Resource-exhausted City Research Articles

Can the resource-exhausted city promotion program reduce enterprise carbon emission intensity? Evidence from China

The Resource-Exhausted City Promotion (RECP) program is a significant initiative by the Chinese government aimed at fostering transformation. The RECP program constitutes a vital avenue for advancing low-carbon transformation, though its influence on microenterprises’ carbon emissions and underlying mechanisms remains unexplored. We use China’s industrial enterprise database from 2003 to 2014 and organize data concerning resource-exhausted cities in China. Employing the staggered Difference-in-Differences (staggered DID) method, the research investigates the impact of the RECP program on enterprise carbon emission intensity. Results show that the impact of the RECP program on enterprise carbon emission intensity is significantly negative. This effect is more significant for enterprises in areas with lower environmental protection pressure, those situated in mining cities, larger enterprises, and those exhibiting higher carbon emission intensity. Furthermore, we identify the influencing channels from the above effect as the screening effect and the tourism development level. The screening effect resulting from the exit of enterprises in highly polluting industries can exacerbate the negative impact of the RECP program on the enterprise carbon emission intensity. Meanwhile, enhancing the level of tourism in the region is a key strategy for the RECP program to further reduce the enterprise carbon emission intensity. This effect emerges as a crucial approach for reducing enterprise carbon emission intensity within the RECP program framework. The results of this study contribute to driving the implementation of such program for government and enterprises.

Improving Preschool Parenting Practice for a More Equitable Parent Engagement: Findings from a Resource-exhausted City in China

Improving Preschool Parenting Practice for a More Equitable Parent Engagement: Findings from a Resource-exhausted City in China

Ecological transformation is the key to improve ecosystem health for resource-exhausted cities: A case study in China based on future development scenarios

Numerous cities are currently grappling with the challenge of ecological transformation, especially those categorized as resource-exhausted cities. In these urban areas, land use change is a highly scrutinized issue, as different land use strategies can lead to varied outcomes, impacting the ecological environment in multiple dimensions. Assessing ecosystem health reflects the quality of the regional ecological environment and serves as a comprehensive indicator for evaluating the sustainability and stability of urban ecosystems. To this end, a multi-objective optimization model was constructed to predict land use changes under four future development scenarios (four ecological transformation modes), using Shizuishan City (China), a resource-exhausted city situated in an ecologically fragile area, as an example. The “vigor-organization-resilience” assessment framework was employed to evaluate the ecosystem health conditions in each scenario from three dimensions. The study results showed: (1) The ranking of the average ecological health levels in Shizuishan City for 2022 and different future development scenarios is as follows: Low-Carbon Economic Development Scenario (0.302) > Ecological-Economic Coordinated Development Scenario (0.291) > Baseline Scenario (0.290) > Economic Development Scenario (0.281) > 2022 (0.248). (2) Compared to 2022, the ecosystem health levels under the four ecological transformation modes had all improved, with improvement areas accounting for over 60 %, highlighting the urgent necessity of ecological transformation in Shizuishan City. Among them, the Low-Carbon Economic Development Scenario exhibited the largest improvement area, reaching 75.81 %. (3) Ecological system vitality was identified as the dominant dimension influencing the ecological health in this region. This study emphasized multi-objective development needs and provided an integrated ecosystem health assessment method for assessing the comprehensive ecological effects of future ecological transformation modes in resource-exhausted cities.

How does the transition policy of mineral resource-exhausted cities affect the process of industrial upgrading? New empirical evidence from China

Recognizing the accelerated depletion of mineral resources such as coal, metallurgy, and petroleum in resource-depleted cities is merely a matter of time. Consequently, the industrial restructuring and upgrading of these cities have become a high-priority concern in ensuring sustainable natural resource utilization and environmental sustainability. In this way, this paper is about the mineral resource-exhausted city transition program. It uses China's county and enterprise data from 2004 to 2013 and a staggered difference-in-difference model to figure out how the supportive policy affected industrial upgrading. Our findings indicate that transition policies pose a significant promoting effect on stimulating the industrial upgrading process in Chinese mineral resource-exhausted cities. Specifically, this positive effect is more pronounced in counties characterized by high levels of energy efficiency and environmental performance. Carrying out robustness tests, the preliminary regression results are verified. Heterogeneous influences have been partially established among cities with distinct geographical regions and resource endowment attributes. Further mechanism analysis reveals that heightened cost pressures, incentives for innovation, economic performance attractiveness, and improvements in energy efficiency constitute the primary micro-channels driving industrial upgrading throughout the sample period. This study holds significant global relevance for the sustainable management of natural resources and the sustainable development of mineral resource-exhausted cities in similar emerging economies.

Spatio-Temporal Evolution of Key Areas of Territorial Ecological Restoration in Resource-Exhausted Cities: A Case Study of Jiawang District, China

Resource-exhausted cities usually face problems of environmental degradation, landscape fragmentation, and impeded ecological mobility. By clarifying the spatial heterogeneity of ecological restoration needs, efficient and coordinated ecological protection and restoration can be carried out. This study selected Jiawang District, a typical resource-exhausted city, and constructed an ecological security evaluation framework to determine the ecological source area from the three aspects of ecosystem service importance, ecological sensitivity, and landscape stability. The resistance surface was corrected with ecological sensitivity evaluation data, and ecological corridors and ecological nodes were identified using circuit theory. Finally, it explored the spatial and temporal evolution of the key areas of territorial ecological restoration in Jiawang District. This study indicates that: (1) In 2000, 2010, and 2020, the ecological source areas were 123.59 km2, 116.18 km2, and 125.25 km2, and the corresponding numbers of ecological corridors were 53, 51, and 49. The total lengths of the ecological corridors were 129.25 km, 118.57 km, and 112.25 km, mainly distributed in the northern and central areas of the study area. (2) The study area contained 17, 13, and 19 ecological pinch points in 2000, 2010, and 2020, respectively, 16, 20, and 15 ecological obstacle points, and 8, 24, and 33 ecological fracture points, respectively. Targeted rehabilitation of these key areas can significantly improve ecological connectivity. (3) The key area of territorial ecological restoration in 2020 was composed of 125.25 km2 ecological source area, 8.77 km2 of ecological pinch point, 12.70 km2 of ecological obstacle point, and 33 ecological fracture points. According to the present situation of land use, protection strategies are put forward.

The Impact of the Resource-Exhausted City Program on Manufacturing Enterprises’ Performance: A Policy Measures Perspective

The transformation of resource-based cities has a crucial impact on the development of local manufacturing enterprises. This study aims to assess the impact of the Resource-Exhausted City Program (RECP) on the performance of manufacturing enterprises, with a particular focus on the role of policy measures. Using data on manufacturing enterprises from 2004 to 2014, this study employs multiple difference-in-difference methods to investigate the impact of the RECP on corporate performance and its potential mechanisms. The results show that (1) the RECP can significantly improve the performance of firms in the pilot areas; (2) the implementation of RECP contributes to the improvement of manufacturing enterprises’ performance by using policy measures, mainly including subsidies, tax incentives and access to low-interest loans; and (3) the supportive effects of the RECP are more pronounced in outward-oriented, state-owned and larger manufacturing enterprises. This study provides new insights into the relationship between resource-exhausted city policies and corporate performance.

The impact of supportive policy for resource-exhausted cities on carbon emission: Evidence from China

Carbon emissions and natural resources have become the basis of geopolitical competition due to climate change and energy security in recent decades. Whether transformation policies for resource-exhausted cities can reduce carbon emissions while promoting resource conservation provides empirical evidence for the government to promote green and low-carbon development based on place-based policies. This paper is the first study to estimate the causal effects of the Resource-Exhausted City Promotion program on carbon emissions with a difference-in-differences design. We find that this supportive policy significantly leads to a reduction in carbon emissions in resource-exhausted cities, relative to other cities. The negative effect remains unchanged after a battery of robustness checks. Heterogeneous analyses suggest that this policy reduces more carbon emissions in cities with lower dependence on mining industry and eastern cities. Scale effect and technological effect might be two main influencing channels of the negative effect. Our findings add to the literature on the carbon reduction effect of place-based policies and provide empirical evidence and timely policy implications for the sustainable development of resource-exhausted cities.

Resilience difference between growing and shrinking resource-exhausted cities and its influencing factors

ABSTRACT Resource-exhausted cities have different development paths in terms of urban growth and urban shrinkage in the transformation process. However, existing studies do not sufficiently understand the divergence of development paths. Taking Zaozhuang and Fuxin, a growing resource-exhausted city and a shrinking resource-exhausted city in China as examples, this study reveals the main causes of the divergence of path evolution in these two cities based on the analysis of resilience differences and their influencing factors. First, due to the insufficient management capacity of local governments, coal resource-exhausted cities will rely excessively on provincial or central government policies during a critical period of transformation and will fail to make long-term and realistic considerations about future strategic choices, thus evolving into shrinking cities. Second, in response to the crisis of coal resource exhaustion, the level of innovation is crucial to foster sustainable industries and thereby influence the future development path of resource-exhausted cities. In addition, a Fisher information–adaptive cycle analysis framework is constructed to explore differences in the development paths of resource-exhausted cities. This provides a new approach to comparing and assessing urban resilience and extends the quantitative adaptive cycle theory approach. Our empirical study proved that this analytical framework is reliable and generalizable.

Place-based policies, government intervention, and regional innovation: Evidence from China's Resource-Exhausted City program

We assess the impact of a prominent place-based policy, namely the Resource-Exhausted City (REC) program, on regional innovation in China from 2003 to 2016. Exploiting the cross-city, cross-time variation in the timing of cities starting the REC program, we perform a difference-in-differences (DID) analysis and find that the program has a negative impact on regional innovation. This finding remains robust with various tests. One mechanism that may generate such impact is that the REC program increases the government intervention and thus affects regional innovation. Three channels support this mechanism, including the increase of zombie firms, the changes of government subsidy preference, and the land market distortion. Interestingly, the increase of the zombie state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the government subsidy are more obvious in the non-resource-based SOEs than other firms, indicating the program increases the government's preference for the non-resource-based SOEs. Overall, the results provide evidence that government intervention is critical to regional innovation from the perspective of place-based policy. Our study provides a feasibility idea for further improving regional innovation and promoting high-quality development of resource-based cities in China. • The REC program shows a negative impact on regional innovation. • The program-induced government intervention can be the mechanism of the impact. • Zombie firms, government subsidy, and land market can be the channels. • The program induces the government's preference for non-resource-based SOEs. • Attach importance to the role of local government in regional innovation.

Land Use Optimization in a Resource-Exhausted City Based on Simulation of the F-E-W Nexus

Limited land resources are used to meet the growing economic, social, and ecological needs of people in China. Food, energy, and water (F-E-W) are the basic resources for supporting human survival and the transformation of different land uses. This paper tries to construct a theoretical framework of land use and the F-E-W nexus and uses system dynamics to simulate the optimal allocation of land use in Shizuishan City, China, by comparing different scenarios that have different parameters related to F-E-W. The final results follow: (1) according to the relationship between land use and the F-E-W nexus, a three-layer nested theoretical framework is constructed. (2) Future land use under different scenarios differs. Under the scenarios of a less dependence on coal energy, a higher utilization efficiency of energy and agricultural water resources, and a lower grain self-sufficiency rate, there are less crop and urban lands but more ecological land. However, generally speaking, crop and rural construction lands tend to decrease, while urban and ecological lands tend to increase. (3) Combined with different objectives, the rapid transformation scenario is considered a better option in which to achieve a balance among the economy, society, and ecology. This paper also discusses the application of land use optimization in the delineation of three control lines in territory-space planning in China.

Resource-Exhausted City Transition to continue industrial development

Resource-rich locations often rely on exporting the resources to prosper, but resource depletion is a matter of time. An industrial transformation is necessary to sustain economic growth when the comparative advantage fades away. This paper concerns the Resource-Exhausted City Transition program, a large-scale place-based policy of the Chinese state government. It applies firm data and examines impacts on industrial development in places suffering from resource-exhaustion. Estimation shows that the program has stimulated capital investment largely and fostered employment and efficiency as well, leading to a boost in output. The program does not favor the resource sector with little comparative advantage. It facilitates an industrial upgrade by extending the value chain towards the downstream and stimulating higher value-add activities. Effects are heterogeneous among firms with different capital intensity, age, size, ownership type, or regions.

Effect of socio-demographic characteristics on social security in northeast China.

Social security is the most important and even the only source of income for Chinese older people. It is an important guarantee for the medical care and living of older people. However, the backward economy may bring great hidden troubles to the social security of resource-exhausted cities in the future. Our aims were to explore effects of socio-demographic characteristics on social security in the resource-exhausted city. We set up panel data models for social security contributions, social security benefits, newly insured individuals and ex-insured individuals, respectively, to track changes in social security of different age, genders and workplaces from 2011 to 2015. There were 175,194 individuals who eventually entered our database. We found that individuals working in enterprises and individuals aged 55 to 60 had relatively less social security contributions and more social security benefits. Individuals under 25years of age were more willing to participate in social security. Individuals working in enterprises and men were likely to withdraw from social security. We have concluded that there are some problems that cannot be ignored in the social security of resource-exhausted cities. Our research makes a certain contribution to better guaranteeing the life of older people and improving their qualities of life in resource-exhausted cities.

Roles of Tourism Involvement and Place Attachment in Determining Residents’ Attitudes Toward Industrial Heritage Tourism in a Resource-Exhausted City in China

An in-depth discussion of place attachment in the relationship between residents’ perceived tourism impacts and their support for tourism is still lacking. The predictor of tourism involvement in this relationship has also been underestimated and little attention has been paid to industrial heritage tourism in relation to residents’ attitudes toward tourism development. To fill this gap, we extend upon the existing studies of residents’ attitudes toward tourism with place attachment (both place identity and place dependence) and tourism involvement based on social exchange theory, attitude theory, and the theory of planned behavior. A self-administered survey was completed by 336 residents of Huangshi, a city undergoing a transition to industrial heritage tourism in China. The findings show that residents’ support for tourism is the result of a complete behavior generation process. This has gradually formed through tourism involvement, cognition, affection, and behavior intention, emphasizing the importance of participation and affective attitude in determining residents’ attitudes toward tourism. To maintain the sustainable development of industrial heritage tourism in the economic transition from an old industrial region to new sectors, local authorities should attach more importance to strengthening residents’ native emotional bonds and concentrate on how to encourage local residents to participate in tourism activities.

Urbanization and CO2 emissions in resource-exhausted cities: evidence from Xuzhou city, China

In this paper, we discussed the different impacts of urbanization, technical factors and resource utilization on CO2 emissions. Specifically, we investigated the urbanization process of a typical resource-based city, Xuzhou, in China to learn more about how the urbanization development of resource-exhausted cities can affect the urban economy and environment. We examined the urbanization speed and quality and then employed the STIRPAT model to analyze the actual relationship between urbanization and CO2 emissions. The results indicate that there are inverted U-shaped relationships between CO2 emissions and economic growth, the urbanization rate (UR) and urbanization quality (UQ). This proves the existence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve in the case of a resource-exhausted city. In addition, a decoupling development has gradually occurred between urbanization and CO2 emissions, and the UR has a greater influence on CO2 emissions relative to the UQ. Besides, the positive effect of industrial development on CO2 emissions gradually weakened from 2014 and may even be offset by the suppression effect of energy intensity in the future. Finally, the negative effect of the utilization rate of coal capacity indicates that optimizing energy utilization by cutting excess capacity is not only an effective way for urbanization transformation but also for improving the urban environment. These results have important implications for governmental policy decisions pertaining to the sustainable development of resource-exhausted cities.

On the Relationship Between the Cultural Form of Huangshi Mining and Metallurgy and the Construction of Ecological Urban Landscape

As a resource-exhausted city, how to use mining and metallurgy and its culture to serve modern urban construction and promote urban economic development and healthy growth is a question worth considering. This paper explores the feasibility of using these two cultural forms in the process of urban construction from the aspects of material culture and spiritual culture of mining and metallurgy.

Economic Competitiveness, Knowledge Promotion and Educational Back Shot Wave

This paper analyzing the relationship in Resource-exhausted City’s educational foundation and development abilities, we made an empirical study on the economic development of Cities on how to promote urban area economic development continuously. According the past two decades information from the cities, we have using the main data indicators and education to get the input and output relevant indicators with VAR quantitative antics. And from the perspective of harmonious development, we have using new economic growth model, city economic growth theory and higher vocational education interactive development to analyze the dynamic changes; from the factors of economic growth variables on the change degree, we achieved cumulative effect actively results. Finally, the paper puts forward the management measures of higher education and urban economic development upon the Resource-exhausted cities.

Exploration of an Optimal Policy for Water Resources Management Including the Introduction of Advanced Sewage Treatment Technologies in Zaozhuang City, China

Water shortage and water pollution are important factors restricting sustainable social and economic development. As a typical coal resource-exhausted city and a node city of the South-to-North Water Transfer East Route Project in China, Zaozhuang City’s water resources management faces multiple constraints such as transformation of economic development, restriction of groundwater exploitation, and improvement of water environment. In this paper, we develop a linear optimization model by input–output analysis to study water resources management with the introduction of three advanced sewage treatment technologies for pollutant treatment and reclaimed water production. The simulation results showed that from 2014 to 2020, Zaozhuang City will realize an annual GDP growth rate of 7.1% with an annual chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions reduction rate of 5.5%. The proportion of primary industry, secondary industry, and tertiary industry would be adjusted to 5.6%, 40.8%, and 53.6%, respectively. The amount of reclaimed water supply could be increased by 91% and groundwater supply could be decreased by 6%. Based on the simulation, this model proposes a scientific reference on water resources management policies, including water environment control, water supply plan, and financial subsidy, to realize the sustainable development of economy and water resources usage.

Comprehensive Evaluation of Resource-Exhausted City Sustainable Development: A Case of Huangshi in Hubei Province

Comprehensive Evaluation of Resource-Exhausted City Sustainable Development: A Case of Huangshi in Hubei Province

Spatial Patterns and Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Soils in a Resource-Exhausted City, Northeast China.

Northeast China is an intensive area of resource-exhausted city, which is facing the challenges of industry conversion and sustainable development. In order to evaluate the soil environmental quality influenced by mining activities over decades, the concentration and spatial distribution of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and Zinc (Zn) in surface soils (0-20cm) of a typical resource-exhausted city were investigated by analyzing 306 soil samples. The results showed that the average concentrations in the samples were 6.17 mg/kg for As, 0.19 mg/kg for Cd, 51.08 mg/kg for Cr, 23.27 mg/kg for Cu, 31.15 mg/kg for Ni, 22.17 mg/kg for Pb, and 54.21 mg/kg for Zn. Metals distribution maps produced by using the inverse distance weighted interpolation method and results revealed that all investigated metals showed distinct geographical patterns, and the concentrations were higher in urban and industrial areas than in farmland. Pearson correlation and principal component analysis showed that there were significant positive correlations (p<0.05) between all of the metals, and As, Cd, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn were closely associated with the first principal component (PC1), which explained 39.81% of the total variance. Cu and As were mainly associated with the second component (PC2). Based on the calculated Nemerow pollution index, percentage for slightly polluted (1<P ≤ 2) surface soils were reached 57.33%, while 42.65% topsoil samples are moderate polluted (2<P≤ 3). According to the results above-mentioned, different soil environmental function areas were classified and proper soil environmental management policy was proposed to decrease the environmental risks in the process of industrial city transformation.

Comprehensive benefits evaluation of mining wasteland reclamation and utilization in resource-exhausted cities: A case study of the Qiyueshan mining area, Huangshi City

The mining wasteland reclamation and utilization proposed in the past two years are of great importance for resource-exhausted cities. The comprehensive benefits evaluation of mining wasteland reclamation and utilization in resource-exhausted cities can objectively quantify the effects of land resources utilization. This study adopted the latest survey data in 2013,integrated the traditional classic methods such as Delphi and AHP with the new methods such as remote sensing and GIS,and took the Qiyueshan mining area of Huangshi City as the study area. According to the characteristics of mining wasteland reclamation,this paper deals with the research idea and evaluation method of the comprehensive benefits evaluation of the mining wasteland reclamation and utilization in the resource-exhausted city,which reflect the overall effect and individual indicator changes of mining wasteland before and after reclamation objectively and quantitatively. The results show the good overall effect of the study area's mining wasteland reclamation and utilization,except that the improvement of some monomial index scores is not obvious. Due attention should be paid to the coordinated development of the economic,social,ecological and landscape benefits in future practices.