Spatial-Temporal Evolution of Green Development Efficiency of Urban Agglomeration in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River

Abstract

The green level of urban agglomeration in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is directly related to the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The understanding of green development efficiency law of urban agglomeration in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is the basis of its choice of high-quality development path. Based on the relevant data from 2009 to 2018, DEA method and Malmquist index model are used to evaluate the static and dynamic performance of 23 cities in the three urban agglomerations of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The results show that:(1) From the temporal dimension, the green development efficiency of urban agglomerations in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River presents an obvious "down-up-decline" overall evolution characteristic.(2) From the spatial dimension, the green development efficiency of Chengdu-Chongqing, central Guizhou and central Yunnan urban agglomerations shows the hierarchical structure difference of "national urban agglomeration > regional urban agglomeration". (3) The green development efficiency of central city does not match the level of its economic development. (4) The equilibrium degree within the urban agglomeration presents a certain difference. Strengthening technological innovation development, regional coordinated development and green transformation development of central cities are important ways to improve the green transformation development of urban agglomerations in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Assessment of Spatio-Temporal Evolution Trends and Driving Factors of Green Development in Harbin-Chang urban agglomeration

“…At present, the research objects focus on traditional administrative regions, ranging from an international perspective to countries, provinces, cities, and locations within the country [19][20][21][22] China's national-level urban agglomerations such as the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration have also attracted widespread attention from domestic and foreign scholars [23][24][25] . A small number of regional urban agglomeration studies measure the green development level of cities by calculating specific industries or factors, such as economic factors 26 , agricultural development 26 , and ecological governance 28 , making it difficult to fully reflect the urban agglomeration`s green development condition.…”

Spatial-temporal Evolution and Peer Effects of Urban Green Development Efficiency: Evidence from China

“…However, in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Shandong Province of China, UGDE shows spatial differentiation characteristic 17,18 . In the urban agglomerations of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in China, the green development efficiency shows an evolutionary feature of "down-up-down" 24 , and has hierarchical structure differences among different urban agglomerations. In Xuzhou metropolitan area, China, the overall efficiency of green development presents a downward trend, and the spatial agglomeration narrows, with obvious regional differences 25 .…”