IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v13y2024i4p503-d1374672.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Urbanization on Environmental Quality in Ecologically Fragile Areas: Evidence from Hengduan Mountain, Southwest China

Author

Listed:
  • Jue Wang

    (Business School, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
    Digital Hu Line Research Institute, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China)

  • Rui Wang

    (Business School, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China)

Abstract

The impact of urbanization on the environmental quality of ecologically fragile areas has long been ambiguous. With a focus on the human–environment interaction in 95 counties of Hengduan Mountain, an ecologically fragile region in southwestern China, in this study, we clarify the impact and mechanism of urbanization on environmental quality through the environmental regulation effect, using econometric models and county-level panel data from 2010 to 2019. The results of this study show that: (1) urbanization and environmental regulation have increased over this 10-year period within the study area and regional differences in environmental quality have decreased; (2) urbanization significantly contributes to environmental quality, with heterogenous effects on different environmental elements—increasing the proportion of wetlands and green areas per capita but suppressing vegetation coverage and production efficiency; and (3) environmental regulation is an important mechanism for urbanization to improve environmental quality; however, there are negative externalities on neighboring areas. The results of this study show that urbanization and environmental quality are not always mutually exclusive, thus providing a reference for the development of pro-environmental urbanization to improve sustainable development in ecologically fragile areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Jue Wang & Rui Wang, 2024. "The Impact of Urbanization on Environmental Quality in Ecologically Fragile Areas: Evidence from Hengduan Mountain, Southwest China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:4:p:503-:d:1374672
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/503/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/503/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shunfeng Song & Kevin Honglin Zhang, 2002. "Urbanisation and City Size Distribution in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(12), pages 2317-2327, November.
    2. Wang, Yahui & Dai, Erfu & Yin, Le & Ma, Liang, 2018. "Land use/land cover change and the effects on ecosystem services in the Hengduan Mountain region, China," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 34(PA), pages 55-67.
    3. W Walker Hanlon, 2020. "Coal Smoke, City Growth, and the Costs of the Industrial Revolution," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(626), pages 462-488.
    4. Lining Su, 2022. "The Impact of Coordinated Development of Ecological Environment and Technological Innovation on Green Economy: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-15, June.
    5. Wu, Haoyi & Guo, Huanxiu & Zhang, Bing & Bu, Maoliang, 2017. "Westward movement of new polluting firms in China: Pollution reduction mandates and location choice," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 119-138.
    6. Yansui Liu & Yuanzhi Guo & Yang Zhou, 2018. "Poverty alleviation in rural China: policy changes, future challenges and policy implications," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(2), pages 241-259, May.
    7. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2014. "US Food Aid and Civil Conflict," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1630-1666, June.
    8. Jinjing Hu & Yong Huang & Jie Du, 2021. "The Impact of Urban Development Intensity on Ecological Carrying Capacity: A Case Study of Ecologically Fragile Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-25, July.
    9. David M. Konisky, 2007. "Regulatory Competition and Environmental Enforcement: Is There a Race to the Bottom?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(4), pages 853-872, October.
    10. Chen, Zhao & Kahn, Matthew E. & Liu, Yu & Wang, Zhi, 2018. "The consequences of spatially differentiated water pollution regulation in China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 468-485.
    11. Yansui Liu & Yuanzhi Guo & Yang Zhou, 2018. "Poverty alleviation in rural China: policy changes, future challenges and policy implications," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(2), pages 241-259, May.
    12. Xiaoxin Zhang & Martin Brandt & Xiaowei Tong & Philippe Ciais & Yuemin Yue & Xiangming Xiao & Wenmin Zhang & Kelin Wang & Rasmus Fensholt, 2022. "A large but transient carbon sink from urbanization and rural depopulation in China," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 321-328, April.
    13. Shao, Yanmin & Chen, Zhongfei, 2022. "Can government subsidies promote the green technology innovation transformation? Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 716-727.
    14. Liudan Jiao & Fenglian Luo & Fengyan Wu & Yu Zhang & Xiaosen Huo & Ya Wu, 2022. "Exploring the Interactive Coercing Relationship between Urban Rail Transit and the Ecological Environment," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-20, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Honglin Zhang & Qiutan Ren & Yuyang Zhou & Nalin Dong & Hua Wang & Yongge Hu & Peihao Song & Ruizhen He & Guohang Tian & Shidong Ge, 2025. "Influence of Tree Community Characteristics on Carbon Sinks in Urban Parks: A Case Study of Xinyang, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-21, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhe Xu & Ying Wang & Xiaoliang Shi & Yingying Qiu & Chunzi Su & Dan He, 2025. "The Impact of Environmental Subsidies and Enforcement on Green Innovation: Evidence from Heavy-Polluting Enterprises in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-25, February.
    2. Yanyun Li & Faqin Lin & Wenxiao Wang, 2022. "Environmental regulation and inward foreign direct investment: Evidence from the eleventh Five‐Year Plan in China," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 684-707, July.
    3. Kerui Du & Qilin Huang & Presley K. Wesseh, 2025. "Domestic Pollution Havens: Linking Interregional Capital Flight and Water Pollution Regulation in China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 88(1), pages 125-161, January.
    4. Shiyu Bo, 2021. "Environmental Regulations, Political Incentives and Local Economic Activities: Evidence from China," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 83(3), pages 812-835, June.
    5. Xia, Fangzhou & Huang, Jing & Zhang, Zhengfeng, 2024. "Government concerns, the benefit cliff, and land use: A comparative study of rural impoverished and marginalised impoverished groups," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    6. Yong Geng & Wei Liu & Hanshu Chen & Xinyu Zou, 2023. "The Spillover Effects of Environmental Regulations: A Perspective of Chinese Unregulated Firms' Tax Burden," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 31(2), pages 84-111, March.
    7. Mengxue Ji & Zhenming Wu & Dandan Zhu, 2023. "Environmental Vertical Management and Enterprises’ Performance: Evidence from Water Pollution Reduction in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-17, September.
    8. Mathilde Maurel & Thomas Pernet, 2021. "New evidence on the soft budget constraint: Chinese environmental policy effectiveness in SOE-dominated cities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 187(1), pages 111-142, April.
    9. Yu, Xiaolin & Wan, Kai & Du, Qunyang, 2023. "Can carbon market policies achieve a “point-to-surface” effect?—Quasi-experimental evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    10. Liu, Mengdi & Tan, Ruipeng & Zhang, Bing, 2021. "The costs of “blue sky”: Environmental regulation, technology upgrading, and labor demand in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    11. Wugan Cai & Peiyun Ye, 2022. "Local-neighborhood effects of different environmental regulations on green innovation: evidence from prefecture level cities of China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 4810-4834, April.
    12. Yuchao Meng & Jing Hu, 2025. "Does China’s Low-Carbon City Pilot Facilitate Firm Productivity? An Analysis of Industrial Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-26, February.
    13. Wang, Xinfeng & Ye, Xin, 2024. "Impact of the targeted poverty alleviation policy on older adults’ healthcare utilization: A quasi-experimental analysis from China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).
    14. Kwon, Ohyun & Zhao, Hao & Zhao, Min Qiang, 2023. "Global firms and emissions: Investigating the dual channels of emissions abatement," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    15. Debin Ma & Dongqi Sun & Ziyi Wang, 2024. "Exploring the Rural Revitalization Effect under the Interaction of Agro-Tourism Integration and Tourism-Driven Poverty Reduction: Empirical Evidence for China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-24, January.
    16. Liquan Qu & Weidong Xiao & Weidong Gao, 2022. "Do Resettled People Adapt to Their Current Geographical Environment? Evidence from Poverty-Stricken Areas of Northwest Yunnan Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.
    17. Mengdi Wang & Xiaobing Peng, 2023. "How to Develop Sustainably after Poverty Alleviation in Poverty-Stricken Areas under Paired Assistance: A Quantitative Assessment Framework Based on System Dynamics Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-17, March.
    18. Zou, Fei & Yang, Mei & Zhou, Yanju & Deng, Yaling & Xie, Baiwei, 2024. "Goal-gradient point rewards can increase consumers' willingness to purchase poverty-alleviating products," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    19. Qihang Xue & Caiquan Bai & Weiwei Xiao, 2022. "Fintech and corporate green technology innovation: Impacts and mechanisms," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 3898-3914, December.
    20. Jian Zhang & Xin Lu & Yao Qin & Yuxuan Zhang & Dewei Yang, 2024. "Can Urbanization-Driven Land-Use and Land-Cover Change Reduce Ecosystem Services? A Case of Coupling Coordination Relationship for Contiguous Poverty Areas in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:4:p:503-:d:1374672. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.