Can Industrial Restructuring Improve Urban Air Quality?—A Quasi-Experiment in Beijing during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The conflict between economic growth and environmental pollution has become a considerable bottleneck to future development throughout the world. The industrial structure may become the possible key factor in resolving the contradiction. Using the daily data of air quality from January to April in 2019 and 2020, we used the DID model to identify the effects of industrial structure on air quality by taking the COVID-19 pandemic as a quasi-experiment. The results show that, first, the impact of profit of the secondary industry on air quality is ten times higher than that of the tertiary industry. Therefore, the secondary industry is the main factor causing air pollution. Second, the effect of the reduction in the secondary industry on the improvement of air quality is better than that of the tertiary industry in Beijing. Therefore, the implementation of Beijing’s non-capital function relief policy is timely and reasonable, and the adjustment of the industrial structure is effective in the improvement of air quality. Third, PM2.5, NO2, and CO are affected by the secondary and tertiary industries, where PM2.5 is affected most seriously by the second industry. Therefore, the transformation from the secondary industry to the tertiary industry can not only solve the problem of unemployment but also relieve the haze. Fourth, the result of O3 is in opposition to other pollutants. The probable reason is that the decrease of PM2.5 would lead to an increase in the O3 concentration. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce O3 concentrationby production limitation and it is urgent to formulate scientific methods to deal with O3 pollution. Fifth, the air quality in the surrounding areas can also influence Beijing. As Hebei is a key area to undertake Beijing’s industry, the deterioration of its air quality would also bring pressure to Beijing’s atmospheric environment. Therefore, in the process of industrial adjustment, the selection of appropriate regions for undertaking industries is very essential, which is worth our further discussion.

Spatial Patterns of Urban Innovation and Their Evolution from Perspectives of Capacity and Structure: Taking Shenzhen as an Example

Innovation is a key factor for a country’s overall national strength and core competitiveness. The spatial pattern of innovation reflects the regional differences of innovation development, which can provide guidance for the regional allocation of innovation resources. Most studies on the spatial pattern of innovation are at urban and above spatial scale, but studies at urban internal scale are insufficient. The precision and index of the spatial pattern of innovation in the city needs to be improved. This study proposes to divide spatial units based on geographic coordinates of patents, designs the innovation capability and innovation structure index of a spatial unit and their calculation methods, and then reveals the spatial patterns of innovation and their evolutionary characteristics in Shenzhen during 2000–2018. The results show that: (1) The pattern of innovation capacity of secondary industry exhibited a pronounced spatial spillover effect with a positive spatial correlation. The innovation capacity and innovation structure index of the secondary industry evolved in a similar manner; i.e., they gradually extended from the southwest area to the north over time, forming a tree-like distribution pattern with the central part of the southwest area as the “root” and the northwest and northeast areas as the “canopy”. (2) The pattern of innovation capacity of tertiary industry also had a significant spatial spillover effect with a positive spatial correlation. There were differences between the evolutions of innovation capacity and innovation structure index of tertiary industry. Specifically, its innovation capacity presented a triangular spatial distribution pattern with three groups in the central and eastern parts of the southwest area and the south-eastern part of the northwest area as the vertices, while its innovative structure showed a radial spatial distribution pattern with the southwestern part of the southwest area as the source and a gradually sparse distribution toward the northeast. (3) There were differences between the evolution modes of secondary and tertiary industries. Areas with high innovation capacity in the secondary industry tended to be more balanced, while areas with high innovation capacity in the tertiary industry did not necessarily have a balanced innovation structure. Through the method designed in this paper, the spatial pattern of urban innovation can be more precise and comprehensive revealed, and provide useful references for the development of urban innovation.

The Impacts of Globalization on Inequality in the Post-COVID-19 World: Evidence From China

Empirical studies suggest that globalization (FDI and international trade) has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 and related anti-pandemic measures imposed by governments worldwide. This paper investigates the impact of globalization on intra-provincial income inequality in China and the data is based on the county level. The findings reveal that FDI is negatively associated with intra-provincial inequality, intra-provincial inequality increases as the primary industry sector (agriculture) declines. The result also finds that the increase in inequality stems not from the development in the tertiary or secondary industry sectors per se, but the unevenness in the distribution of these sectors.

A study on the spatial and temporal evolution of urban shrinkage and its influencing factors from a multidimensional perspective: A case study of resource-based cities in China

With social and economic environment changes occurring in the world and deepening of the urbanization process, China’s urban development exhibits a new phenomenon of growth and shrinkage fluctuations. The resource-based city shrinkage phenomenon is particularly prominent. Research on the commonalities and patterns of similar groups should be enhanced. We constructed an urban shrinkage evaluation index system from the three dimensions of population, economy and space. Accordingly, we explored the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of 175 resource-based cities in China from a multidimensional perspective with the entropy method, shrinkage model and transfer matrix method. The results indicated that most resource-based cities in China occurred in the non-shrinking state, but their development speed gradually decreased or even presented stagflation. The shrinkage measure-related results in the different dimensions revealed that the number of shrinking cities is increasing. The population, economic and comprehensive shrinkage levels were mainly slight and remained stable. The number of cities experiencing moderate and severe shrinkage was relatively small and mostly encompassed short-term shrinkage. Spatial shrinkage demonstrated a clear administrative hierarchy difference. Moreover, the spatial distribution range of shrinking cities in each dimension expanded and exhibited obviously similar characteristics, i.e., shrinking cities were relatively concentrated in Northeast China, while they were more scattered in other regions. Furthermore, the geodetector technique was applied to reveal the influencing factors of resource-based city growth and shrinkage. Based on the results, the change in the secondary industry output value share at the start of the study was the primary factor. The impact of each employment structure indicator from 2014 to 2018 was particularly significant. Comprehensive exploration of the shrinkage characteristics of this particular group of cities and their development behavior from a multidimensional perspective can provide an important reference for the transformation and high-quality development of resource-based cities.

Sustainable Development Based on Green GDP Accounting and Cloud Computing: A Case Study of Zhejiang Province

Cloud computing is a supercomputing that integrates large-scale and scalable computing, storage, data, applications, and other distributed computing resources for collaborative work in the form of virtualization technology as the basis and the network as the carrier to provide infrastructure, platform, software, and other service’s model. Green GDP (GGDP) is an assessment indicator for regional sustainable development. Hence, the evaluation index on GGDP and greening of the national economic accounting system (SNA) are the hotspots of current ecological and economic studies. In the recent years, Zhejiang’s economy has achieved rapid development, and there are also problems of high input and high consumption of natural resources, thereby restricting its sustainable development. Based on the statistical data of Zhejiang Province during 2000–2017, the GGDP within the sustainable development context is calculated using the system of integrated environmental and economic accounting (SEEA). The results indicated the following: (1) The GGDP accounted for 79.29%–96.78% of Zhejiang's GDP during the study period, which showed volatility upward trend, resulting from the significant environmental protection and conservation of natural resources in the study area. But economic development was heavily dependent on resources, and the local government still strengthened the work of improving resources and environment. (2) The proportion of secondary industry in Zhejiang Province fluctuated downwards during the period of 2000–2017, and the tertiary industry showed a volatility upward trend, which exceeded the proportion of the secondary industry, indicating that Zhejiang Province is from an industry-led economy to a service-oriented economy change. (3) The GGDP of Zhejiang Province accounted for the highest proportion of GDP in 2008, resulting from the result of a combination of relevant national policies and international competitions.

Scenario Simulation For The Urban Carrying Capacity Based On System Dynamics Model In Shanghai, China

Shanghai, as an international metropolis, is embracing an ever-growing population and ongoing economic development, the pressure on the natural resources and the environment is continually increased. How to ease the tension among economy, resources and the environment? The sustainable green development of Shanghai has been the focus of the public and the government. Urban carrying capacity involves complex interactions among population, economy, resources and environment. Understanding how the balance among various elements is an important scientific question for sustainable green development in Shanghai. For this purpose, the balance between urban development and ecological resources was emphasized, and population carrying capacity, GDP, green ecological index and added value of secondary industry were introduced to measure urban carrying capacity. Here, the dynamic changes of the carrying population, GDP, green ecological index and the added value of the secondary industry in Shanghai during 2018-2035 were simulated using a system dynamics model including four subsystems and 65 variables from a macroscopic perspective. Five development scenarios have been employed during the simulation namely status-quo scenario, economic-centric scenario, high-tech-centric scenario, environment-centric scenario and coordinated equilibrium scenario. The simulation results indicated that the potential of carrying population will decline by 2035, and the economic and ecological indicators will also be at the low level under the status-quo scenario, which is an inferior option. While Under coordinated equilibrium scenario, the ecological environment, population growth and economic development all perform excellently, which is the best option. Therefore, the urban carrying capacity of population-economy-resources in Shanghai may be improved by increasing the investment in scientific research, rising the expenditure on environmental protection and improving the recycling efficiency of waste solid and water. The results provide insights into the urban carrying capacity of Shanghai city.

Rapid Evaluation of the Effects of Policies Corresponding to Air Quality, Carbon Emissions and Energy Consumption: An Example from Shenzhen, China

Efficient environmental policies are necessary in the improvement of air quality and reduction in carbon emissions, and the interactions between policy, activity, emissions, and environment comprise a cycle allowing the evaluation of the effects of implemented policies. Based on the establishment of the connection between environmental parameters and policy context using a quantifiable methodology, in this study, we formulated a rapid and simplified pattern for the evaluation of the effects of policies concerning the atmospheric environment, and applied it to the evaluation and improvement of policies for Carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction and air quality enhancement in the sample city of Shenzhen. The Response Surface Model-Visualization and Analysis Tool (RSM-VAT) in the Air Benefit and Cost and Attainment Assessment System (ABaCAS) was applied as the core tool. The required reductions in Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions for 2014–2019 are expected to be achieved; however, the expected reductions in Nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions (mainly from road mobile sources) and Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions (mainly from secondary industry and road mobile sources) are less certain. According to the simulated concentration of PM2.5 in 2019, it is necessary to reduce the concentrations of air pollutants, both within and outside Shenzhen. The background weather conditions may be the main reason for the increased concentrations of Ozone (O3) in October compared to those in July. Reductions in NOx and VOCs tend to be the main factors driving changes in O3 concentrations. Policies have been formulated and implemented in a wide array of areas. According to the quantitative comparative analysis of the policies, and the relevant activities, the greatest challenge in reducing NOx and VOCs emissions is presented by the oil-powered vehicles in the road mobile sector and organic solvent production in the secondary industry sector. Therefore, in an effort to achieve better air quality and ensure that CO2 emissions reach a peak in Shenzhen by 2025, we propose key improvements in policies based on interdisciplinary cooperation, involving not only atmospheric and environmental science, but also governance and urban planning.

Analysis on Transformation and Upgrading Levels of Three Industries in 11 Prefectures of Zhejiang Based on Shift-Share Method

This paper attempts to evaluate the transformation and upgrading (T&U) levels of the three industries in 11 prefectures of Zhejiang Province, China, since 2016. Taking the provincial T&U levels of the three industries as the benchmark, the three industries in each prefecture were analyzed by shift-share method (SSM). The main results are as follows: In terms of primary industry, none of the 11 prefectures had structural advantage (structural shifts < 0), but 3 had regional competitiveness (competitiveness shifts > 0); in terms of secondary industry, none of the 11 prefectures had structural advantage (structural shifts < 0), but 5 had regional competitiveness (competitiveness shifts > 0); in terms of tertiary industry, all of the 11 prefectures had structural advantage (structural shifts > 0), and 6 had regional competitiveness (competitiveness shifts > 0); Shaoxing was competitive in all three industries, ranking the first in the competitiveness of every industry; Huzhou, Quzhou, and Jinhua were not competitive in tertiary industry. The research provides a new yardstick of industrial T&U level and lays the decision-making basis for local governments in Zhejiang to formulate industrial T&U policies.

CO2 Emissions are First Aggravated and then Alleviated with Economic Growth in China: A New Multidimensional EKC Analysis

CO2 emissions have become a topical issue worldwide, but few studies have explored the relationship between CO2 emissions and income by establishing direct, indirect and total environmental Kuznets curves (EKCs). Using an annual panel dataset collected over the 1997-2017 period in China, this study first analyzed the spatiotemporal evolutionary process of CO2 emissions and subsequently developed direct, indirect and total EKCs based spatial Durbin model (SDM) and partial derivative approach. These results indicate that, first, CO2 emissions have characteristic positive spatial autocorrelation, with gravity centers that have shifted westward. Second, the direct EKC forms a line, while the total EKC resembles a lying-S shape as well as the total EKC, which indicates that compared to local economic growth, neighboring growth plays a very different role in impacting local CO2 emissions. Furthermore, neighboring economic growth seems to have stronger impacts on local emissions, and the turning point of the total EKC comes much earlier than that of the conventional EKC due to the spillover effects of economic growth. Finally, the growth of the population, as well as the rise of energy intensity, can stimulate CO2 emissions in both local and neighboring regions. Industrialization seems to have a nonsignificant impact on emissions changes due to the offsetting effects of the positive direct and negative indirect impacts of the share of secondary industry. Improvements in local urbanization may lead to an increase in emissions, while neighboring improvements may have stronger restricting effects; thus, urbanization improvement is beneficial to emissions reduction. This study provides more scientific information from both local and neighboring perspectives, which may differ from conventional results but still be beneficial for emissions reduction policy makers to introduce corresponding measures.

Research on Development of Suburban Home Stay in Less Industrialized Area

Taking the advantage of rural vitalization strategy, homestay has become a powerful means for rural areas with less-developed secondary industry to explore industrial vitalization and transformation, thus achieving both economic growth and social development. Taking homestay in somewhere as an example, this paper goes through the existing bottleneck and risk to figure out suggestion and proposal for the better development of homestay industry, such as planning first, leveraging important activities to accelerate the growth, together with rural culture embedded.