College of Public Administration, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
Environ Int. 2022 Jul;165:107304. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107304. Epub 2022 May 25.
To alleviate the ecological and environmental problems caused by rapid urban development, China has formulated and implemented the new-type urbanization strategy. However, there is insufficient empirical research on the specific relationship between new-type urbanization and air pollution. Therefore, based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2018, this paper constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system of new-type urbanization using the five dimensions of population, economy, space, society, and green. The spatial Durbin model and the spatial mediating model are used to discuss the spatial effect, transmission mechanism, and regional heterogeneity of new-type urbanization on air pollution. The results show that China's air pollution mainly presents a spatial pattern of high-high agglomeration and low-low agglomeration, and there are spatial fluctuations. The construction of new-type urbanization significantly reduces local air pollution, and the industrial structure optimization, technological innovation, and energy structure adjustment are considered as important transmission mechanisms. However, under the fiscal decentralization and political tournament system in China, the policy implementation deviation may weaken the emission reduction effect of new-type urbanization, which is not conducive to regional environmental governance. From the sub-regional level, the impact of new-type urbanization on air pollution has regional heterogeneity. A robustness test confirms the reliability of our research conclusions. This study also proposes some policy suggestions that the government can utilize in grasping the policy focus of new-type urbanization construction to discover effective ways of controlling air pollution.
为缓解快速城市化发展带来的生态环境问题，中国制定并实施了新型城镇化战略。然而，新型城镇化与空气污染之间的具体关系缺乏足够的实证研究。因此，本文基于 2005-2018 年中国 30 个省份的面板数据，采用人口、经济、空间、社会和绿色五个维度构建了新型城镇化综合评价指标体系。运用空间杜宾模型和空间中介模型，探讨了新型城镇化对空气污染的空间效应、传递机制和区域异质性。结果表明，中国的空气污染主要呈现高高集聚和低低集聚的空间格局，存在空间波动。新型城镇化建设显著降低了当地的空气污染水平，产业结构优化、技术创新和能源结构调整被认为是重要的传递机制。然而，在中国财政分权和政治锦标赛制度下，政策执行的偏差可能会削弱新型城镇化的减排效果，不利于区域环境治理。从次区域层面看，新型城镇化对空气污染的影响具有区域异质性。稳健性检验证实了我们研究结论的可靠性。本研究还提出了一些政策建议，政府可以利用这些建议把握新型城镇化建设的政策重点，以发现控制空气污染的有效途径。
