How to Make Cities Get across “The Valley of Death”? Exploring the Ecological Index System and Index Correlation of Green Cities

Abstract

Disasters caused by climate change are continuing around the world. Densely populated urban areas have been pushed to the forefront of global climate change, and ecological security has gradually become the focus of global attention. Whether it is predictable natural disasters, or it is long-term global warming, or any unexpected events, exploring green development that coexists with them, green urban environmental strategies will play an important role in urban development. We analyzed data from 31 sample cities in China, accurately quantified indicators through qualitative and quantitative analysis, and then explored the development status and related indicator systems of green cities in China by “Driving Force–State–Response” model. The results reveal that (1) economic factors are the fundamental and decisive factors for the development of green cities. The higher the level of economic development, the stronger the ability of urban development; we also revealed the indicators that are significantly correlated with the level of green city construction and clarified the important factors of green cities; (2) technological factors are crucial for the construction of green cities. Only with continuous improvement at the technological level do green industries have the driving force for sustainable development, and traditional high-energy consuming and high-pollution industries can be continuously eliminated so as to promote the construction of green cities. (3) Based on the correlation analysis between each indicator and comprehensive scores, this study also pointed out that there is a significant gap in the level of green city construction among different regions in China.