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Does urban renewal help reduce carbon emissions? Empirical evidence from Chinese cities

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  • Shi, Chao
  • Xu, Ning
  • Niu, Zongling

Abstract

This study employs China's ongoing urban old residential community renovation pilot policy (UORCRPP) as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on panel data from 283 Chinese cities, we apply a difference-in-differences (DID) model to analyze the impact of urban renewal (UR) on urban carbon emissions (UCE) and its transmission mechanisms. The findings reveal that: (1) UR significantly reduces UCE. (2) UR reduces UCE through four transmission mechanisms: infrastructure construction, productive service industry development, resource factor allocation, and economic agglomeration. (3) UR demonstrates stronger carbon reduction effects in central and western cities, southern cities, small and medium-sized cities, non-resource-based cities, non-low-carbon pilot cities, non-new-type urbanization pilot cities, and non-innovation pilot cities. (4) UR generates significant negative spatial spillover effects on UCE in surrounding areas, with maximum negative spatial spillover occurring at a distance of 200 kilometers.

Suggested Citation

  • Shi, Chao & Xu, Ning & Niu, Zongling, 2026. "Does urban renewal help reduce carbon emissions? Empirical evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 384-401.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:89:y:2026:i:c:p:384-401
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.017
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