IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v14y2025i5p990-d1648873.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Data-Driven Green Transformation: How Public Data Openness Fuels Urban Land Use Eco-Efficiency in Chinese Cities

Author

Listed:
  • Yongqiang Li

    (School of Finance, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Bowen Li

    (School of Economics, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Jiani Chen

    (School of Economics, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Yue Zhang

    (School of Economics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Yian Hu

    (School of Economics, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Chengming Li

    (School of Economics, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China)

Abstract

Urban land use eco-efficiency (ULUEE) encapsulates the equilibrium between economic gains and environmental sustainability. The improvement of ULUEE has emerged as a critical measure in addressing climate change and achieving dual-carbon objectives. This paper examines the potential of public data in enhancing ULUEE, focusing on public data openness (PDO), using a sample of 294 prefecture-level cities spanning from 2014 to 2022. The findings indicate that PDO has a significant positive impact on ULUEE, a result that remains robust through various sensitivity tests. Further analysis reveals that PDO fosters urban innovation, stimulates industrial agglomeration, optimizes urban industrial structures, and further enhances ULUEE through innovation effects, agglomeration effects, and structural effects. A heterogeneity analysis shows that this positive effect is more pronounced in regions with higher financial development levels and in the economically advanced eastern regions, suggesting that the ecological benefits derived from PDO are contingent upon a solid economic foundation. Additionally, the effect is more substantial in regions with weaker digital infrastructure and suboptimal environmental regulation, implying that public data can compensate for deficiencies in urban digital infrastructure and environmental governance, thereby contributing to improvements in ULUEE. This paper broadens the existing literature on the ecological value of public data, uncovers the potential of PDO in promoting ULUEE, and offers a practical framework for leveraging PDO to facilitate urban green transformation and ecological advancement.

Suggested Citation

  • Yongqiang Li & Bowen Li & Jiani Chen & Yue Zhang & Yian Hu & Chengming Li, 2025. "Data-Driven Green Transformation: How Public Data Openness Fuels Urban Land Use Eco-Efficiency in Chinese Cities," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-29, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:5:p:990-:d:1648873
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/5/990/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/5/990/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wei Tang & Shuili Yang, 2023. "Enterprise Digital Management Efficiency under Cloud Computing and Big Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Liu, Shuchang & Xiao, Wu & Li, Linlin & Ye, Yanmei & Song, Xiaoli, 2020. "Urban land use efficiency and improvement potential in China: A stochastic frontier analysis," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    3. Cai, Xiqian & Lu, Yi & Wu, Mingqin & Yu, Linhui, 2016. "Does environmental regulation drive away inbound foreign direct investment? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 73-85.
    4. Alperovich, Gershon, 1992. "Economic Development and Population Concentration," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 63-74, October.
    5. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September.
    6. Louis S. Jacobson & Robert J. LaLonde & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1993. "Long-term earnings losses of high-seniority displaced workers," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 17(Nov), pages 2-20.
    7. Ullah, Ayat & Arshad, Muhammad & Kächele, Harald & Khan, Ayesha & Mahmood, Nasir & Müller, Klaus, 2020. "Information asymmetry, input markets, adoption of innovations and agricultural land use in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    8. Yang, Jidong & Liu, Cheng & Liu, Kai, 2023. "Land marketization and industrial restructuring in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    9. Thorsten Beck & Ross Levine & Alexey Levkov, 2010. "Big Bad Banks? The Winners and Losers from Bank Deregulation in the United States," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1637-1667, October.
    10. Zijing Hu & Bowen Li & Guanyu Guo & Yuan Tian & Yue Zhang & Chengming Li, 2024. "Unlocking the Power of Economic Agglomeration: How Digital Finance Enhances Urban Land Use Efficiency Through Innovation Ability and Rationalization of Industrial Structure in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-26, October.
    11. Zhang, Wenxi & Wang, Bo & Wang, Jian & Wu, Qun & Wei, Yehua Dennis, 2022. "How does industrial agglomeration affect urban land use efficiency? A spatial analysis of Chinese cities," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    12. Chen, Kaixuan & Zhang, Shushan, 2024. "How does open public data impact enterprise digital transformation?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 178-190.
    13. Xiang Peng & Deheng Xiao, 2024. "Can Open Government Data Improve City Green Land-Use Efficiency? Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-17, November.
    14. Daichao Li & Kunkun Fan & Jiaqi Lu & Sheng Wu & Xiaowei Xie, 2022. "Research on Spatio-Temporal Pattern Evolution and the Coupling Coordination Relationship of Land-Use Benefit from a Low-Carbon Perspective: A Case Study of Fujian Province," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-24, September.
    15. Huangying Gu & Guanyu Guo & Chengming Li, 2024. "Treating the Symptoms as Well as the Root Causes: How the Digital Economy Can Mitigate the Negative Impacts of Land Resource Mismatches on Urban Ecological Resilience," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-21, September.
    16. Patricia C Melo & Daniel J Graham & David Levinson & Sarah Aarabi, 2017. "Agglomeration, accessibility and productivity: Evidence for large metropolitan areas in the US," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(1), pages 179-195, January.
    17. Ho, Daniel E. & Imai, Kosuke & King, Gary & Stuart, Elizabeth A., 2007. "Matching as Nonparametric Preprocessing for Reducing Model Dependence in Parametric Causal Inference," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 199-236, July.
    18. Yin Ma & Minrui Zheng & Xinqi Zheng & Yi Huang & Feng Xu & Xiaoli Wang & Jiantao Liu & Yongqiang Lv & Wenchao Liu, 2023. "Land Use Efficiency Assessment under Sustainable Development Goals: A Systematic Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, April.
    19. Yu, Binbin & Zhou, Xinru, 2023. "Urban administrative hierarchy and urban land use efficiency: Evidence from Chinese cities," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 178-195.
    20. Gan, Tian & Zhang, Mingxin & Zhang, Zhiqiang, 2023. "The impact of digital government policy on entrepreneurial activity in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 479-496.
    21. Sun, Yifan & Ma, Anbing & Su, Haorui & Su, Shiliang & Chen, Fei & Wang, Wen & Weng, Min, 2020. "Does the establishment of development zones really improve industrial land use efficiency? Implications for China’s high-quality development policy," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    22. Qingduo Zeng & Tao Bing & Li Li & Yang Xu, 2024. "Data Factor and Financial Market Equilibrium," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(4), pages 663-677, March.
    23. Hong, Junjie & Shi, Fangyuan & Zheng, Yuhan, 2023. "Does network infrastructure construction reduce energy intensity? Based on the “Broadband China” strategy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    24. Wang, Jinxian & Wang, Yangjie & Sun, Cuicui & Chen, Xiaohong, 2021. "Does mandatory air quality information disclosure raise happiness? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    25. Guangya Zhou & Helian Xu & Chuanzeng Jiang & Shiqi Deng & Liming Chen & Zhi Zhang, 2024. "Has the Digital Economy Improved the Urban Land Green Use Efficiency? Evidence from the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone Policy," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-25, June.
    26. Yahong Liu & Hailian Sun & Lei Shi & Huimin Wang & Zhai Xiu & Xiao Qiu & Hong Chang & Yu Xie & Yang Wang & Chengjie Wang, 2021. "Spatial-Temporal Changes and Driving Factors of Land-Use Eco-Efficiency Incorporating Ecosystem Services in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, January.
    27. Wang, Qingxi & Hu, An & Tian, Zhihua, 2022. "Digital transformation and electricity consumption: Evidence from the Broadband China pilot policy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    28. Francesco Botticini & Armands Auzins & Peter Lacoere & Odette Lewis & Michela Tiboni, 2022. "Land Take and Value Capture: Towards More Efficient Land Use," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-28, January.
    29. Yanzhe Cui & Yingnan Niu & Yawen Ren & Shiyi Zhang & Lindan Zhao, 2024. "A Model to Analyze Industrial Clusters to Measure Land Use Efficiency in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-22, July.
    30. Engelberg, Joseph & Ozoguz, Arzu & Wang, Sean, 2018. "Know Thy Neighbor: Industry Clusters, Information Spillovers, and Market Efficiency," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(5), pages 1937-1961, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Saige Wang & Chenchen Zhai & Yunxiao Zhang, 2024. "Evaluating the Impact of Urban Digital Infrastructure on Land Use Efficiency Based on 279 Cities in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-24, March.
    2. Rui Ding & Fangcheng Sun, 2023. "Impact of River Chief System on Green Technology Innovation: Empirical Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-22, April.
    3. Wang, Ruqi & Xu, Pei & Gao, Honggui, 2024. "Rectifying local governments’ strategic environmental enforcement: Can refined air pollution monitoring enhance local air quality in China?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 978-995.
    4. Laiqun Jin & Xiuyan Liu & Sam Hak Kan Tang, 2021. "High-Technology Zones, Misallocation of Resources among Cities and Aggregate Productivity: Evidence from China," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 21-11, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    5. Guorong Chen & Changyan Liu, 2023. "Can Low–Carbon City Development Stimulate Population Growth? Insights from China’s Low–Carbon Pilot Program," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-22, October.
    6. Zhice Cheng & Xinyuan Chen & Huwei Wen, 2022. "How Does Environmental Protection Tax Affect Corporate Environmental Investment? Evidence from Chinese Listed Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-22, March.
    7. Liu, Cenjie & Fang, Jiayu & Xie, Rui, 2021. "Energy policy and corporate financial performance: Evidence from China's 11th five-year plan," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    8. Jiazhan Gao & Guihong Hua & Baofeng Huo, 2025. "Turning “green” into “gold”: A study on the impact of green finance pilot zone policy on energy carbon emission efficiency," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 129-143, February.
    9. Zhang, Yali & Li, Wenqi & Wu, Feng, 2020. "Does energy transition improve air quality? Evidence derived from China’s Winter Clean Heating Pilot (WCHP) project," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    10. Ubaldi Michele & Picchio Matteo, 2025. "Intergenerational Scars: The Impact of Parental Unemployment on Individual Health Later in Life," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 26(1), pages 35-70.
    11. 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.
    12. Guo, Qingbin & Zhong, Jinrong, 2022. "The effect of urban innovation performance of smart city construction policies: Evaluate by using a multiple period difference-in-differences model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    13. Neffke, Frank & Nedelkoska, Ljubica & Wiederhold, Simon, 2024. "Skill mismatch and the costs of job displacement," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(2).
    14. Feng Ye & Zhongna Yang & Mark Yu & Susan Watson & Ashley Lovell, 2023. "Can Market-Oriented Reform of Agricultural Subsidies Promote the Growth of Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity? Empirical Evidence from Maize in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, January.
    15. Jin, Laiqun & Cao, Kairui & Li, Jiaye & Xu, Qunfang, 2024. "Information infrastructure construction and optimization of resources allocation among firms: Evidence from “Broadband China” strategy," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 36-53.
    16. Li, Bo & Han, Yukai & Wang, Chensheng & Sun, Wei, 2022. "Did civilized city policy improve energy efficiency of resource-based cities? Prefecture-level evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    17. Fang, Zhenming & Kong, Xiaoran & Sensoy, Ahmet & Cui, Xin & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Government’s awareness of Environmental protection and corporate green innovation: A natural experiment from the new environmental protection law in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 294-312.
    18. Zhou, Di & Yin, Xiaoshuo & Xie, Dongchun, 2023. "Local governments’ environmental targets and green total factor productivity in Chinese cities," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    19. Miaomiao Tao & Pierre Failler & Lim Thye Goh & Wee Yeap Lau & Hanghang Dong & Liang Xie, 2022. "Quantify the Effect of China’s Emission Trading Scheme on Low-carbon Eco-efficiency: Evidence from China’s 283 Cities," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 27(6), pages 1-33, August.
    20. Jian Song & Jing Wang & Zhe Chen, 2022. "How Low-Carbon Pilots Affect Chinese Urban Energy Efficiency: An Explanation from Technological Progress," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-30, November.

    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:14:y:2025:i:5:p:990-:d:1648873. 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.