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The organizational forms of infrastructure in China are divided into two categories, the traditional Public Procurement Model (PUB) model and Public–Private Partnership(PPP) model. The main difference is the separation or binding of the construction and operation phases. A systematic understanding is needed of how Chinese local governments choose between these two models. In this paper, we take public capital congestion and local government objectives as the entry point to study the effects of both on PPP choice. Firstly, by constructing an endogenous economic growth model under the PPP model, and comparing it with the model under the PUB model, this paper initially explains how the rise in public capital congestion affects the choice of the PPP by growth-oriented local governments. Then the data from prefecture-level cities from 2009–2018 are utilized to conduct empirical tests. We find that urban economic growth pressures have a positive effect on the choice of PPP when the congestion of public capital increases. Furthermore, the implementation of PPP is indeed conducive to economic performance, and its core mechanism is to provide more infrastructure (like roads) rather than tax competition. The PPP model is more sustainable. We are the first to employ both modeling approach and the empirical research to address the implementation of Public–Private Partnership in China. And we have systematically analyzed the conditions and results of PPP selection by local governments. It formulates the Chinese PPP theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is currently focusing on the cooperative control of air pollution and CO2 emissions, as well as the mitigation of economic policy uncertainty (EPU). By using panel data from 282 cities spanning from 2003 to 2017 and a newly constructed city-level EPU index, a spatial Durbin, two-way fixed-effects model is employed, with the aim of estimating the impact of EPU on the synergistic emissions intensity (SEI) of air pollutants and CO2. Additionally, this paper investigates the potential channels through which EPU influences SEI. It also explores how pressures related to environmental protection and economic development affect the impact of EPU on SEI. The results indicate that a unit increase in EPU will result in a rise in the SEI of local cities, adjacent cities, and total cities by 930.9%, 69,162.7%, and 70,093.6%, respectively. Moreover, the channel analysis suggests that EPU exacerbates SEI by undermining the upgrading of the industrial structure, augmenting industrial structure distortion, and escalating labor market distortion. Furthermore, the effect of EPU on SEI may be lessened by an increase in environmental protection pressure, while an increase in economic development pressure may exert a positive influence. Finally, this paper concludes by recommending that policymakers should prioritize the maintenance and stability of economic policies, facilitate the advancement of the industrial structure, enhance the efficiency of labor resource allocation, and underscore the significance of managing urban air pollution and CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green finance (GF) is recognized as a key driver of sustainable development. While existing studies have extensively discussed the relationship between GF and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), few have explored the coupling coordination relationship between GF and SDGs. In this paper, we use data from thirty Chinese provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) from 2008–2021 to examine the degree of coupling coordination development (CCD) between GF and the SDGs systems using the CCD model. We find that most SDGs and their sub-goals exhibit a significant upward trend, except for SDG8, 14–16. GF presents a fluctuating upward trend, with a significant decline in 2010 and 2019. The CCDs between GF and SDGs and their sub-goals generally show an M-shaped upward trend in most regions, with most of them experiencing a synchronous decline in 2011–2012 and 2019. In the analysis of regional heterogeneity, the eastern region performs better in SDG8–9, the central region performs better in SDG3, 14–15, while the western region performs better in SDG7. This paper provides empirical evidence for a further in-depth understanding of the relationship between GF and SDGs, which can contribute to advancing GF development and the SDG process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of urbanization has brought new challenges to the ecological environment, and the promotion of green technology innovation and development is widely recognized as an essential method to achieve cities' economic benefits and environmental protection. This paper examines whether the new urbanization pilot policies (NUP) increase green technology innovation (GTI) from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. This paper examines the impact of new urbanization on GTI by analyzing data from 285 cities in China between 2010 and 2021, using the multi-period DID model with the implementation of NUP as an exogenous policy shock. The study results indicate that NUP significantly affects GTI, and the conclusion still holds after the parallel trend test, placebo test, and other robustness tests. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the NUP significantly enhances GTI in low environmental pollution, non-resource-based, Medium-sized, and Central Region cities. The test of moderating effect shows that NUP has a "linkage effect" with the government's environmental attention, financial investment in innovation, and regional talent pooling. The findings of this paper provide empirical evidence and decision-making reference for promoting NUP and sustainable development of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization and the release of carbon emission are two significant features of contemporary economic and social progress in China. However, there are few studies that consider how urbanization policy goals affect carbon emission. This paper aims to study the nonlinear effects of urbanization policy goals on carbon emission in 13 cities of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. In this paper, a multi-dimensional spatial disturbance grey model is proposed. Based on matrix perturbation theory, this paper explores the spatial perturbation bounds of the novel model and verifies that the spatial property of the model is consistent with the viewpoint of the First Law of Geography. Then, the novel model is used to predict the urban carbon emission under different urbanization policy goal scenarios. The results showed that the novel model has spatial regional correlation in spatial region prediction. With the development of urbanization level, carbon emissions show a downward trend in more than 50% of cities from 2022 to 2025. In addition, the improvement of urbanization policy goals will promote the carbon peak time of most cities. The carbon emission intensity will exhibit an inverted U-shaped trend distribution in space. The research results are conducive to providing scientific guidance for the formulation of new-type urbanization policies and helping to achieve the dual carbon goals. • A multi-dimensional spatial disturbance grey model is proposed. • The novel grey model is consistent with the viewpoint of the First Law of Geography. • The spatial distribution of carbon intensity showed an inverted U-shaped pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Solow residual method, traditionally pivotal for calculating total factor productivity (TFP), is typically not applied to green TFP calculations due to its exclusion of undesired outputs. Diverging from traditional approaches and other frontier methodologies such as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA), this paper integrates undesired outputs and three types of spatial spillover effects into the conventional Solow framework, thereby creating a new spatiotemporal econometric Solow residual method (STE-SRM). Utilizing this novel method, the study computes the industrial green TFPs for 280 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2019, recalculates these TFPs using DEA-SBM and Bayesian SFA for the same cities and periods, and assesses the accuracy of the STE-SRM-derived TFPs through comparative analysis. Additionally, the paper explores the statistical properties of China's urban industrial green TFPs as derived from the STE-SRM, employing Dagum's Gini coefficient and spatial convergence analyses. The findings first indicate that by incorporating undesired outputs and spatial spillover into the Solow residual method, green TFPs are computable in alignment with the traditional Solow logic, although the allocation of per capita inputs and undesired outputs hinges on selecting the optimal empirical production function. Second, China's urban industrial green TFPs, calculated using the STE-SRM with the spatial Durbin model with mixed effects as the optimal model, show that cities like Huangshan, Fangchenggang, and Sanya have notably higher TFPs, whereas Jincheng, Datong, and Taiyuan display lower TFPs. Third, comparisons of China's urban industrial green TFP calculations reveal that those derived from the STE-SRM demonstrate broader but more concentrated results, while Bayesian SFA results are narrower and less concentrated, and DEA-SBM findings sit between these extremes. Fourth, the study highlights significant spatial heterogeneity in China's urban industrial green TFPs across different regions—eastern, central, western, and northeast China—with evident sigma convergence across the urban landscape, though absolute beta convergence is significant only in a limited subset of cities and time periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper utilizes an improved undesirable output DEA model to measure the eco-efficiency of cities in five major urban agglomerations in China during 2006–2020. It employs the Theil Index and Geodetector to investigate the spatial-temporal distribution differentiation characteristics and driving factors of urban eco-efficiency. The main findings are as follows. Firstly, the eco-efficiency of all urban agglomerations showed a fluctuating upward trend, but the eco-efficiency performance of different urban agglomerations in China shows a stratification characteristic. Specifically, the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration consistently ranks first in China, while the mean values of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, and Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration are lower than the national average. Secondly, the overall differences in the urban eco-efficiency of all sample cities show a consistently fluctuating downward trend. The factor that affects the level differences of eco-efficiency in different cities is the intra-regional differences. Last but not least, the top three factors affecting the spatial distribution difference of urban eco-efficiency in the whole sample are environmental pollution control investments, innovation level, and environmental infrastructure investments. In the end, this paper proposes that reducing the intra-regional differences is the primary task to achieve the coordinated improvement of urban eco-efficiency in urban agglomerations, and then puts forward some policy suggestions to improve eco-efficiency for the five major urban agglomerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regional networking strategy is widely implemented in China as a normative policy aimed at fostering cohesion and enhancing competitiveness. However, the empirical basis for this strategy remains relatively weak due to limitations in measurement methods and data availability. This paper establishes the urban networks by the enterprise investment data, and then accurately measures the network's external effects of each city by the method of MGWR model. The results show that: (1) Regional networking plays a significant role in urban development, although it is not the dominant factor. (2) The benefits of network connections may vary depending on the location and level of cities. (3) The major cities assume a pivotal role in the urban network. Based upon the aforementioned research conclusions, this paper presents strategic measures to enhance the network's external impacts, aiming to offer insights for other regions in formulating regional development strategies and establishing regional urban networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sunken green space is one of the urban rainwater collection facilities, which belongs to Low Impact Development (LID) techniques. It plays a key role in the construction of sponge city, and the amount of runoff collection is usually affected by the area of the sunken green space, the infiltration rate of the soil, and the annual runoff collection rate. To determine the minimum soil infiltration rate of sunken green space considering the annual runoff collection ratio of sponge cities, this paper selects a residential district in Hefei city, China, as the case study. Based on 45 years of precipitation data, the designed rainfall corresponding to annual runoff collection ratios of 75%, 80% and 85% is 21.3 mm, 23.4 mm and 27.5 mm, respectively. The characteristics of rainfall infiltration in sunken green space are analyzed by using the water balance model and runoff yield and conflux model. The results reveal that the soil infiltration rate is 1.16×10−4 cm/s~3.88×10−3 cm/s when the sunken depth is 0.1 m~0.3 m and that the ratio of green space area is 5%~25%. The runoff collection of the reconstructed sunken green space is 2.87 times and 1.98 times that of the nonsunken green space and the nonreconstructed sunken green space, respectively. That is to say, under the comprehensive performance of the sunken depth, sunken green space area, the steady soil infiltration rater of the reconstructed sunken green space cannot be less than the value obtained in this paper. Otherwise, the requirements of annual total runoff reduction ratio of the sponge city cannot be met. Therefore, this study provides references for realizing the ratio of annual runoff collection and sponge city construction in similar urban areas. It can also be applied to optimal selection of sunken green space in some sponge city projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the digital revolution deepens, the digital economy (DE) is reshaping the global industrial structure (IS). This paper utilizes data from 280 Chinese cities between 2007 and 2020 to conduct an in-depth analysis of how DE propels the upgrading of IS and explores the role of human capital (HC) in this process. The research indicates that DE significantly fosters the optimization of IS. Additionally, it was discovered that the growth of HC plays a pivotal mediating role in this evolution, complementing existing research on the relationship between higher education and industrial upgrading. By adopting spatial econometric methods, this study unveils the spillover effects of DE in geographical space, identifying a positive influence on the industrial upgrading of surrounding regions. The paper also confirms the nonlinear characteristics of DE's impact on IS upgrading, which manifests as a pronounced inverted U-shaped trend, marking a novel discovery. Further findings suggest that in regions with more advanced artificial intelligence technologies, the impact of DE on industrial optimization is more significant, highlighting the role of regional disparities in the digital transformation. In conclusion, the paper proposes policy recommendations based on the research findings to facilitate the development of DE and the elevation of IS levels, thereby promoting high-quality economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing uncertainty of urban security, urban resilience construction with risk awareness and bottom-line thinking has become essential for promoting sustainable urban development. This paper measures China's urban resilience development index (CRDI) based on 284 cities in China (except Tibet) using the entropy method from four dimensions: economic, social, environmental, and infrastructure, and analyzes it by combining coupling coordination degree and barrier factor analysis. We find that: (1) At the national level, CRDI and its sub-dimensions show an increasing trend in time, a decreasing spatial layout from coastal to inland, and a "high-high-low-low" clustering feature in space. (2) At the regional level, the CRDI is from high to low in the east, middle, and west order. The sub-dimensions are from high to low in the order of east, middle, and west for economic, social, and infrastructure resilience and from high to low in the order of east, west, and middle for environmental resilience. (3) To coupling coordination degree, the CRDI index coupling coordination is increasing in time trend but is still on the verge of dissonance. (4) Social resilience is the main obstacle factor. In the indicator layer, human resources, innovation, education, security, living, and environmental protection are the areas where CRDI coordinated development is the key to improvement. Based on the above empirical evidence, this paper proposes countermeasures to optimize urban resilience construction from four perspectives: economic, social, environmental, and infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new evidence on knowledge flows in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China, involving 43 cities (districts) in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, based on the invention patent transfer data from the State Intellectual Property Office of China. First, the characteristics of technology flows in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region are analyzed in terms of changes in the number of flows, types of flowing subjects and spatial distribution characteristics. Then, a multi-level patent technology flow network in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was constructed, and the structural characteristics and node characteristics of each level network were explored separately. The key findings of the study are as follows. (1) The number of patented technology flows has been growing over time, showing obvious phase characteristics during the study period. As a whole, the intra-city (district) technology flow in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is higher than the inter-city (district). (2) The multi-level patent technology flow network in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region shows dynamic characteristics, with more and more mobile subjects participating in the patent technology flow network, some network nodes becoming closer to each other, and the trend of small group technology flow increasing significantly. (3) Enterprises are the core hub of the patent technology flow network in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Individual invention patent technology transfer also occupies a high proportion and the participation of universities and colleges in the patent technology flow network in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is gradually increasing. (4) Over time, the flow of patent technology in the 43 cities (districts) in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has gradually become active and no longer relies excessively on a particular city (district) for patent technology transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a new business model, E-commerce brings new changes to the global economy and society. So, can E-commerce development policies promote high-quality agricultural development? This article regards the pilot construction of national e-commerce demonstration cities as a quasi-natural experiment for the development of e-commerce. Based on the E-commerce pilot and economic and social development data of national prefecture-level cities from 2004 to 2018, the agricultural total factor productivity calculated by the Fare-Primont index method is used as the characterization of the quality of urban agricultural development, and an empirical model is constructed under the progressive Differences-in-Differences framework. This paper empirically tests the overall impact of E-commerce development on the high-quality development of agriculture and its sources, analyzes the heterogeneity and dynamics of the impact, and investigates the possible impact mechanism. The result shows that from the overall impact and its sources, the development of E-commerce in cities has a positive impact on the high-quality development of agriculture, and the impact is mainly due to its role in promoting technological innovation and economies of scale. From the perspective of heterogeneity, the larger the population size of a city, the more significant the level of e-conomic development or Internet development. From the perspective of the dynamic impact, the positive impact of e-commerce development becomes more significant over time. With the passage of time, the impact of E-commerce on high-quality agricultural development policies shows a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. Overall, this study provides empirical evidence for the rationality and effectiveness of policies and measures related to E-commerce to promote the high-quality development of agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental public interest litigation (EPIL) is a significant part of the judicial system; it is aimed at strengthening judicial protections and safeguarding public interests. Based on the quasi-natural experimental setting of China's EPIL pilot project, this study examines the impact of EPIL on the country's urban land green use efficiency (ULGUE). The findings show that effectively implementing EPIL enhances ULGUE. Specifically, this policy has led to a 6.6% increase in ULGUE in pilot cities, and its impact has grown stronger over time. Mechanism analysis results show that EPIL mainly enhances ULGUE by strengthening environmental supervision and law enforcement, by increasing public participation in environmental governance, and by promoting green innovation and industrial structure upgrades. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis revealed that the positive effects of this policy implementation are more pronounced in resource-based cities, cities with open environmental information, and cities with high marketization. This paper provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of environmental governance via EPIL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource-based regions support national economic development and are essential sources of basic energy and raw materials. In the post-pandemic era, however, there are practical situations to deal with, such as a fractured industrial chain, a weaker industrial structure, and a sharp reduction in economic benefits. Based on data collected from 68 cities in China, from 2010 to 2021, with 816 observations, this paper explores the industrial development process of resource-based regions in China and the change in the toughness of the industrial structure under the impact of COVID-19. The paper studies and analyzes industrial development trends, industrial structure toughness, and spatial spillover effects. The methods used are the Markov chain model and the Industrial Structure Advancement Index. By building the spatial Dubin model, the paper analyzes the spatial spillover effect of regional industrial development. It decomposes the spillover effect using the partial differential model based on regression. The results show that, during the study period, the comprehensive development level of industries in resource-based regions in China was slowly improving and tended to stabilize after entering the post-pandemic era. The evolution of an advanced industrial structure is significantly heterogeneous among regions, and each region has different toughness. The impact of COVID-19 has reduced the toughness of China's resource-based regions' industrial structure. The spatial spillover effect of regional industrial development is significant. Labor force, technology input, and industrial-structure optimization have different impacts on the industrial development of neighboring regions. In the post-pandemic era, China has used new management methods for more innovation. In order to achieve low-carbon, environmental protection, and sustainable development of resources, realize the rapid recovery of the toughness of industrial structure in China's resource-based cities, and reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, China proposes to expand the supply of resources, improve the allocation of resources, optimize the direction, promote the rational flow and efficient aggregation of various factors, and enhance the impetus for innovation and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of whether China can become a creative nation has been a topic of much debate in academic circles. The Chinese government has expressed its belief that China can develop a unique form of creativity to move the country from the periphery to the center of the global creative ecosystem. This perspective has led to a series of state-led trials and experiments, including the adoption of cultural and creative industries, creative clusters and cities, and the recent maker movement. This paper utilizes the center-periphery theory to analyze the emergence, development, and evolution of China's maker movement, aiming to revisit the creativity issues in contemporary China. Based on three years of ethnographic research, the paper unpacks the maker movement at three interrelated levels: individual, organizational, and urban. Empirical data indicates that the transformation of China's maker movement is characterized by commodification, formalization, and infrastructuralization processes. The tension between growth and development, and stability and control has turned the once grassroots maker movement into a contested creative hybrid. This paper challenges the conventional view that China is resistant to change and incapable of creativity due to institutional and ideological influences. It demonstrates how an alternative mode of creativity can emerge outside global creative centers and proposes a new perspective on China's potential to become a creative nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of the political hierarchies of cities in China from different perspectives. First, we examine the economic disparities between prefectural cities and municipalities. Furthermore, this paper draws upon a quasi‐ experiment to analyze the impact of upgrading Chongqing to a municipality in 1997 using the synthetic control method. The city‐upgrading policy significantly increased Chongqing's gross domestic product (GDP) in the following 4 years. Finally, we find that the policy increased GDP in treated cities within 1200 km of Chongqing by about 10%–13% relative to the control cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attainment of regional high-quality development necessitates the critical role of the digital economy in facilitating the transformation of industrial structures. This study intends to investigate the effect of the digital economy on industrial structure transformation from the perspective of innovation factor allocation using a panel dataset of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta region for the period from 2011 to 2020. This paper considers four dimensions to measure the level of industrial structure transformation i.e. industrial structure servitization, industrial structure upgradation, service industry structure upgradation and industrial interaction level. The results of the study suggest that the digital economy can significantly improve industrial structure transformation. The results remain consistent even after several robustness checks. Further, the analysis of the mechanism of action shows that the digital economy can promote industrial structure transformation by optimizing the innovation factor allocation. The study provides several policy implications for the digital economy and its role in the promotion of industrial structure transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of global urban development, there are urgent ecological security and environmental pollution problems, green development is the fundamental way for urban sustainable development, economic transformation and mitigation of ecological and environmental problems. Based on the panel data of 283 cities at prefecture level and above in China from 2003 to 2017, this paper analyzes spatial–temporal evolution characteristics of urban green development efficiency (UGDE) and the peer effects of UGDE between cities of different grades. It is found that during the study period, in terms of temporal evolution, the average UGDE in China increased from 0.47 in 2003 to 0.61 in 2017, with a cumulative growth rate of 29.79%, showing a rising trend in general. In terms of spatial evolution, the number of low-efficiency cities and medium-efficiency cities continued to decrease. The eastern region has always been the main distribution area of higher-efficiency cities and high-efficiency cities; in the central region, UGDE in most cities improved significantly; in the western region, UGDE has always lagged behind that in the eastern and central regions. In addition, the center of gravity of UGDE presented a trend of northwest migration in general, with a total displacement of 100.07 km, and UGDE showed a spatial dispersion trend. The empirical results indicate that the improvement of UGDE in large cities has a driving effect on that in neighboring medium cities and small cities through the positive peer effect, and the growth of UGDE in medium cities has a promoting effect on that in neighboring small cities through the positive peer effect; the increase of UGDE in medium cities has a positive peer effect on that in neighboring large cities, and the growth of UGDE in small cities has a positive peer effect on that in neighboring medium cities; UGDE promotes each other between large cities through the positive peer effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the 2015 China Household Financial Survey (CHFS) this paper examines the effect of culture on the gender gap in financial literacy. We exploit geographical differences in culture in China, comparing outcomes between rural and urban areas and between areas in the east and west (Shanghai and Chongqing). Using the Blinder‐Oaxaca decomposition we show that, nationally, the gender gap in financial literacy is entirely the product of differences in the way men and women acquire financial literacy. It is a result consistent with cultural effects. When considering just women in Shanghai and Chongqing we observe a raw financial literacy differential of 13% (favoring Shanghai). This gap is also the product of differences in the way financial literacy is acquired. It provides additional evidence as to the importance of culture when it comes to understanding financial literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading with the principle of 'people-oriented urbanization,' the adaptation of rural migrants in urban China has attracted increasing concerns from policy-makers and scholars. Today, China has proceeded to a new stage of urbanization. Many rural migrants prefer moving to cities near their home villages rather than to large cities, reflecting the changes in migration patterns and expectations of rural migrants. Although migrant adaptation has been repeatedly investigated in academia, researchers tend to address the topic in one host setting, while migrant adaptation in diverse urban settings has rarely been compared. This paper seeks to fill this research gap via a survey conducted in two cities with different urban settings in Jiangsu. The rural migrant adaptation experiences in the two cities are systematically compared. Our statistical results show that economic structure and living costs, on the one hand, and local regulations and socio-cultural environments, on the other hand, determine rural migrant adaptation experiences in different urban settings. Despite abundant employment opportunities in more-developed cities, the high living costs, working pressure, and strict institutional schemes significantly hamper rural migrant adaptation. In less-developed cities, limited employment opportunities and conservative socio-cultural environments hinder rural migrants from adapting in host societies. Our findings suggest that the governments of different cities need to tailor strategies to assist rural migrants in adapting in urban communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Judicial improvement and trade structure optimization are important elements in achieving a high level of openness. This paper develops a theoretical framework on the impact of local protectionism on market integration and export technical complexity, and then empirically analyses the effect of judicial improvement on the technical complexity of urban product exports and its mechanism of action based on a quasi-natural experiment with the establishment of circuit courts. The study finds that the establishment of circuit courts significantly increases the technical complexity of product exports, and the findings remain valid after a series of robustness tests. Further analysis shows that the technology enhancement effect of the establishment of circuit courts is more pronounced in the group of cities with higher administrative levels, better location advantages, and less advanced rule of law. Mechanism Analysis shows that a superior institutional environment can have a two-sided effect on different types of firms. Overall, however, the productivity-enhancing effect of low-productivity firms exiting the market is lower than the productivity-reducing effect of higher-productivity firms' increased compliance costs, which in turn weakens the positive promotional effect of circuit courts. The above theoretical and empirical findings provide policy implications for maximizing the technology enhancement effect of the establishment of circuit courts on product exports, thereby promoting a high level of openness in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the intensification of global economic competition, innovation has become one of the core elements of vigorous development in various regions. Improving the innovation ability of cross-regional central cities is the main factor influencing whether a region can achieve economic and social development. In this paper, an innovation primacy index system is designed according to the links of the innovation value chain, and the innovation advantages and empirical effects are comprehensively analyzed by using the point-to-point method, entropy weight method, gravity model and two-way fixed effect model. Based on the data of 8 cities in the core area of the Huaihai Economic Zone from 2010 to 2020 in China, Xuzhou's innovation primacy ranks first in the core area of the Huaihai Economic Zone, which accords with its status as the central city of the region. Its index has been rising, and its development trend is also good. However, the overall innovation ability of the core area of the Huaihai Economic Zone is unbalanced; the overall economic foundation is not solid enough. In terms of knowledge innovation, R&D innovation and industrial innovation, the industrialization level, around the activation of Xuzhou city vitality, enhances the Xuzhou innovation radiation drive, leading to a decrease in the Huaihai Economic Zone. Finally, some corresponding suggestions on innovation primacy have been proposed for the city of the Huaihai Economic Zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the influence of development strategies with regard to national fitness and health in China, the interactive development between national fitness and national health is becoming increasingly strong. To explore the coupling and coordination relationship between national fitness and national health, this paper conducts an empirical analysis of the coupling and coordination relationship between national fitness and national health in 11 provinces and cities in Eastern China using the entropy weight method, a coupling coordination model, spatial visualization of the coupling coordination degree and spatial autocorrelation analysis. The research confirms that the comprehensive development level of national fitness and national health in Eastern China shows a steady upward trend, with a lag in national fitness as a whole, and that the growth rate of national fitness development is faster than that of national health development. The coupling coordination degree of the two systems of national fitness and national health in Eastern China shows a slow upward trend, and the coupling coordination degree rises from barely coordinated to primary coordination. There are significant differences in the spatial pattern of coupling coordination: the spatial pattern from north to south generally shows 'low-high-high-low-high-low' characteristics, and the spatial spillover effect of coupling coordination in various regions has not yet appeared. The revised GM(1.1) prediction results indicate that the level and improvement rate of coupling coordination will accelerate significantly in the next 10 years, but the spatial differences will still exist. Finally, suggestions are proposed to optimize the coupling and coordinated development of national fitness and national health based on policy guarantees as well as strengthening and cross-regional cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital economy provides a new path to promote industrial structure upgrading. Using panel data from 2011 to 2020 for 85 resource-based cities in China, this paper empirically investigates the impact of the digital economy on industrial structure upgrading and the primary mechanism. The results show that the digital economy is conducive to promoting industrial structure upgrading in resource-based cities, and innovation is the primary mechanism of action. According to the different stages of resource development, we classify resource-based cities into growth, maturity, decline, and regeneration cities, and we further analyze the heterogeneous influence. In terms of influence degree, the digital economy has a more prominent role in promoting industrial structure upgrading in resource-exhausted cities. In addition, we also found that the closer to the provincial capital city, the more pronounced the promotion of the digital economy to the industrial structure upgrading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper methodically investigates the influence of inclusive income growth on city size, examining it through the dual lenses of "income" and "distribution." The analysis leverages meticulously collected panel data encompassing 276 Chinese cities at the prefecture level and above, spanning the period from 2005 to 2019. Theoretical analysis indicates that the effect of city size expansion on per capita income adheres to a 'U'-shaped trajectory, while its influence on the urban-rural income gap manifests an 'inverted U' pattern. Moreover, the inclusive income growth stemming from city size demonstrates notable heterogeneity across various geographic locations and city hierarchies. The findings reveal that human capital serves as the primary mechanism through which city size influences inclusive income growth. After decomposing the income inclusiveness index, it becomes evident that the expansion of city size exerts a more potent direct driving effect on the income of urban residents. On the one hand, city size expansion directly increases rural residents' income levels by improving labor productivity. On the other hand, it facilitates leapfrog income development by inducing the rural labor force to move to cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-wheeled non-motorized vehicles (TNVs) have become the primary mode of transportation for short-distance travel among residents in many underdeveloped cities in China due to their convenience and low cost. However, this trend also brings corresponding risks of traffic accidents. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the driving behavior characteristics of TNVs through their trajectory data in order to provide guidance for traffic safety. Nevertheless, the compact size, agile steering, and high maneuverability of these TNVs pose substantial challenges in acquiring high-precision trajectories. These characteristics complicate the tracking and analysis processes essential for understanding their movement patterns. To tackle this challenge, we propose an enhanced You Only Look Once Version X (YOLOx) model, which incorporates a median pooling-Convolutional Block Attention Mechanism (M-CBAM). This model is specifically designed for the detection of TNVs, and aims to improve accuracy and efficiency in trajectory tracking. Furthermore, based on this enhanced YOLOx model, we have developed a micro-trajectory data mining framework specifically for TNVs. Initially, the paper establishes an aerial dataset dedicated to the detection of TNVs, which then serves as a foundational resource for training the detection model. Subsequently, an augmentation of the Convolutional Block Attention Mechanism (CBAM) is introduced, integrating median pooling to amplify the model's feature extraction capabilities. Subsequently, additional detection heads are integrated into the YOLOx model to elevate the detection rate of small-scale targets, particularly focusing on TNVs. Concurrently, the Deep Sort algorithm is utilized for the precise tracking of vehicle targets. The process culminates with the reconstruction of trajectories, which is achieved through a combination of video stabilization, coordinate mapping, and filtering denoising techniques. The experimental results derived from our self-constructed dataset reveal that the enhanced YOLOx model demonstrates superior detection performance in comparison to other analogous methods. The comprehensive framework accomplishes an average trajectory recall rate of 85% across three test videos. This significant achievement provides a reliable method for data acquisition, which is essential for investigating the micro-level operational mechanisms of TNVs. The results of this study can further contribute to the understanding and improvement of traffic safety on mixed-use roads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution has become a pressing global issue, severely threatening human health and ecosystems. As an emerging driver of economic development in countries worldwide, the digital economy (DE) has the potential to enhance resource utilization efficiency and promote the development of clean technologies, thereby reducing environmental pollution. Based on the panel data of 267 cities in China from 2012 to 2021, the spatial econometric model is used to test the impact of DE on environmental pollution. The mediating effect model is used to explore the transmission mechanism of DE affecting environmental pollution. The panel threshold model is used to examine the threshold effect of marketization. The results are as follows: (1) DE can significantly reduce environmental pollution. The conclusion is still valid after conducting robustness tests such as selecting historical data as instrumental variables and the "Broadband China" pilot as a quasi-natural experiment. (2) From the perspective of transmission mechanism, DE can reduce environmental pollution through green technology innovation and industrial structure upgrading. (3) From the perspective of spatial spillover effect, DE can reduce the environmental pollution level of surrounding cities. (4) From the perspective of threshold effect, DE has obvious market-oriented single threshold effect on environmental pollution. When the marketization level crosses the threshold of 11.6611, the emission reduction effect of DE is significant. (5) From the perspective of heterogeneity, DE has a heterogeneous impact on environmental pollution in cities with different geographic locations, resource endowments and administrative level. Regarding geographical heterogeneity, DE can effectively reduce environmental pollution in eastern and central regions, but has no significant impact on environmental pollution in western regions. Regarding the heterogeneity of resource endowment, compared to non-resource-based cities, resource-based cities suffer more from the negative effects of DE on their environment. Regarding the heterogeneity of administrative levels, compared with non-central cities, the DE of central cities has a greater emission reduction effect. Based on empirical results, this paper proposes strategic recommendations in areas such as enhancing the application of DE in emission reduction, upgrading industrial structures, promoting green technology innovation, and improving the level of marketization. This study not only enriches the research of DE and environmental pollution, but also provides a reference for the formulation of environmental pollution control policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to evaluate the effect of market-oriented environmental management measures on regional carbon emission intensity in the pilot areas better, this paper adopts a quasinatural experiment of energy-use rights trading (EURT) policy by using the difference-in-difference method from the perspective of cities in China from 2006 to 2019. The results show that the policy of EURT can significantly reduce regional carbon emission intensity, which varies in different regions and different scales of cities. The main goal of implementing the policy is to reduce regional carbon emission intensity by improving the energy consumption structure and promoting the improvement of industrial structure and green innovation. In addition, the spatial impact of the EURT pilot project is demonstrated by its ability to not only reduce local carbon emission intensity but also decrease carbon intensity in and around the designated areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential mobility serves as a pivotal determinant in reshaping urban social spaces and driving spatial differentiation and segregation within cities. This study harnesses a rich dataset from surveys and the housing market in Nanjing, China to dissect the spatial distribution patterns of its mobile population. Employing the Mantel Test—a novel approach in this context—we assess the interplay between spatial shifts in residential locations and the socio-demographic attributes of individuals, thereby shedding light on the socio-spatial dynamics across various migration categories. Our findings underscore a pronounced trend in the post-2000 era of China's housing marketization: residential migrations occur predominantly within a five-year cycle. The decay in migration distances aligns with the migration field formula, suggesting a systematic attenuation of mobility over spatial extents. The study identifies a strong congruence between the mobility rings—zones of frequent residential movement—and the micro-level characteristics of residents, reflecting the nuanced fabric of urban stratification. Furthermore, we unveil how macro-level institutional frameworks and the housing market milieu substantially shape and limit the migration frequency, hinting at the overarching impact of policy and economic landscapes on residential mobility patterns. The paper culminates by articulating the underlying dynamics of urban residential migration, providing a comprehensive account that contributes to the discourse on sustainable urban development and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the domain of global socio-economic dynamics, the pivotal role of food production (FP) cannot be overstated. It constitutes the bedrock of fundamental human necessities while being inexorably linked with critical aspects such as economic expansion, societal equilibrium, and geopolitical interplays. The multifaceted nature of FP appears through its direct impact on macroeconomic indicators and its latent influence on international relations and policy-making. This critical nexus underscores the imperative for a comprehensive understanding and strategic management of food production processes to sustain and enhance global socio-economic stability and growth. Investigating the nexus between green finance (GF) and FP is pivotal for ensuring national security and promoting sustainable economic development. This research thus paper examines GF's impact on FP in China as outlined in the 2017 green finance policies. It employs the difference-in-differences (DID) method and analyzes a balanced panel dataset comprising 282 cities in China from 2009 to 2020. The results show that GF has an inhibitory effect on FP, and this remains valid after a range of reliability checks, including parallel trend assessments and placebo tests. Further findings of transmission mechanism analysis indicate that non-agricultural factors and financial exclusion are critical for GF's inhibitory effect on FP. Heterogeneity analyses show that GF's inhibitory effect on FP is more pronounced in the main food-producing areas, the main food-marketing areas, and cities with better infrastructure. The empirical results of this paper comprehensively illustrate GF's impact on FP and how it contributes to the achievement of food security objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Measure carbon emission inequalities (CEIs) of urban agglomerations under rapid urbanization. • Identify the key factors determining CEIs within the three urban agglomerations. • Account for the differences between adjacent or distant urban agglomerations. • The declining CEI is mainly due to changes in industrial structure and economic development. • CEI in the upper reaches of the YREB increases due to the changes in energy intensity. Increasing countries are articulating ambitious goals of carbon neutrality. However, large inequalities in regional emissions within a country may hinder progress toward a carbon–neutral future, as the unequal distribution of reduction responsibilities among regions could impair just transition and exacerbate uneven development, which necessitates an in-depth understanding of the mechanism of multi-scale carbon inequalities within country, region, and city. Yet, the evolution of carbon inequalities within urban agglomerations and the differences between adjacent or distant urban agglomerations have not been well understood, especially in countries undergoing rapid urbanization. Using the data of 89 cities in China's Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) during 2006–2021, this paper quantifies carbon emissions inequality (CEI) at different scales in a systematic regional-urban agglomeration-city hierarchical structure. Then, under the integrated mean logarithmic deviation-logarithmic mean Divisia index (MLD-LMDI) decomposition framework, multi-scale CEIs are perfectly decomposed into six interrelated drivers, i.e., industrial emission structure, energy emission intensity, industrial energy mix, energy intensity, industrial structure, and economic development. The results show that economic development, energy intensity, and industrial energy mix disparities are the main determinants accounting for CEIs at different scales. The decreasing CEI in YREB is mainly due to the changes in industrial structure and economic development, while the energy intensity effect partially hinders the mitigation of CEI. In the upper reaches of the YREB, the energy intensity effect accounts for over 94% growth of CEI during 2006–2021, while the decline in CEIs in middle and lower reaches is primarily caused by the effects of industrial energy mix and industrial structure, respectively. Further spatial decomposition analysis reveals more refined city-level heterogeneous effects and emphasizes the prioritized emission reduction direction for each city. This paper offers implications for reducing carbon inequality and insights into coordinated carbon emissions mitigation at the regional level for a carbon–neutral future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience is an important aim of climate adaptation in urban development planning. Since 2015, sponge city (SC) pilot construction in China has highlighted the importance of urban water systems, but has paid insufficient attention to extreme and long-term climate change risks. This paper aims to provide a new method for evaluating the urban water system climate resilience (UWSCR), classify China cities in combination with climate hazards, conduct case studies on SC pilots, and propose ways to improve the UWSCR in SCs. Firstly, Taking heavy rain and drought as hazards, an evaluation index system of UWSCR is established, including engineering resilience (ENR), ecological resilience (ECR) and evolutionary resilience (EVR). A combination model based on the analytic hierarchy process and entropy weight method is used to measure the UWSCR of 27 SC pilot cities and 253 non-pilot cities at or above the prefecture level in China. Secondly, coordinating hazard index and UWSCR index, cities are divided into four types. The results show that the ENR and EVR of SC pilots exhibited an increasing trend from 2010 to 2020 and were greater than those of non-pilots. Among the four types, Resilient Cities and Low Risk Cities with high climate resilience (CR) were mainly distributed in the eastern and central regions of China. High Risk Cities and Vulnerable Cities with low CR were mostly distributed in the central and western regions. Among the cities of high CR, SC pilots accounted for 63.0% of the pilot samples, while non-pilots only accounted for 26.5% of the non-pilot samples. Finally, this paper analyzes the typical cases of SC pilots, and puts forward some suggestions, such as considering the UWSCR systematically and holistically, improving the ECR of UWSCR, making medium-term to long-term adaptation planning and providing differentiated policy support. The originality of this work is to identify four types of cities from the perspective of UWSCR and provide reference for improving the CR of SCs. [Display omitted] • Against climate change, security risks of urban water systems have intensified. • Sponge city pilot projects in China highlighted the importance of urban water system. • The climate resilience of urban water system in China was evaluated and classified. • The proportion of high-resilience cities in the sponge city pilot sample is high. • The evaluation of urban water system climate resilience can guide sponge city constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental protection and sustainable development are now profoundly ingrained in the public consciousness in the modern era of the global green revolution. First, this paper uses an evolutionary game model to theoretically analyse the impact of environmental regulation and green finance on enterprises by dissecting the game behaviour between local governments, banks and enterprises. Then, we incorporate entrepreneurial spirit into the model to determine whether entrepreneurial spirit accelerates the achievement of green sustainability objectives. Environmental regulation and green finance are found to contribute substantially to the innovation of green technologies by local enterprises, while entrepreneurial spirit accelerates this process. Finally, we empirically test the findings based on a prefecture-level panel dataset from 2007 to 2020. We find that green finance has a positive impact in Central and Western cities of China, while Eastern cities are in greater need for government environmental regulation controls. For entrepreneurial spirit, the incentive effect of entrepreneurial spirit on the level of green technology innovation is more significant in Central and Western regions of China. This paper enriches the field of research on entrepreneurial spirit and regional green sustainable development by providing empirical evidence for the evaluation of environmental regulatory and green financing policy impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High carbon emissions and population aging are two obstacles to China's development as an emerging economy. It is urgent to scientifically examine the impacts of population aging on carbon emissions to discover new pathways for urban carbon emission reduction. However, existing studies face challenges in terms of focusing on and methodology for accurately capturing the role of industrial production and energy consumption in the environmental effects of population aging. This paper constructs a chain mediation analytical framework and systematically examines the intrinsic linkages between population aging and carbon emissions in Chinese cities from 2000 to 2020 using a two-way fixed effects model. This paper has three main findings. (1) The positive correlation between urban population aging and carbon emissions development is generally low, with coupling coordination degree values of 0.4233, 0.4458, 0.4220, 0.4715, and 0.4665 for each yearly cross-section. (2) For every 1% increase in the population aging rate, carbon emissions decrease by 0.3478% on average. The carbon reduction effect of population aging is significantly greater in low-emissions cities and high-income cities than in other cities. (3) The industrial upgrading (IU) path, energy conservation (EC) path and chain mediation (CM) path account for 72.43%, 7.23% and 20.34%, respectively, of the indirect effects. If the causal link between IU and EC is not considered, the EC effect will be overestimated by 281.16%. The results of the study suggest that properly coping with population aging and reducing carbon emissions are not completely opposed to each other, a conclusion that passes both endogeneity exclusion and robustness check. This paper advocates replacing the one-size-fits-all approach in carbon emissions management and investing more in policy preferences to support carbon emission reduction in both high-emissions and low-income cities. [Display omitted] •The synergistic trends of carbon emissions and population aging are not apparent. •Population aging significantly reduces carbon emissions at the city scale. •Linkage effect of industrial upgrading and energy conservation on carbon emission reduction. •Energy conservation effect of population aging amplified by industrial upgrading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing the green economy efficiency (GEE) is crucial for building a sustainable economy. How can the rapidly advancing digital transformation contribute to this process? The paper empirically examines the direct and spatial spillover effects of digital transformation on cities' GEE in China. This study utilizes the National E-commerce Pilot City (NEPC) policy as a quasi-natural experiment of regional digital transformation and employs the staggered difference-in-differences (DID) method with heterogeneous effects. The findings reveal that (i) implementing the NEPC policy significantly increases urban GEE by 2.6%, corresponding to a 16% increase in the mean of GEE. This effect is particularly pronounced in non-resource-based cities and cities with high Internet penetration. (ii) The mechanism test shows that the pilot policy positively affects GEE by promoting green structural transformation, enhancing green innovation, and strengthening public environmental concerns. (iii) The study highlights a positive spatial spillover effect of the NEPC policy on the GEE of nonpilot cities. (iv) The adoption of the NEPC plays a pivotal role in advancing energy use and carbon emission efficiency. This paper expands the existing knowledge on the green development effects of the digital economy while offering valuable policy insights for building an "Inclusive Green Economy". [Display omitted] • The staggered differences-in-differences method is employed to examine the direct and spatial spillover effects of NEPC on cities' GEE in China. • This paper uses NEPC as a quasi-experiment for digital transformation. • NEPC significantly improves green economic efficiency by 2.6%. • Green structural transformation, innovation, and environmental concerns are main channels. • Positive spillover effect of NEPC on green economy efficiency in non-pilot cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study delves into the nexus between the efficiency of carbon emission allocation and the efficiency of green development within the context of innovative city construction. Leveraging data from 283 prefecture-level cities and corresponding provincial-level panel data spanning the period from 2005 to 2019 in mainland China, the research employs the zero-sum gain DEA model to compute provincial carbon emission allocation efficiency and allocate allowances. Furthermore, it utilizes the all-factor non-radial directional distance function and the SBM-DEA model to gauge the green development efficiency of prefecture-level cities. The double-difference method is applied to evaluate the impact of innovative city construction on regional green development efficiency. The results indicate that an imbalance between carbon emission allocation efficiency and emission quotas detrimentally affects urban green development. However, technological progress, factor accumulation, and the institutional environment associated with innovative city building mitigate this negative impact. Heterogeneity analysis reveals a differentiated effect of innovative city building on regional green development efficiency. This paper not only explores the concept of achieving an equitable distribution of carbon emission allowances but also examines how innovative city building influences regional green development. By establishing connections between urban policies, the equitable distribution of carbon emission allowances, and regional green development, it introduces a new perspective for promoting high-quality development at the regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of new-type infrastructure plays a crucial role in driving low-carbon economic development in China and worldwide. This work employs fixed-effects model, mediated-effects model, spatial Durbin model, and meta-analysis to thoroughly examine the influence of new-type infrastructure on total factor carbon productivity using panel data of 274 Chinese cities spanning from 2011 to 2021. The findings indicate that: firstly, new-type infrastructure has a notable and beneficial impact on total factor carbon productivity, but there is heterogeneity in resource endowment, city scale, and policy intensity. New-type infrastructure can only promote total factor carbon productivity enhancement in non-resource cities and large cities. Under the influence of smart city policies, new-type infrastructure has a stronger effect on total factor carbon productivity enhancement. Secondly, digital finance and marketization are important ways for new-type infrastructure to improve total factor carbon productivity. Thirdly, via spatial spillover effect, new-type infrastructure may boost total factor carbon productivity not only in the local region but also in places that are spatially connected. Accordingly, this paper offers policy recommendations for the government to encourage the investment and development of new-type infrastructure to support total factor carbon productivity growth. • Increasing total factor carbon productivity can achieve a balance between "carbon reduction" and "economic growth". • In the digital age, the construction of new-type infrastructure is crucial. • Quantitative indicators at the city level can provide a more detailed study of issues. • There are direct, indirect and spatial effects of new-type infrastructure on total factor carbon productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban competitiveness (UC) evaluation system is multidimensional and complex. This paper takes the simulated annealing (SA) model as the projection pursuit (PP) optimization to achieve a comprehensive assessment of competitiveness of 277 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2019, accompanied by energy saving and carbon-emission reduction (ESCER) as environmental measurements, to explore whether the two can meet the Porter hypothesis through coupling coordination degree (CCD). Further using spatiotemporal autocorrelation and obstacle degree model to uncover spatiotemporal features and interfering factors of coordinated development. Key findings include: (1) UC and ESCER show a slightly fluctuating upward trend during the research period, with apparent spatial variations. The eastern coastal region has a robust UC, while the less competitive central and western regions benefit from natural conditions, excelling in ESCER. (2) 87% of cities have achieved coordinated development between competitiveness and ESCER. Some coastal areas, often with a high CCD, are improving resource use efficiency and environmental benefits through economic agglomeration. From the perspective of the CCD collaboration network, the positive correlation accounts for about 85%, which reveals that most adjacent regions can cooperate on the road of coordinated development. (3) While differences exist in the coordinated development of UC-ESCER across various regions, social factors predominantly influence the obstacles affecting coordinated development. Specifically, a substantial barrier to the concordant progression of most cities is the number of patent applications, underscoring the pivotal role of innovation in aligning UC with ESCER. [Display omitted] • Simulated annealing projection pursuit assessed Chinese cities' competitiveness. • There is spatial heterogeneity between UC and ESCER. • 87% of cities achieve harmonious development for UC and ESCER. • Innovation is crucial for urban response to dual challenges of environment and economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution has been one of the biggest environmental challenges for cities in their pursuit of sustainability. The removal of air pollutants usually entails a cost that can negatively impact economic activities. Assessing urban environmental performance can offer valuable insights for cities to balance their economic production and environmental protection. This paper develops a novel approach to measuring environmental performance by using the Euclidean distance function. An appealing feature of this approach is its ability in endogenously allocating the optimization pathway to each emitter, thereby avoiding arbitrary estimation results and distorted managerial implications. We apply this approach to study the environmental performance of Chinese key environmental protection cities. We find the heterogeneity in performance estimates and endogenous optimization pathways. Prioritizing the reduction of a specific type of emissions while simultaneously increasing industrial output value seems to be the most appropriate objective for the majority of cities. Our study can serve as a basis for urban governments to pinpoint the underlying factors contributing to low urban environmental performance and establish diverse objectives for enhancing environmental performance. • Environmental performance index is constructed based on endogenous directions. • A Euclidean distance function is used to identify endogenous directions. • Optimization pathways and environmental performance show heterogeneity among cities. • Mitigating NO x emissions can improve environmental performance significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 can be considered as the largest public health incident since 2019, posing disturbances to the medical, economic, and social systems. Understanding different levels of city resilience to the impact of COVID-19 on sustainable urban development is therefore essential. In this paper, we analyzed the evolution of the pandemic, the recovery of urban activities and major drivers of urban resilience to COVID-19 based on urban activity patterns derived from NO 2 monitoring stations from 217 cities in China. It is observed that nearly all urban activities have been affected by the epidemic with a reduced NO 2 emission, indicating a significant decline in the intensity of urban activity. The recovery patterns of human activity among different cities show that: (1) northern cities where low-resilience cities agglomerated have been severely affected. As of April 31, 2020, 12 northern cities have not recovered to pre-epidemic levels; (2) about three-quarters of the cities went through multiple stages to return to the pre-pandemic level, which related to both pandemic stress and prevention measures; (3) about 46.04% of the cities experienced increasing activity patterns that exceeded the pre-epidemic activity level. It is also observed that urban resilience can behave quite differently driven by variations in green coverage, economic aggregate, employment security, and medical system. Our study highlights the potential of an elevated urban resilience by optimizing the urban layout, improving the quantity and quality of green space, and enhancing the medical system. [Display omitted] • Most of the southern cities of China show higher urban activity than pre-pandemic. • Low/high-resilient urban agglomerations located in the north-northeast/south China. • Most cities undergo two stages of recovery at the beginning and end of March 2020. • Urban greenery is positively correlated to urban resilience. • Hospital capacity, instead of number, is more crucial to urban resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Propose a methodology for measuring of regional synergistic emission reduction. • Regional synergistic emission reduction networks have a multilevel nested structure. • Explained the evolution characteristics of regional synergistic emission reduction. • Identified driving factors of regional synergistic emission reduction networks. Synergistic regional emission reduction (SRER) is an important part of the strategy to achieve carbon neutrality. In this paper, a system efficiency value-added model is proposed to measure the strength of SRER network relationships for 40,186 sets of city pairs and the SRER levels of 284 cities in China from 2011 to 2021. Subsequently, the evolution characteristics of the SRER network, the spatial and temporal characteristics of urban SRER levels, and the driving factors of the SRER network evolution are further analyzed. The results are as follows: SRER network is shifting from a fan-shaped network pattern of "three-region clustering and sporadic coverage" to a shuttle-shaped nested network pattern of "east-west linkage and multi-region support". Time series analysis found that urban SRER level in China showed fluctuating growth characteristics during the study period. Spatial analysis reveals that the spatial autocorrelation of urban SRER level is decreasing, and the spatial distribution range is expanding towards the southwest. Emission reduction comparative advantages (CAER), green innovation division of labor (GIDL) and urban economic linkages (LCEL) are driver factors of SRER network evolution. This study proposes an evaluation method for the urban SRER level from network relationships perspective. Subsequently, network evolution characterization, spatial and temporal characterization, and driving factor analysis were conducted. The results of the study provide important theoretical guidance and inspiration for grasping the current status and enhancement paths of China's urban SRER level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how green fiscal expenditure affects G reen T otal F actor E nergy E fficiency (GTFEE) from both non-spatial and spatial perspectives based on selected panel data of 254 cities in China. The results of the non-spatial panel model indicate that green fiscal expenditure has a significant positive impact on GTFEE. A comparative study of different econometric models shows that the main parts of the results are largely consistent, which indicates that the conclusions are robust. The spatial autocorrelation findings indicate a statistically significant presence of positive spatial spillover effects in the GTFEE of Chinese cities. Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) and Dynamic Spatial Durbin Model (DSDM) indicate that green fiscal expenditure has a similarly significant positive effect on GTFEE, which will increase over time. This paper considers different spatial weight matrices and changing measures to measure GTFEE, and the conclusions remain robust. Furthermore, industrial structure upgrading, and digital economy are vital in strengthening the relationship between local governments' green fiscal expenditure and GTFEE. According to heterogeneity analysis, green fiscal expenditure has a more significant effect on the GTFEE in mature resource-based cities and non-resource-based cities. • Influence factors of green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE) is explored. • Green fiscal expenditure (GFE) has a significant positive impact on GTFEE. • Significant positive spatial spillover effects exist in the GTFEE of Chinese cities. • Industrial structure upgrading and digital economy are vital for GFE and GTFEE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on 196 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2021, this paper constructs a weight matrix of urban economic geography and uses the spatial differential model to verify the impact of smart city policies on urban green energy efficiency. The results show that the efficiency value of green energy fluctuates in Chinese cities. Different test results show that smart city policies can effectively improve urban green energy efficiency, but mainly from the time effect rather than the individual effect. It means the improvement in urban green energy efficiency comes more from the fast-growing of the Chinese economy and urban construction in this period than from the country's smart city pilot policy. In addition, from the spatial spillover effect result, China needs to design a better urban spatial development plan to improve the capacity of smart city energy services and vigorously develop intelligent technology represented by information and communication science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coordination of economic development and ecological conservation has emerged as a global trend for sustainable development. This paper utilizes the "Broadband China" policy as a quasi-natural experiment, employing panel data from 279 prefecture-level cities spanning from 2006 to 2019. By constructing a spatial difference-in-differences (SDID) model, it examines the impact of digital infrastructure (DI) on industrial ecology (IE). The study finds that DI enhances both local and neighboring IE, with a spatial attenuation boundary of 600 km for IE impacts on neighboring cities. DI primarily facilitates the transformation of IE by promoting green technology innovation and expediting factor mobility. Heterogeneity analysis conducted using a spatial difference-in-difference-in-differences (SDDD) model reveals that DI has a greater impact on IE in resource-based cities, highly marketized regions, small-scale cities, and eastern regions. This research provides a novel perspective for exploring the transformation of IE theoretically and offers practical insights for leveraging digitization to promote IE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to evaluate empirically the main implications of digital technology (DT) on carbon emissions (CE). Our sample focuses on 283 cities of China over the period from 2003 to 2019, and the effect of DT on CE is examined with a threshold spatial effect model. Empirical results show that DT has a negative impact on carbon emissions and the transmission mechanism contains both a direct impact on local region and a spillover effect across regions. There is empirical evidence of a threshold effect in the relationship between DT and CE, with stronger carbon reduction effect for DT values larger than the established threshold. Moreover, CE reduction effect of DT appear to be amplified by the level of marketization. Regions with a higher level of marketization thus show a more significant manifestation of CE reduction effect attributed to DT. Our results provide empirical evidence that DT development may contribute to achieving carbon neutrality at least partially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sustainable economy through the rational spatial expansion of coastal areas is an increasingly essential global topic. This paper aims to explore the mechanism by which supporting cities influence the spatial expansion of economic development zones (EDZs) in 264 coastal EDZs of China during 1995–2020. Meanwhile, the effects of variations in the distance between supporting cities and coastal EDZs and different city scales are considered. The results provide new explanations for realizing the sustainable development of the coastal economy by planning EDZs at a suitable location from the supporting city. The supporting cities' economic strength can significantly contribute to the spatial expansion of coastal EDZs. The influence shows a distance decay law when the distance is less than 47.692 km, between 47.692 and 58.039 km, and greater than 58.039 km, with impact coefficients of 0.479, 0.393, and 0.212, respectively. The average spatial scale of coastal EDZs varies in an "inverted U–shape" with increasing distance. The average spatial scale of the urban general radiation type (47.692 km ≤ distance <58.039 km) is the largest. Supporting cities' scale affects the economic radiation range of supporting cities. The results suggest three implications for the future development of coastal EDZs. 1) Building the EDZ while incorporating practical development needs; 2) Scientifically planning the spatial layout of EDZs; 3) The synergistic development of supporting cities, transportation hubs, and EDZs. [Display omitted] • Supporting cities can promote coastal economic development zones' expansion. • The contribution of supporting cities to zone expansion shows a distance decay law. • The average spatial scale of coastal zones shows an "inverted U-shaped" change. • Supporting cities scale affects the economic radiation range by supporting cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address global climate change, achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality has become a global consensus. However, the means to simultaneously achieve carbon reduction and promote green economic development, particularly in developing countries, require further investigation. This study evaluates the impact of e-commerce on CO 2 emissions. Through an examination of the effects of the National E-Commerce Demonstration City (NEDC) policy from 2006 to 2017, this paper reveals that e-commerce growth facilitated by the NEDC policy resulted in a 7.89% reduction in total CO 2 emissions and a per capita reduction of 1.1146 tons in the pilot cities. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that the upgrading of industrial structure, development of digital finance, and the growth of innovation and entrepreneurship serve as primary pathways for this impact. The robustness of the findings is supported by parallel trend tests, placebo tests, and additional sensitivity analyses. Furthermore, the research reveals that the NEDC policy exhibits a more significant reduction in CO 2 emissions in cities with higher levels of economic development and non-resource-based cities. Welfare analyses show that the NEDC policy has significant socio-economic effects. These findings provide new evidence on the environmental effects of the digital economy and offer insights into achieving carbon neutrality. • The National E-commerce Demonstration Cities (NEDC) policy reduced CO 2 emissions. • Optimizing industrial structure, enhancing digital finance, and promoting innovation and entrepreneurship are mechanisms. • The effect is more pronounced in cities with high economic levels and high resource dependence. • The NEDC policy substantially enhanced social welfare by reducing CO 2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Novel analysis framework for the Green Transition of Urban Land Use. • Long-term, wide-area data reveals temporal and spatial differences in transition. • Focus on the spatial convergence of Green Transition of Urban Land Use. • Regional heterogeneity in the spatial convergence effect. Revealing the spatial differences and the convergence mechanisms of Green Transition of Urban Land Use (GTULU) in the context of industrial integration is of great significance for formulating differentiated industrial development strategies, accelerating the process of industrial integration, and exploring synergistic enhancement paths of GTULU. In this paper, 107 prefecture-level and above cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) are taken as research objects, and the entropy value method, exploratory spatial data analysis model and spatial convergence model are comprehensively applied to analyze the spatio-temporal differences and spatial convergence of the GTULU under the background of industrial integration. The study shows that: (1) from 2003 to 2021, the level of GTULU in the YREB has been increasing, with the mean value growing from 0.09 to 0.14, but there are still significant spatial differentiation and spatial correlation characteristics, and the regional imbalance phenomenon of GTULU is more and more obvious as time goes by. (2) The GTULU of the YREB and its upstream, midstream, and downstream regions all exhibit a temporal evolution characteristic of increasing fluctuations. (3) There is no σ-convergence in GTULU in the YREB and its upstream, middle-stream, and downstream regions. However, there are all significant absolute β convergence and conditional β convergence. Moreover, under the combined influence of government management, technological input, industrial structural adjustment, and spatial impact, the convergence rate of the YREB has significantly accelerated, from 1.98% to 2.31%, and the convergence effect exhibits marked heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Explore how environmental regulation impacts the urban land use of eco-efficiency. • An inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and urban land use eco-efficiency. • The mediation model is used to analyze the mediation effect. • The mediated chain model is used to analyze the conduction pathway. • Environmental regulation improves urban land eco-efficiency mainly through mediating effects. Due to high pollution and low eco-efficiency of urban land use, the sustainable development of urban economy and ecology is restricted. Environmental regulation (EnR) is essential for the government to guide the eco-efficient use of land resources, solve environmental problems, and promote ecological civilization construction. Utilizing a dataset comprising 266 cities in China from 2011 to 2021, this paper studies the intermediary effect of green technology innovation (GTI) and industrial structure optimization (ISO) in EnR affecting urban land use eco-efficiency (ULUEE). The results show that: (1) The EnR significantly promotes the improvement of ULUE, reaching 0.354; (2) EnR also promotes GTI and ISO to 0.653 and 0.189, respectively; (3) From the results of mediating effect, GTI and ISO are mediating variables that affect the level of ULUEE. GTI also affects ULUEE through ISO. From the perspective of the path coefficient of the chain mediating effect, the influence coefficient of path① (EnR → GTI → ULUEE) is 0.107, path② (EnR → ISO → ULUEE) is 0.111, and path③ (EnR → GTI → ISO → ULUEE)) is 0.043; (4) There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the effects of EnR on ULUEE; (5) In the heterogeneity analysis, the effect of EnR on ULUEE is more evident, but the impact is less pronounced in eastern cities and large cities of scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]