How Does Land Urbanization Promote CO2 Emissions Reduction? Evidence From Chinese Prefectural-Level Cities

The process of land urbanization may result in a great change in land use structure, land use intensity, and efficiency, which could further lead to an increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Despite rich literature on the link between urbanization and CO2 emissions, the mechanism through which land urbanization promotes CO2 emissions reductions has not been fully investigated. To address this gap, this study theoretically and empirically explores the mechanism of land urbanization’s influence on CO2 emissions by integrating land use optimization and high-quality industrial development into a unified framework. Firstly, the theoretical mechanism analysis indicates that low-level industrial development and land use management promote the increase of CO2 emissions per unit of land at the extensive land use stage; however, high-quality industrial development and land use optimization lower CO2 emissions per unit of land at the intensive land use stage. Subsequently, a STIRPAT model and a spatial adaptive semi-parametric model are employed to verify the relationship between the land urbanization rate and total CO2 emissions. The results indicate that the land urbanization rate and total CO2 emissions present an inverted U-shaped relationship. In addition, the mediating mechanism of the advanced industrial structure, CO2 emissions per unit of GDP, and CO2 emissions per unit of land, are studied using the mediating effect model. Results indicate that CO2 emissions reduction can be achieved by promoting the advanced industrial structure, reducing CO2 emissions per unit of GDP or reducing CO2 emissions per unit of land. Ultimately, this study showed that the Chinese government may reduce CO2 emissions by promoting land use structure optimization, land use intensity regulation, land use efficiency improvement, and adjusting energy consumption structure, upgrading industrial structure, and promoting emission efficiency technologies.

Exploring the multi-dimensional coordination relationship between population urbanization and land urbanization based on the MDCE model: A case study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

The rapid development of urbanization has had a dramatic impact on the economy, society and environment in China. In this context, the coordination relationship between population urbanization and land urbanization is essential for achieving sustainable urbanization. Based on the statistical data from 2007–2017 in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YEB), this paper established the multi-dimensional coordination evaluation (MDCE) model by using the speed coordination evaluation (SCE) model, the level consistency evaluation (LCE) model, the entropy method and the space matching evaluation (SME) model to evaluate the coordination relationship between population urbanization and land urbanization from the speed-level-space perspective. The results showed that from 2007 to 2017: 1) the development speed of population urbanization and land urbanization in the YEB were more and more coordinated, and the speed of population urbanization lagged behind that of land urbanization. In addition, the overall development speed of the 11 provinces declined, and most of them were characterized by excessive development of land urbanization. 2) the development level of population urbanization and land urbanization in the YEB were all high, but the development level of population urbanization was lower than that of land urbanization. Further, the development level of the 11 provinces remained stable and high, and continuously improved. 3) the space matching of population urbanization and land urbanization in the YEB had a high degree of coordination, and the space matching degree of population urbanization was higher than that of land urbanization. Moreover, the space matching of most provinces in the region had declined, but the change was small. Finally, this paper proposes the policy recommendations on the coordinated development of population and land urbanization at the institutional, market and management levels to achieve coordinated and sustainable urbanization.

Does Financial Excess Support Land Urbanization—An Empirical Study of Cities in China

Most countries have experienced land urbanization, which is indispensable for financial support, especially for their financing function achievement through land appreciation and other channels in the urbanization process. By using 34 provincial capital (sub-provinces) cities in China as the sample, this paper studies the impact of finance on land urbanization construction based on the panel data from 2003 to 2018 under a differential GMM method; besides, the causes of excessive financial support and results generated on different regions are reported. Moreover, a moderate range of financial support for land urbanization is found under the influence of land finance. We obtain the following results: first, there is excessive financial support for land urbanization with regional differences exhibited; for instance, the eastern and central regions have an excessive financial support but the western region does not. Second, land urbanization with an excessive financial support correlates with financial efficiency, while the relatively large financial efficiency leads to the waste of a large number of financial resources. Third, financial support has a single and significant threshold effect on land urbanization construction, and finance has a promoting effect when land finance is less than the threshold value; otherwise, it has an inhibiting effect.

The characteristics of spatial expansion and driving forces of land urbanization in counties in central China: A case study of Feixi county in Hefei city

Urbanization in Central and Western China has attracted increasing attention in the advent of new-type urbanization in China and the age of ‘Global Urbanism’. Although land urbanization is at the epicenter of Chinese urbanization, its process and driving forces in counties beyond the Eastern coastal areas are less known. This paper therefore seeks to investigate the spatial expansion and driving forces of land urbanization in Feixi county, a relatively advanced county neighboring Hefei city proper in Anhui province in Central China. Based on the land-use change survey data, remote sensing interpretation data, and statistical yearbook data of Feixi county from 2002 to 2016, it is revealed that the overall scale of urban land in Feixi county increased remarkably, though with obvious temporal and geographical variants. The year 2009 appears to be the cutting line between quantity-based land urbanization and quality-based land urbanization. Land urbanization rate is sensitive to both geographical distance and traffic accessibility to Hefei city proper. Driving forces of land urbanization in Feixi county are summarized as: (1) central city expansion, (2) government-led industrial park construction, and (3) large industrial projects along traffic corridors. A better understanding of urbanization in Feixi county cannot be fulfilled without taking into account the wider spatial process in Hefei city and the Yangtze River Delta city-region.

How Does Local Real Estate Investment Influence Neighborhood PM2.5 Concentrations? A Spatial Econometric Analysis

Real estate investment has been an important driving force in China’s economic growth in recent years, and the relationship between real estate investment and PM2.5 concentrations has been attracting widespread attention. Based on spatial econometric modelling, this paper explores the relationships between real estate investment and PM2.5 concentrations using multi-source panel data from 30 provinces in China between 1987 and 2017. The results demonstrate that compared with static spatial panel modelling, using a dynamic spatial Durbin lag model (DSDLM) more accurately reflects the influences of real estate investment on PM2.5 concentrations in China, and that PM2.5 concentrations show significant superposition effects and spillover effects. Moreover, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between real estate investment and PM2.5 concentrations in the Eastern and Central Regions of China. At the national level, the impacts of real estate investment on land urbanization and PM2.5 concentrations first increased and then decreased over time. The key implications of this analysis are as follows. (1) it highlights the need for a unified PM2.5 monitoring platform among Chinese regions; (2) the quality of population urbanization rather than land urbanization should be given more attention; and (3) the speed of construction of green cities and building of green transportation systems and green town systems should be increased.