Low-carbon City Construction Research Articles

Have regional coordinated development policies promoted urban carbon emission efficiency?-the evidence from the urban agglomerations in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

Improving carbon emission efficiency is the most direct and effective way to reduce pollution. Leading the construction of a resource-saving and environment-friendly society is an important goal of the coordinated development of urban agglomerations in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. However, there is no systematic evidence to prove whether this policy can improve carbon emission efficiency. Taking 31 cities in the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River as the research area, we aimed to use the index decomposition method, the super-efficiency slack-based model, and the difference-in-difference model to examine the effect of policies on improving carbon efficiency. The results show that (1) regional coordinated development policies have a significant effect on improving the carbon emission efficiency of urban agglomerations, and there is an obvious imbalance in carbon emission efficiency among cities. (2) The impact of regional coordinated development policies on urban carbon emission efficiency is heterogeneous. We have grouped 31 cities according to their centrality, industrial transfer characteristics, and urban cluster characteristics. Policies have heterogeneous effects on cities with different functions and positioning. (3) Policy effects have opposite effects on urban carbon emission efficiency through urbanization rate and population density, while the effect of urban greening rate is not significant. The research results can provide a reference for China's urban agglomeration to achieve sustainable development and promote the construction of low-carbon cities.

The effects of low-carbon city construction on bus trips

Low-carbon travel is identified by the low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy as an essential method to reduce CO2 emissions. This study is conducted with the primary aim of determining the impact and mechanism of low-carbon city construction on low-carbon travel. In the context of China’s enormous challenges in achieving the “dual carbon” goals, this study takes the implementation of the LCCP policy as a quasi-natural experiment, and uses the progressive difference-in-difference method to empirically examine the effects of low-carbon city construction on bus trips. The results show that low-carbon city construction can significantly promote the increase of bus ridership and the number of bus trips per capita. Both the number of buses and bus ownership ratio are significant mediating mechanisms. Moreover, the effect of low-carbon city construction on bus trips is significant in inland cities and large cities, but not in coastal cities and small and medium-sized cities. The findings verify the effect of LCCP policy on low-carbon travel, and provide important policy implications for further implementing the LCCP policy and accelerating the promotion of low-carbon travel.

Carbon emission reduction effect of the low-carbon city construction pilot program

Carbon emission reduction effect of the low-carbon city construction pilot program

Spatially Non-Stationary Response of Carbon Emissions to Urbanization in Han River Ecological Economic Belt, China.

Within the context of the "30·60 dual carbon" goal, China's low-carbon sustainable development is affected by a series of environmental problems caused by rapid urbanization. Revealing the impacts of urbanization on carbon emissions (CEs) is conducive to low-carbon city construction and green transformation, attracting the attention of scholars worldwide. The research is rich concerning the impacts of urbanization on CEs but lacking in studies on their spatial dependence and heterogeneity at multiple different scales, especially in areas with important ecological statuses, such as the Han River Ecological Economic Belt (HREEB) in China. To address these gaps, this study first constructed an urbanization level (UL) measurement method. Then, using a bivariate spatial autocorrelation analysis and geographically weighted regression model, the spatial relationships between UL and CEs from 2000 to 2020 were investigated from a multiscale perspective. The results were shown as follows. The total CEs in the HREEB witnessed an upsurge in the past two decades, which was mainly dispersed in the central urban areas of the HREEB. The ULs in different regions of the HREEB varied evidently, with high levels in the east and low levels in the central and western regions, while the overall UL in 2020 was higher than that in 2000, regardless of the research scale. During the study period, there was a significant, positive spatial autocorrelation between UL and CEs, and similar spatial distribution characteristics of the bivariate spatial autocorrelation between CEs and UL at different times, and different scales were observed. UL impacted CEs positively, but the impacts varied at different grid scales during the study period. The regression coefficients in 2020 were higher than those in 2000, but the spatial distribution was more scattered, and more detailed information was provided at the 5 km grid scale than at the 10 km grid scale. The findings of this research can advance policy enlightenment for low-carbon city construction and green transformation in HREEB and provide a reference for CE reduction in other similar regions of the world.

Does low-carbon city pilot affect the enterprise competitiveness in China? Based on a staggered difference-in-difference model.

China has recently instituted the low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy in target areas to control its greenhouse gas emissions. Studies examining those environmental regulations have not focused on how they affect enterprise competitiveness, especially emphasizing the LCCP's dynamic effect. Here, we use the quasi-experimental opportunities of the LCCP policy along with a staggered difference-in-difference model to evaluate and explain the influences and transmission mechanisms of the LCCP policy on enterprise competitiveness. The empirical results show that (1) the construction of low-carbon cities significantly reduces, by 3.56%, the average enterprise competitiveness. Also, capital-intensive and small firms are more susceptible to adverse effects from the LCCP policy, but those effects weaken with time. (2) The LCCP policy affects enterprise competitiveness by increasing operating costs and reducing R&D. (3) However, those adverse effects can be suppressed when a region's degree of marketization is high and industry competition is fierce. Although our results show that the LCCP policy indeed brings more significant economic costs, those economic distortions can weaken through market-based reforms and improved market competition.

Fabrication of negative carbon superhydrophobic self-cleaning concrete coating: High added-value utilization of recycled powders

In this work, two cost-effective methods for preparing negative carbon superhydrophobic self-cleaning concrete coatings were developed by using silane-modified recycled powders (RP) from concrete and carbonated & silane-modified RP. The effects of silane-modification and carbonation on RP, the surface roughness and performances of RP coatings were investigated. The results showed that both methods achieved negative carbon emission. RP and carbonated RP were successfully modified by silane, and two possible silane modification mechanisms corresponding to the two methods were proposed. Surface rough structures of the two coatings were formed by the stacking of powders on the surface of cement paste, which both exhibited excellent superhydrophobicity. In addition, both coatings presented desirable mechanical properties, weathering resistance and chemical stabilities in performances tests. These two high added-value utilization methods of RP are considered to be of great significance to low-carbon city construction and green economic development.

Does China's low-carbon action reduce pollution emissions? A quasi-natural experiment based on the low-carbon city construction.

To achieve the goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality", it is crucial for China to effectively control environmental pollution in low-carbon action (LCA). Based on the evidence from 283 cities in China from 2007 to 2019, the difference-in-differences (DID) method is applied to explore the impact of LCA on pollutant emissions represented by the pilot of low-carbon city construction (LCCC) in China. The main findings are as follows. First of all, the LCCC suppresses pollution emissions, and the basic conclusions are still stable after endogenous treatment and robustness testing. Secondly, the mechanism analysis reveals that the main path of LCCC affecting pollution reduction comes from the progress of green technology and the upgrading of industrial structure. Finally, the heterogeneity analysis shows that the pollution reduction effect of the LCCC is better in the eastern region and cities with higher level of green economy development. Based on the policy standpoint of environmental protection, the LCCC has opened up a reasonable exploration path for China and other countries in the world to carry out effective pollution reduction.

The impact of low-carbon city pilot policy on green total-factor productivity in China's cities.

Whether the low-carbon city construction can coordinate urban economy and environment has attracted increasing attention in recent years. In this study, the impact of low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy on urban green total-factor productivity is systematically examined theoretically and empirically. Specifically, the biennial Malmquist-Luenberger (BML) index is adopted to measure urban green productivity. Then, propensity score matching-difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) and spatial DID model are used to quantitatively identify the local and spatial spillover effect of the LCCP policy on urban green productivity during 2004-2018 in China. The results show that (1) The LCCP policy can significantly promote urban green productivity, as confirmed through a series of robustness tests. (2) For transmission mechanism, the LCCP policy can enhance urban green productivity through energy consumption reduction and technological innovation but not through industrial structure optimization. (3) With regard to heterogeneity, cities with better transportation infrastructure, stricter environmental regulation and higher urbanization level, as well as non-resource-based cities have more significantly positive effects of the LCCP policy on urban green productivity. (4) The LCCP policy mainly relies on technological progress rather than technical efficiency improvement to drive urban green productivity. (5) The LCCP policy's effect on urban green productivity has significant positive spatial spillover feature, which can significantly promote green productivity in both pilot cities and their neighboring cities. Our findings can provide valuable insights for low-carbon city construction to promote urban sustainable development in China.

Ecological Effect Assessment of Low-Carbon City Construction in China.

This paper takes the second batch of low-carbon pilot cities in China as the research object and selects the Urban Health Ecological Index to measure the green development level of cities, aiming to explore and evaluate the theoretical mechanism and policy effect of low-carbon pilot projects to promote the coordinated development of urban economy, society and the environment. The research conclusions show that: ① The low-carbon city pilot project is conducive to support the pilot cities to build a low-carbon industrial system, advocate a low-carbon lifestyle, establish a low-carbon evaluation system, and then play a positive role in promoting the green development level of the city; ② By applying the Propensity Score Matching-Difference in Differences (PSM-DID) model, the empirical analysis finds that after the implementation of the pilot policy, the green development level of low-carbon pilot cities has been significantly improved, and this conclusion is still stable in the parallel trend test, counterfactual test and sample expansion test; ③ In terms of regional heterogeneity, the low-carbon pilot projects have a more significant policy effect on promoting the green development of provincial capitals and eastern cities. Strict administrative supervision in provincial capitals and good economic foundations in eastern cities have had a positive moderating effect on the policy effect of low-carbon pilot projects. Finally, this paper discusses how to realize the ecological effects of low-carbon city pilot projects and put forward some relevant policy suggestions.

Analysis of Spatial Carbon Metabolism by ENA: A Case Study of Tongzhou District, Beijing

Carbon metabolism research has attracted worldwide attention as an important way to cope with climate change, promote carbon emission reduction, increase carbon sequestration, and support low-carbon city construction. Ecological network analysis (ENA) plays an important role in network analysis and simulation of carbon metabolism. However, current studies largely focus on single elements or local processes while rarely analyzing the spatial coupling between land use and carbon metabolism. Therefore, taking Tongzhou District as an example, based on the data of land use change and energy consumption, this study constructed an analysis framework based on ENA to explore the comprehensive impact of land use changes on carbon metabolism. The results show the following: (1) From 2014 to 2020, the total carbon emissions increased year by year. Carbon emissions of other construction land (OCL) were dominant, while the carbon sequestration capacity of forest land (FL) increased by 236%. The positive carbon metabolic density remained relatively stable, while the negative carbon metabolic density decreased year by year. (2) The negative carbon flow was concentrated in the transfer of other land to OCL, accounting for 40.2% of the total negative “carbon flow.” The positive carbon flow was primarily from the transfer of other land to FL. (3) From 2014 to 2016, the spatial ecological relationships of carbon flow were dominated by exploitation and control. From 2016 to 2018, competition relationships intensified due to the expansion of the field; from 2016 to 2018, exploitation and control relationships, competition relationships, and mutualism relationships increased significantly and were evenly distributed. This study provides decision-making guidance for the subsequent formulation of government carbon emission reduction policies.

Going carbon-neutral in China: Does the low-carbon city pilot policy improve carbon emission efficiency?

To combat climate change and move towards carbon neutrality, China has implemented the low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy since 2010, with carrying out three batches of pilot cities so far. Despite the large-scale construction of low-carbon cities, we still know little about whether they could effectively improve carbon emission efficiency (CEE). Using a dataset of 285 cities in China spanning 2003–2018, we exploit variation across cities and over-time in implementing the LCCP policy to examine the impact of such policy on CEE. Our difference-in-differences (DID) estimates document that the LCCP policy resulted in a 2.04 % increase in CEE in pilot cities relative to non-pilot cities after the policy implementation. This policy effect is sustainable and strengthens over time. Our mechanism analysis further reveals that carbon emission reduction is the primary driver of the improvement in CEE, which is achieved through reducing scale effect, optimizing structure effect and promoting technique effect. Finally, the LCCP policy effect is more pronounced in eastern, western, non-mineral resource-based, and high innovation level cities. We find convincing evidence on the effectiveness of government-led LCC policy in a developing country.

Explore the theoretical basis and implementation strategy of low-carbon Urban Community Planning

Cities carry out various human production and living activities, consume a lot of carbon energy, become the main source of greenhouse gas emissions, and have an increasing impact on the climate. Therefore, as the main battlefield of carbon emission management, cities have become the focus of low-carbon research. The concept of a “low-carbon city” appears in dealing with global climate change. In order to further study the application of low carbon cities, this research discusses how to achieve the goal of low carbon cities from low carbon communities by introducing the concept of low carbon cities and the planning views of experts and scholars on low carbon cities, and based on the theoretical research and practical experience of low carbon cities. In the course of the study, Qianhai Cooperation Zone and Bao’an Central District in Shenzhen are introduced as case studies to analyze the practical application of low-carbon city construction. Through this study, we found that the purpose of low-carbon cities is to provide physical space for resource savings, low waste emissions, high operating efficiency, green and sustainable urban activities. For the completely dispersed urban structure in some regions of China, the polycentric network structure is a favorable urban structure for these regions to achieve low carbon and efficient development. The polycentric network cities have high urban density and activity intensity, so corresponding low-carbon strategies can be effectively implemented according to different functional positioning, density and activity density. On the other hand, in order to achieve efficient and low-carbon urban development, the community should be the basic unit. Only when low carbon is realized in the community can the basic low carbon of urban life be guaranteed and the low carbon of the whole city be realized.

The Impact of Low-Carbon City Pilot Policies on Air Quality: Quasi-Natural Experimental Evidence from China

Low-carbon cities have become a new trend in regional development around the world. Whether they can improve the environment in China, especially the air quality, remains to be tested. In this paper we take low-carbon city construction as a quasi-natural experiment and empirically test the net effects, influencing factors, and dynamic effects of low-carbon city construction on air quality by constructing a multistage propensity score matching and Difference-in-Differences model. After a series of robustness tests, the following conclusions are drawn: first, low-carbon city construction reduces the regional Air Quality Index, inhalable particulate matter, fine particulate matter, and NO2 concentrations. Among them, the construction effect in 2017 was the most significant. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to promote low-carbon city policies and accurately identify different types of air pollutants to improve the overall effectiveness of low-carbon city policies. Second, temperature, humidity, wind level, and other meteorological factors, as well as gross domestic product for the proportion of secondary industry, will affect air quality. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively consider meteorological, economic, social, and other influencing factors in an early stage of the construction of the next batch of low-carbon cities, so as to avoid falling into the trap of “building first and managing later”. Third, the impact of secondary industry on air quality is significantly greater than that of tertiary industry. Therefore, the upgrading of industrial structure promoted by low-carbon city policy is effective in improving air quality. Fourth, the construction of low-carbon cities in western China has the most significant impact on air quality improvement. Therefore, the joint prevention and control mechanism of air pollution control in urban agglomeration should be established.

Has China's Low-Carbon City Construction Enhanced the Green Utilization Efficiency of Urban Land?

China has implemented the low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy in the hopes of efficiently limiting carbon emission intensity to combat global warming and promote green economic growth. Urban land utilization, the second-largest source of carbon emissions, is key to the LCCP policy being able to have the desired effect, which has attracted widespread attention. Based on the panel data from prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019, this study used the propensity score matching difference-in-differences method (PSM-DID) to examine the impacts of LCCP policy on green utilization efficiency of urban land (GUEUL). The results reveal that LCCP policy has a beneficial impact on GUEUL and can effectively boost the future possibilities of green and low-carbon city development. Due to variances in regional economic and resource endowment level, the impacts of LCCP are different. The pilot has pushed GUEUL in the eastern region, western region, and growing resource-based cities, but has failed to improve GUEUL in other regions. Policymakers should adhere to the long-term sustainability of the LCCP policy and adopt differentiated action strategies to promote GUEUL when implementing it in different regions.

The Impacts of Low-Carbon City Pilot Projects on Carbon Emissions in China

Here, we assessed the impact of low-carbon city pilot projects on carbon emissions across China through application of a series of econometric techniques to data on these three waves of low-carbon city construction. Our baseline results are obtained from a difference-in-differences estimator, comparing cities with and without introducing low-carbon city pilot projects, and show that low-carbon city pilot projects reduce carbon emissions by about 2 percentage points. We found a similar impact of low-carbon city pilot projects on carbon emissions when we controlled for the estimated propensity of a city to launch the low-carbon city pilot project based on a series of urban characteristics. We obtained comparable estimates when we instrumented whether a city would launch the low-carbon city pilot projects using regional waves of low-carbon city pilot projects. Our results also show that low-carbon city pilot projects have a larger impact on carbon emissions in northern, poorer, and less industrialized cities than those with the opposite characteristics. We found little evidence for the persistence of this impact on carbon emissions, implying that it is necessary to dynamically adjust the low-carbon city pilot projects for cities that have launched the project.

Analysis on the Evolution of Ecological Transformation of Consumption Patterns to Help Realize the Evolution of Realize Low-Carbon City Construction Taking into Account Similarity Knowledge Recognition and Matching Algorithms

For the purpose of addressing or eliminating the influence of low-carbon city construction effectively, it is crucial to carry out qualitative analysis on the evolutionary process in the construction of the low-carbon city based on the similarity knowledge identification matching algorithm. The ecological transformation of consumption patterns is implemented to facilitate the distribution of resources in the evolution analysis of the low-carbon city construction. The regularity and innovation during the process of building low-carbon cities is effectively summarized. On the premises of fully grasping the principles of low-carbon city development and related policy protection, a suitable low-carbon city development model is found. In accordance with the features of separate transmission, the model is recovered by using the characteristics in the total deviation observed, and the constrained nonoptimizable case is replaced with the computation case of constrained separate line segment with the relaxation factor. Finally, the results of the practical case analysis suggest that the image processing method supported by the ecological transformation of consumption patterns applied in this paper uses the relatively advanced computer network technology and 3D visualization model construction based on the establishment of a low-carbon city construction model according to the effective analysis of geological surveys and data, which can provide theoretical support for the subsequent construction of low-carbon cities.

Analysis and Evaluation of Factors Influencing the Low-Carbon Effect of Urban High-Rise Settlement Planning Schemes Based on AHP-Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method

With the rise of low-carbon concept and the trend of low-carbon planning, the evaluation of low-carbon planning has been paid more and more attention by the academic and planning circles. Carbon evaluation has become a hot topic after “environmental evaluation” and “green evaluation.” In order to promote the important content of energy conservation and sustainable development in the construction of low-carbon cities, this paper constructs and plans the content of low-carbon city planning and construction. On the basis of the effectiveness evaluation index system, this paper discusses the linkage between analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method and makes a comprehensive quantitative evaluation on the effectiveness of case planning EIA. Combining the advantages of analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method, the subobjectives and weights of each index are determined by the analytic hierarchy process. The multi-level fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is used to evaluate the factors that affect the low-carbon effect of urban high-rise residential district planning. This study leads the new trend of future urban construction, and the construction of low-carbon residential areas, as an important part of promoting urban sustainable development, is the core component of future low-carbon urban planning and construction.

Impact of Low-Carbon City Construction Policy on Green Innovation Performance in China

ABSTRACT This research constructs a double difference model to test the impact of LCCP on green innovation by using urban panel data of 276 cities in China from 2005 to 2019. Findings show that LCCP effectively improves the level of green innovation performance, and the conclusion is robust. Its effect is more obvious in cities with high scientific and educational levels as well as big cities or eastern cities of the country. LCCP enhances the performance of urban green innovation by driving technological innovation, upgrading the industrial structure, and optimizing urban public services. This research is significant for realizing high-quality economic development.

Green Building Efficiency and Influencing Factors of Transportation Infrastructure in China: Based on Three-Stage Super-Efficiency SBM–DEA and Tobit Models

As an important part of low-carbon ecological city construction, green building is also an objective requirement of sustainable development. Based on the green building panel data of 30 provincial administrative regions in China from 2010 to 2020, the super-efficiency SBM model combined with the three-stage DEA model was adopted to obtain the green building efficiency value that was closer to the real situation by excluding the influence of environmental factors and statistical noise. Green buildings in China have only been developing for just over ten years and are still in the initial stage of spatial aggregation in which transportation infrastructure plays an important role in scale effect. This manuscript focuses on analyzing the influence factors, intensity and direction of transportation infrastructure on green building efficiency. The results show that: (1) The agglomeration effect is obvious in the area of green buildings with high efficiency, but the radiation effect is not strong in low-efficiency area. (2) Municipal transportation infrastructure investment, road surface area, per capita number of stations and interregional traffic network density have a positive impact on green building efficiency, while freight volume has a negative impact.

Evaluation of the Development Level of Low-Carbon Tourism in Chinese Cities

Low-carbon tourism reflects the degree of environmental concern in the tourism industry and is also the foundation of green, sustainable, and ecological tourism. The transformation of the tourism industry, known as the sunrise industry, to a low-carbon pattern contributes to the sustainable development of tourism cities. In this study, an objective evaluation indicator system for low-carbon tourism cities is constructed from the three dimensions of economy, environment, and society, followed by the determination of the weights of the evaluation indicators using an analytic network process model. Ten low-carbon pilot cities in China are evaluated using statistical data of 2014 and 2019. The main research results show that when a city’s economy has reached a certain level, with the development of the economy and individuals’ income and the gradual reduction in environmental pollution, the city’s development level of low-carbon tourism will also be better. Moreover, although these ten low-carbon pilot cities have similar development levels in terms of their social dimension, they have differed greatly in their economic and environmental dimensions. The tourism cities with better economic development levels also rank higher in terms of low-carbon environment and ecological environment, and the overall development level of low-carbon tourism is also better, which shows the obvious Matthew effect as a whole. This study contributes a set of objective evaluation index systems in line with the connotation of low-carbon tourism and assesses the dynamic difference between the cities. This study provides targeted policy recommendations for the construction of low-carbon tourism cities in China.