How Regional Integration Affects Urban Green Development Efficiency: Evidence from Urban Agglomeration in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River

Abstract

Unlocking the relationship between regional integration and urban green development efficiency (UGDE) is of great importance for boosting regional high-quality development and promoting sustainable urban development patterns. Although studies have analyzed the spatio-temporal evolution and influencing factors of regional integration and UGDE, the impact of regional integration on UGDE remains untested. In this paper, we construct a conceptual framework to analyze how regional integration can influence UGDE through promoting the factors mobility and optimizing the industrial layout. In addition, we further choose the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (UAMRYR), a rapidly growing urban agglomeration in central China, as a case to investigate the spatial spillover effect of regional integration on UGDE from 2003 to 2017. We quantify the UGDE with a random forest model, then estimate the underlying determinants of the UGDE with a spatial Durbin model. Results indicated that (1) the regional integration level and the UGDE index of the UAMRYR and its three sub-urban agglomerations show an increasing trend; (2) for every 1% increase in the level of regional integration, the level of UGDE will increase by 0.8307%; (3) the impact of regional integration on UGDE has obvious regional heterogeneity; while playing a promoting effect in the Wuhan urban agglomeration and the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration, it shows an inhibitory effect in the Poyang Lake urban agglomeration. We conclude that regional integration in agglomeration areas can accelerate the factors flow and optimize the industrial layout for improving UGDE.

Green Development Performance Evaluation Based on Dual Perspectives of Level and Efficiency: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

“…(1) Green development level: International institutions and researchers have constructed corresponding indicator systems according to the different scales of the research objects, mainly focusing on economic, societal, and environmental aspects [ 7 , 8 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. (2) Green development efficiency: Based on the input-output model, scholars have constructed green development efficiency evaluation index systems, including economic input, capital input, resource input, desirable output, and undesired output [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”

The Impact of Industrial Agglomeration on Urban Land Green Use Efficiency and Its Spatio-Temporal Pattern: Evidence from 283 Cities in China

“…Addressing the patterns, trends, and development of ULGUE over time and space, mainly at the scale of cities, there are Yellow River Basin [20], Yangtze River Economic Belt [21], 284 prefecture-level cities in China [22], etc. Regarding the mainly influencing factors of ULGUE, there are environmental regulations [23], regional integration [24], new urbanization [25], economic development level, urban land intensification, ecological environment, governmental behavior, and social development level [26], etc. There has been no study on the influence of industrial agglomeration as a driving factor until now.…”

The Influencing Effect of Tourism Economy on Green Development Efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta

“…The green development efficiency was mainly measured from the perspective of input-output based on green total factor productivity, which effectively integrated the benefits of economic growth and environmental protection [42,43]. Among them, capital, labor, and technology were selected as non-resource inputs, and energy and land resource consumption was selected as resource input.…”