomeration-characteristics and driving factors

The coordinated development of new urbanization (NU) in urban agglomerations (UAs) is key for promoting sustainable urban development and the way to achieve Chinese-style modernization. Based on the mechanisms of coupling and coordination of NU, the internal subsystem coupling coordination of NU was deconstructed into five dimensions-economic, population, land, social, and ecological. Using 200 cities in 19 Chinese UAs areas, the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of the coupling coordination degree of NU (CCDNU) were analyzed, and the driving factors were analyzed from both spatial spillover effect and stratification heterogeneity. The results are as follows: (1) CCDNU has increased from moderate disorder to barely coordinated, exhibiting a spatial distribution of a higher CCDNU in the east and lower CCDNU in the west with a positive global spatial autocorrelation feature; (2) economic drive, population concentration, spatial carrying capacity, and environmental quality play facilitating roles in the CCDNU of the study region, while the spatial carrying capacity, quality of life, and environmental quality inhibit the CCDNU of neighboring regions. From the decomposition of long- and short-term effects, both direct and indirect effects of driving factors were found to accumulate significantly over time. In addition, the model results were robust after replacing the geographic distance weight matrix and excluding the extreme values; (3) the spatial carrying capacity, population concentration, and economic drive are the dominant factors affecting the CCDNU in China. The dominant driving factors of are different in different regions. Meanwhile, the interaction detection shows that the interaction of each driver exhibits a two-factor enhancement or non-linear enhancement. Based on these results, corresponding policies are recommended.

New-Type Urbanization on pollution and carbon reduction impact mechanism and co-benefits analysis

How to simultaneously reduce environmental pollution and CO2 emissions is a challenging issue for various countries, particularly in China. Unlike traditional urbanization process that inevitably deteriorates environment, China initiated a New-Type Urbanization (NTU) strategy in 2014 following four principles: people-centeredness, optimal layout, ecological civilization, and cultural inheritance. Previous studies conduct research on NTU's influencing pollution and carbon reduction (PCR), respectively, while ignoring synergistic governance. The research objectives of this study are to investigate the potential mechanisms of NTU's influencing PCR and co-benefits for PCR. By leveraging 30 provincial-level data from China spanning 2005 to 2019, we comprehensively construct an index and assess NTU from six domains: population, economic, environmental, spatial, equitable, and social urbanizations and combine a coupling coordination model with a 2-way fixed effects model for empirical analysis. Our findings demonstrate that (1) NTU tends to significantly suppress pollution and carbon emissions, and this finding is reliable after several robustness tests and solving endogeneity with relief degree of land surface as an instrumental variable (IV). (2) The reducing effects seem to be achieved by promoting talent agglomeration, facilitating economic agglomeration and strengthening environmental regulations. (3) NTU tends to have both current and time-lag effects on pollution and carbon reduction, and their co-benefits are mainly influenced by the time-lag effect. Accordingly, policy recommendations are recommended: governments need to plan urbanization rationally, including strengthening public infrastructure and social welfare, pursuing the strategy of introducing talents, planning land and resource use rationally and efficiently, and strengthening environmental regulations. In addition, a mechanism should be developed to reduce pollution and carbon in an integrated manner for the long term. Our study broadens the horizons for international scholars engaged in sustainable urbanization research, enriching the array of research methodologies.

Unleashing the dynamic and nonlinear relationship among new-type urbanization, foreign direct investment, and inclusive green growth in China: an environmental sustainability perspective

As an important way for China to integrate into the international circulation, foreign direct investment (FDI) can not only increase China's capital accumulation but also directly affect inclusive green growth by promoting the diffusion and transfer of green technologies and activating the domestic market. Based on China's provincial panel data from 2007 to 2019, this paper discusses the following issues: first, Global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) productivity index is used to measure and analyze the current situation of inclusive green growth in 30 provinces of China; second, we set a fixed effect panel model to test the relationship between FDI and inclusive green growth in China. Third, based on PVAR (panel vector autoregressive) model, the dynamic impacts of FDI and new urbanization on inclusive green growth are tested. Finally, a regression model with the new urbanization level as the threshold variable is constructed to test the threshold effect of FDI on China's green inclusive growth. Accordingly, each region needs to formulate FDI introduction policies according to the local new urbanization level, so as to give full play to the positive role of FDI in inclusive green growth.

Does new-type urbanization curb haze pollution? A case study from China

The rapid urbanization process has led to a high concentration of population and economic activities in urban space, thus leading to severe environmental pollution. The concept of new-type urbanization has been proposed in China to combat the pollution associated with urbanization. This study analyzes the interaction effect of new-type urbanization with land, industry, and technology on haze pollution, using Chinese provincial-level panel data, and employs a STIRPAT model with interaction terms for empirical testing. The results find that new-type urbanization can significantly reduce the national haze pollution level; meanwhile, the optimization of intensive urban land use level, industrial structure, and technological innovation can interact with it to promote haze reduction, and there is regional heterogeneity. The improvement of intensive urban land use and industrial structure in the central region will significantly enhance the haze reduction effect of new-type urbanization, while the improvement of technological innovation in the west will instead weaken its haze reduction effect, and the interaction in the eastern region is not significant. This research provides a theoretical basis for better implementation of new-type urbanization construction and effective promotion of green and sustainable urban development.