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In this paper, the STIRPAT model was developed to study the role of financial development in urban low-carbon economic transformation. The statistical analysis used data from 281 prefecture-level cities in China from 2009 to 2019. The results show that: (1) there is a positive U-shaped nonlinear relationship between financial development and urban low-carbon economic transformation. (2) Financial development not only directly affects the transformation of the low-carbon economy, but also indirectly affects it through three transmission channels: environmental regulation, industrial structure, and urbanization. (3) The financial development itself and the level of urbanization have a threshold effect on the transformation of the low-carbon economy. Under the threshold effect of environmental regulation and industrial structure, the role of financial development in the transformation of low-carbon economies presents a process of 'first decrease and then increase'. Therefore, improving the intensity of environmental regulation, implementing differentiated financial and industrial development policies, and controlling the urbanization process are effective measures to promote the transformation of low-carbon economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital economy is the indispensable pathway for driving industrial structural upgrading and fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in cities, ultimately facilitating China's economic transformation. Simultaneously, the enhancement of urban total factor productivity (TFP) serves as a crucial means to achieve high-quality economic development in cities. This study examines the specific impact of the digital economy on urban TFP using a panel data model with a sample of 285 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2019. Additionally, it employs a mediation effect model to test the mechanisms through which the digital economy influences urban TFP and utilizes a spatial Durbin model to analyze the spatial spillover effects of the digital economy on urban TFP. The research findings reveal the following key points: (1)The digital economy has an overall significantly positive impact on urban TFP. (2)The digital economy indirectly promotes urban TFP by encouraging the advancement of industrial structure and fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in cities. (3)The influence of the digital economy on urban TFP exhibits spatial spillover effects, where the digital economy in neighboring cities significantly enhances the TFP growth of local cities.The results of this study contribute to elucidating the mechanistic pathways through which the digital economy affects urban TFP, holding significant practical implications for achieving high-quality economic development in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality construction of public health system is the key to maintain social economic activities be ordered and stable. The aim of this study is to understand whether public health development can promote economic growth and how. We construct a public health development index combining the variables of local pollution control and health care by EVM method. Based on the panel data of Chinese 283 cities from 2004 to 2017, fixed effect model and two-stage least squares model are used to test the impact of public health development on economic growth. Then, we discuss the heterogeneous impact of public health development on economic growth though the threshold regression model, under different government intervention, employment population scale and urbanization ratio. What's more, we discuss the possible transmission effect of three human capital mechanisms, namely mortality, consumption rate and employment population size between public health development and economic growth. The conclusions are: (1) For every 0.1 unit increase in public health development, the growth rate of real GDP can be increased by 5 percentage points, which can drive the nominal GDP growth by about 0.17 percentage points. (2) Public health development can promote economic growth regardless of the scale of urban employment population. Only when the urbanization ratio exceeds 70.87 and the government intervention level is lower than 0.058, the development of public health is conducive to the improvement of urban economic development. (3) Public health development helps to promote economic growth, mainly through two paths, reducing mortality and increasing human capital accumulation. And, reducing mortality is more conducive to urban economic growth than increasing human capital accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality economic development is an innovation-driven economy, and collaborative innovation is key to maximizing its effects. In terms of the influence of cooperative innovation of urban agglomerations on high-quality economic development, urban agglomerations are of considerable relevance to the coordinated development of China's regional economy. This research established an evaluation system of high-quality economic development indicators for the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration based on panel data of 13 cities from 2003 to 2020, and then estimated the level of high-quality development of each city's economy. The spatial Durbin model was used in this article to examine the effects of collaborative innovation on the high-quality development of the economy. The findings indicated that, although high-quality economic development was increasing across the board in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration, it varied greatly between the individual cities. Beijing and Tianjin had much higher levels of high-quality economic development than the other cities in Hebei, and there was some variation within the Hebei cities as well. The high-quality economic development of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration exhibited no spatial correlation characteristics under the weight of geographical distance. However, there was an aggregation effect on the differential relationship of economic development, which was also significant under the dual influence of economic geography. The collaborative innovation of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration could promote the high-quality economic development of both the inner and surrounding cities, and could also improve the high-quality economy development level of the overall urban agglomeration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opening of high-speed rail (HSR) and the operation of enclave parks (EP) are both important cross-regional economic activities that play a pivotal role in promoting regional economic development. This study modifies the previous single-dimension research paradigm of the HSR effects and EP effects, focusing on the synergistic relationship between HSR and EP in the process of urban economic development. We design a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) model based on the realistic background of the synchronized development of HSR and EP in the Yangtze River Delta region to test the joint impact of HSR and EP on the urban economy, and its heterogeneous performance and mechanisms. The results indicate that the joint impact of HSR and EP on the urban economy is superior to their individual impacts, confirming the synergistic effect of the HSR and EP. In addition, the joint impact of HSR and EP on the urban economy is heterogeneous. The joint economic effects of the HSR and EP are stronger in the fly-out cities of enclave parks. Core and large-scale cities benefit more from the synergistic economic effects of HSR and EP. In terms of the sequence of intervention, the operation of the EP after the opening of HSR can better accelerate economic growth. Finally, we demonstrate that HSR and EP can promote economic development synergistically by alleviating urban resource misallocation and that market development has an important moderating effect on the synergistic effect of HSR and EP. • A synergistic research framework for high-speed rail (HSR) and enclave parks (EP) is constructed. • The joint effect of HSR and EP on the urban economy is explored. • The joint economic effect is superior to individual economic effects. • The spatial heterogeneity of the synergy economic effects is examined. • The mechanism effect of resource misallocation and the moderating effect of the market are verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last 15 years, empirical evidence has emerged about the fact that European first-rank cities have not always led national economic performance, and when they did, the difference between first- and second-rank cities in explaining national growth has not been significant. A recent work [Dijkstra, L., Garcilazo, E. & McCann, P. (2013) The economic performance of European cities and city regions: Myths and realities, European Planning Studies,21(3), pp. 334–354] claims that second-rank cities have in fact outperformed first-rank cities, becoming the main driving forces in national economic performance. In the debate that emphasizes the role of second-rank cities in national growth, a simplified view of the role of agglomeration economies is provided; they are taken for granted in small- and medium-sized cities and only in large cities will the problem of a downturn in urban returns to scale emerge. In this paper, a more complex view is assumed, claiming that the oversimplified interpretation that urban economic performance simply depends on the exploitation of agglomeration economies and that these agglomeration economies merely depend on urban size alone should be abandoned. Some already existing theoretical frameworks in urban economics can help in recalling the role of possible bifurcations in the development path of cities, linked to the capability to attract or develop new and higher-order functions, increase internal efficiency and reach scale economies through cooperation networks with other cities (the city-network theory). All these elements work as conditions for fully exploiting agglomeration economies and ways to overcome urban decreasing returns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper draws together two traditionally distinct discourses that have dominated debates over urban policy responses to economic restructuring, deindustrialisation, major plant closures and the rise of the service and knowledge-based economy over the past 20 years. It investigates the case of Birmingham, where the policy drive of city centre regeneration, flagship development and the re-making of central urban space for new economic activities has been accompanied by much acclaim and 'boosterist' hype. At the same time, the socio-spatial impact of economic restructuring and the resulting policy response has been extremely uneven. The economic difficulties and wider disadvantage experienced by much of the city's population and many of its neighbourhoods, especially those inner city areas with large ethnic minority populations, have endured and even deepened since the early 1990s despite the efforts of numerous area-based regeneration programmes funded by central government. The paper reflects upon this dual narrative by asking the question whose urban renaissance? From this study it clear that the dominance of the 'boosterist' discourse is significantly tempered by the uneven and enduring socio-economic divides within the city and the partial nature of the city's overall recovery, particularly in terms of providing employment for its residents. In this sense, significant policy challenges remain despite the clear achievements of the past 20 years. The paper concludes by considering new spatial policy approaches that could bind together the dual imperatives of creating new economic opportunities, and addressing aspects of acute need among the local population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]