Urban Governmental Environmental Attention Allocation: Evidence from China

Abstract

Urban governmental environmental attention allocation (UGEAA) is an important issue for sustainable urban development. This study analyzes the spatial characteristics of the UGEAA and its driving factors across 255 Chinese cities from 2009 to 2018. The results show that (1) the UGEAA has spatial clustering and a spatial spillover effect, (2) factors such as governmental administrative distance, neighbors’ UGEAA, public attention to environmental pollution, and economic growth exert influences on the UGEAA, and (3) the driving forces of UGEAA exhibit differentiation for different regions. Text analysis is applied to measure the index of UGEAA. The analysis framework of the drivers of UGEAA is built. It contributes to the political geography theory by study of the spatial characteristics of UGEAA and fills the research gap in urban political geography study. It also contributes to the attention-based theory by expanding the research object to UGEAA. It unearths UGEAA’s driving factors, characteristics, and regional disparities, and proposes policy recommendations.