Should There Be Industrial Agglomeration in Sustainable Cities?: A Perspective Based on Haze Pollution

Abstract

Haze pollution is a problem that cannot be ignored in the process of building sustainable cities, and while shifting industrial enterprises can solve the problem at the root, it is not conducive to the sustainable development of urban economies. This paper discusses the role of industrial agglomeration on urban pollution amelioration (haze pollution) using a sample of 253 prefecture-level cities in China. The highlight of this paper is the study of economic and environmental factors in the development of sustainable cities in the same framework and a series of econometric treatments that greatly increase the accuracy of the empirical evidence. Research intuitively shows that China’s haze pollution is clustered in spatial distribution and is spatially heterogeneous in concentration. With the passage of time, haze pollution has a tendency to move from an H–H concentration area to an L–L concentration area. The regression results show that an increase in the scale of local industrial agglomeration will lead to a decrease in local haze pollution; but an increase in the scale of local industrial agglomeration will lead to an increase in haze pollution in adjacent areas. Industrial agglomeration has significant spatial spillover effects, which are spatially heterogeneous. In addition, spillover effects between regions are greater than those within regions. After replacing the spatial weight matrix and controlling the endogenous problem using the instrumental variable method, the conclusion is still robust.

Impact of regional haze pollution and local meteorological conditions on urban residential areas

“…Haze pollution is an issue that cannot be ignored in the process of building sustainable cities [17], which will cause serious damage to human health and ecosystems [18]. This article took Nanning City, Guangxi Province, as the research area.…”

Research on the spatial correlation and drivers of industrial agglomeration and pollution discharge in the Yellow River Basin

“…⑤ The level of economic development: the environmental Kuznets curve theory deems that the degree of economic progress and pollution are closely correlated, and generally have an inverted "U" shape relationship (Grossman and Kreuger, 1995). In this study, the GDP per capita is a measure of economic growth (Dai and Lin, 2021). ⑥ Industrial agglomeration: pollution agglomeration is a derivative of industrial agglomeration .…”

Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Development Path of Industry–University–Research Cooperation and Economic Vulnerability: Evidence from China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt

“…This puts forward new requirements for a new round of knowledge creation, promotes a higher level of collaborative innovation, and then acts on the next phase of knowledge interaction, creation, and application. In short, the interaction and synergy of various entities will eventually impact the performance level of regional economic development [67].…”