Efficiency and driving force assessment of an integrated urban water use and wastewater treatment system: Evidence from spatial panel data of the urban agglomeration on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River

Inequality and polarization are terms usually used to describe the overall dispersion of income distribution and the phenomenon of a divided society with a disappearing middle class and increasing rich and poor populations. However, these terms have seldom been used in water sciences. In this paper, the concepts of inequality and polarization are employed to analyze the distribution of urban water use of different cities. Using for reference the conception of Gini coefficient, the EUWU (Equality of Urban Water Use) model is built to analyze the equality of urban water use. And, the PUWU (Polarization of Urban Water Use) model based on exponential functions, which can limit the index of polarization to the range (0, 1) effectively, is built to analyze the polarization of urban water use. Inequality and polarization of resident, industrial and commercial water use in 16 cities in the Yangtze River Delta, the fastest growing region of China, are evaluated using the EUWU model and PUWU model, respectively. The results show that inequality of residential, industrial and commercial water use has decreased by 6.5%, 11.2% and 8.4%, while the index of polarization has increased by 3.9%, 3.8% and 0.1% in Yangtze River Delta area from 2001 to 2006.

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Spatiotemporal Analysis of Urban Water Use Efficiency of the Yangtze River Economic Zone in China: Based on Undesirable Super-efficiency EBM-DEA Model

Journal of Coastal Research ◽

10.2112/si103-093.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 103 (sp1) ◽

pp. 458

Author(s):

Yongqin Xie ◽

Yuejiao Song

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Yangtze River ◽

Spatiotemporal Analysis ◽

Urban Water ◽

The Yangtze River ◽

Super Efficiency ◽

Dea Model ◽

Urban Water Use ◽

Use Efficiency

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Investigating the Impacts of Urbanization on PM2.5 Pollution in the Yangtze River Delta of China: A Spatial Panel Data Approach

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos11101058 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 1058

Author(s):

Liang Cheng ◽

Ting Zhang ◽

Longqian Chen ◽

Long Li ◽

Shangjiu Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Panel Data ◽

Spatial Autocorrelation ◽

Yangtze River ◽

Yangtze River Delta ◽

River Delta ◽

The Yangtze River ◽

Spatial Panel Data ◽

Population Urbanization ◽

The Yangtze River Delta ◽

Land Urbanization

Urbanization is a key determinant of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution variability. However, there is a limited understanding of different urbanization factors’ roles in PM2.5 pollution. Using satellite-derived PM2.5 data from 2002 to 2017, we investigated the spatiotemporal evolution and the spatial autocorrelation of PM2.5 pollution in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region. Afterwards, the impacts of three urbanization factors (population urbanization, land urbanization and economic urbanization) on PM2.5 pollution were estimated by a spatial Durbin panel data model (SDM). Obtained results showed that: (i) PM2.5 pollution was larger in the north than in the south of YRD; (ii) Lianyungang and Yancheng cities had significant increasing trends in PM2.5 pollution from 2002 to 2017; (iii) the regional median center of PM2.5 pollution was observed in the Nanjing city, with gradual shifting to the northwest during the 16-year period; (iv) PM2.5 pollution showed significant and positive spatial autocorrelation and spillover effect; (v) population urbanization contributed more to the increase in PM2.5 pollution than land urbanization, while economic urbanization had no significant impact. The present study highlights the impacts of three urbanization factors on PM2.5 pollution which represent valuable and relevant information for air pollution control and urban planning.

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