Urban Green Development towards Sustainability in Northwest China: Efficiency Assessment, Spatial‐Temporal Differentiation Characters, and Influencing Factors

Abstract

For achieving the sustainable development goals, green development has been raised to a high position for cities in China. The economic development in Northwest China is slow, the ecological environment is fragile, and the mineral resources are rich. Only through green development can we realize the comprehensive income of regional production development, rich life, and good ecology. This paper measures the green development efficiency of 30 prefecture-level cities in Northwest China by using DEA-SBM model of unexpected output, explores the differences and causes of green development efficiency from the perspective of time and space through convergence coefficient, coordination matrix, GIS, and other methods, and empirically tests the impact of industrial structure, technological progress, and other driving factors on green development efficiency by using panel Tobit model. The results show that, on the whole, the efficiency of green development in Northwest China is low, path dependence is serious and unbalanced, the coordinated development effect of different regions is weak, and the spillover effect of core urban agglomerations has not been effectively exerted; from the perspective of driving factors, economic development, population density, traffic situation, and education investment can significantly improve the efficiency of urban green development, and the second is that the proportion of industries significantly hinders the improvement of green development efficiency, while the impact of scientific and technological innovation is not significant. Based on the empirical results, this paper believes that the harmonious development of natural environment and economic society can be realized only by improving the coordinated development effect among cities, implementing the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure, introducing excellent talents, and promoting the technological upgrading.

Analysis of Dynamic Evolution and Spatial-Temporal Heterogeneity of Carbon Emissions at County Level along “The Belt and Road”—A Case Study of Northwest China

“…The provincial governments actively use administrative power to coordinate the development of the provincial economy and have achieved certain results. From the perspective of the whole northwest region, the coordinated development effect among provinces is weak, and the urban agglomeration has not effectively exerted its driving effect [ 52 ]. In addition, the development among provinces has a competitive effect, which will hinder the effective circulation of resources and technologies between neighboring provinces, resulting in the development of each province being dependent on its own resource endowment, and the differences among provinces are increasing year by year.…”

Spatio-temporal pattern evolution of green development efficiency in Northeastern China and its driving factors

“…Undesirable outputs consist of environmental pollution and air pollution, indicated by carbon dioxide emissions and average PM2.5 levels in each county. A specific index system [ [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] ] is illustrated in Fig. 2 .…”

Evolution and Influencing Factors of the Green Development Spatial Association Network in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

“…Xiang et al (2021) investigated the influencing factors of GDE of the paper industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and found that the scale of enterprises, technological investment, and industrial structure had significant positive impact on GDE, yet environmental regulations and the intensity of foreign investment had significant negative impact. Si et al (2021) conducted research through 30 prefecture-level cities in Northwest China, and found that economic development, population density, traffic conditions, and education investment can significantly improve the urban GDE; however, the proportion of industries significantly hindered GDE improvement. Zhou et al (2020) found that the economic strength, industrial structure, openness, and climate conditions positively promoted urban GDE in China.…”