Reduction of carbon emissions through resource-saving and environment-friendly regional economic integration: Evidence from Wuhan metropolitan area, China

Abstract

Regional integration is an important element of China's decarbonization and sustainability strategies. The present study uses an extended Spatial Durbin Model and county-level panel data to estimate the effectiveness of a pilot scheme of regional economic integration on land-use-related carbon emissions applied in the Wuhan metropolitan area. Intra-regional and spillover effects of urban development, the policy environment, and regional interactions are measured from 2001 to 2015, covering equal pre- and post-policy periods. The results suggest high potential for regional integration to reduce land-use-related carbon emissions. The levels of the carbon emissions in the 48 counties in the Wuhan metropolitan area are found to be spatially autocorrelated and exhibited clustering patterns. The regional economic linkages reveal a spatially gradual diffusion from the urban center to the periphery. The findings extend the relevant literature by showing that the status of the urban development of counties and the type of resource-exchange relations determine both the emissions reduction potential in a region and the direction of the economic and environmental spillover effects. The findings further point to a close linkage between the low-emission strategy, urban-migration plans, and the land-development policy, suggesting the need for a coordinated approach to define effective regionally specific policy instruments.