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Spatial Differences in and Influences upon the Sustainable Development Level of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration in China

Author

Listed:
  • Mingdou Zhang

    (School of Public Administration, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian 116025, China)

  • Hang Xiao

    (School of Public Administration, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian 116025, China)

  • Dongqi Sun

    (Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China)

  • Yu Li

    (Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China)

Abstract

Based on new data from 2006–2015, we used the entropy method and panel data regression to analyze the spatial difference and influences on the level of sustainable development within China’s Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration. The main findings are: (1) During the 2006–2015 period, the sustainable development level of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration was generally low, with 69% of its cities in a phase of low-level sustainable development; however, notable spatial variation in the levels of urban sustainable development occurred mainly along the “Hu-Ning-He-Hang-Yong development belt”, with a spatial distribution that was “high in the middle and low on all sides”. (2) The industrial structure, export dependence, and land-use efficiency all had positive impacts, whereas economic growth had a negative impact, on the sustainable development level of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration. (3) For the super large city, export dependence positively impacted the urban sustainable development level; for the large city, both export dependence and land-use efficiency had a positive influence, while the regulation of government had a negative influence on the urban sustainable development level; for the medium-sized city, export dependence and land-use efficiency positively influenced the urban sustainable development level, but economic growth and the regulation by government negatively influenced it.

Suggested Citation

  • Mingdou Zhang & Hang Xiao & Dongqi Sun & Yu Li, 2018. "Spatial Differences in and Influences upon the Sustainable Development Level of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:411-:d:130326
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    2. Lei Wan & Huiyu Liu & Haibo Gong & Yujia Ren, 2020. "Effects of Climate and Land Use changes on Vegetation Dynamics in the Yangtze River Delta, China Based on Abrupt Change Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, March.
    3. Hongyan Shen & Fei Teng & Jinping Song, 2018. "Evaluation of Spatial Balance of China’s Regional Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Siliang Guo & Heng Ma, 2022. "Can the Spatial Function Division of Urbanization Promote Regional Coordinated Development? Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-28, June.
    5. Xu, Hengzhou & Jiao, Man, 2021. "City size, industrial structure and urbanization quality—A case study of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Lu Bai & Yan Chen & Yaping Cui & Chunting Feng & Chen Wu & Bingran Ma & Weiyang Zhao & Chenxingyu Duan & Wei Wang, 2025. "Evaluating the Sustainable Development Level of Local Communities Within Hunan Nanshan National Park, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, August.
    7. Qiuqiu Guo & Xiaoyu Ma, 2023. "How Does the Digital Economy Affect Sustainable Urban Development? Empirical Evidence from Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-21, February.
    8. Xufeng Zhang & Yanliang Liu & Akmaral Tleubergenova & Jin-Song Liu & Ru Fan & Yun-En Tang & Xiang-Zhou Meng, 2022. "Evaluation of Urban Sustainability Based on Development Structures and Economic Aggregates: A Case Study of Jiaxing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-16, August.
    9. Rui Ding & Jun Fu & Yiling Zhang & Ting Zhang & Jian Yin & Yiming Du & Tao Zhou & Linyu Du, 2022. "Research on the Evolution of the Economic Spatial Pattern of Urban Agglomeration and Its Influencing Factors, Evidence from the Chengdu-Chongqing Urban Agglomeration of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-19, September.
    10. Xing, Menglin & Liu, Xiaojun & Luo, Fuzhou, 2023. "How does the development of urban agglomeration affect the electricity efficiency of resource-based cities?—An empirical research based on the fsQCA method," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).

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