Can Tourism Development Help Improve Urban Liveability? An Examination of the Chinese Case

Abstract

The emergence of “urban diseases” has aroused people’s widespread concern about urban liveability. Therefore, it is worth studying whether tourism, as a “smokeless industry” can improve it. In this article, the benchmark model, the spatial Durbin model (SDM), and the panel threshold model (PTM) are constructed to test the impact of tourism development on urban liveability based on the data from 284 prefecture-level and above cities in China for the period 2004–2019. The results show that tourism development can significantly contribute to the improvement of urban liveability. Meanwhile, the positive impact of tourism development on the liveability of neighboring cities through spatial spillover effects is still valid in eastern, central, and western China, but the effect is much larger in the eastern and central cities than in the western cities. Moreover, tourism development has positive nonlinear effects on urban liveability, and the marginal effects are clearly decreasing after crossing the first and second thresholds. Finally, specific recommendations are proposed for tourism development to improve urban liveability.

Evaluation of Tourism Ecological Security and Its Driving Mechanism in the Yellow River Basin, China: Based on Open Systems Theory and DPSIR Model

“…The experience of ecological environment governance in tourist destinations can be shared among cities promptly through the use of ICTs. On the other hand, as an integrated industry, tourism requires the cooperation of upstream and downstream industries and neighboring cities [4]. Therefore, tourism managers should promote the integration of ecotourism with agriculture, forestry, marine, and other related industries, and establish a cooperative relationship with neighboring cities.…”

“…Specifically, in SDG15 (Life on Land), tourism is considered to play a positive role in protecting, restoring, and promoting the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems and halting biodiversity loss [3]. In addition, after studying different case sites, some scholars found that an appropriate tourism development has a positive effect on the urban ecological environment [4], green development efficiency [5], and residents' awareness of environmental protection [6].…”

“…China is one of the fastest-growing countries in tourism, and its tourism revenues reached CNY 6.63 trillion, accounting for 11.05% of the GDP in 2019 [4]. However, China's tourism industry has adopted an extensive growth mode, resulting in a severe threat to ecological security, especially in areas with fragile ecosystems, such as arid zones and large river basins.…”

Factors Affecting the Benefits for Households Participating in Tourism Activities in Phong Dien Tourist Village, Vietnam

“…In addition, increasing tourism demand encourages new investments in infrastructure and superstructures [20,25], communications, and transport capabilities in terms of quality and quantity [26]. Tourism development was found to improve the standard of living [27,28]. When considering the opportunity cost and the necessity of seasonal changes to their adverse economic effects, the benefits of tourism regarding the positive economic impact, balance of payments, interregional development, and other economic sectors were proved [29].…”

Does the Digital Economy Improve Urban Tourism Development? An Examination of the Chinese Case

“…Moreover, the digital economy is rapidly promoting the reform of the tourism industry. China's tourism has rapidly grown since the country's reform and opening, contributing 11.05% of the GDP and 10.31% of employment in 2019, according to "China Tourism Statistics Yearbook" [7,8]. However, China is currently facing predicaments due to a development model that ignores quality and the negative impact of COVID-19.…”