IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i8p3352-d1631280.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

New Urbanization and Low-Carbon Energy Transition in China: Coupling Coordination, Spatial–Temporal Differentiation, and Spatial Effects

Author

Listed:
  • Xin Wen

    (Sichuan Key Laboratory of Energy Security and Low-Carbon Development, Chengdu 610500, China
    School of Economics and Management, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China)

  • Xueqin Cao

    (School of Economics and Management, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China)

  • Longqing Wang

    (School of Economics and Management, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China)

  • Jiaxin Wen

    (School of Economics and Management, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China)

  • Zhibo Yu

    (Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company Natural Gas Economic Research Institute, Chengdu 610051, China)

Abstract

New urbanization (NU) and low-carbon energy transition (LCET) are important issues of Chinese-style modernization, with the necessity and possibility of coordinated development. By using panel data for 30 provinces from 2013 to 2022, this paper adopted the entropy method, principal component analysis, and coupled coordination model to evaluate the coupled coordination degree (CCD) of NU and LCET, and applied the Dagum Gini coefficient, kernel density estimation, and spatial Durbin model to reveal the regional differences and spatial effects of coupled coordination. Research found that the comprehensive levels of NU and LCET exhibit growing trends, with regional variations. The overall coupling coordination index steadily increased, accompanied by polarization. The intra-regional disparities are biggest in the west and smallest in the central region, while the inter-regional differences (except the central and northeast) show narrowing trends. The coupling coordination level shows a positive spillover effect. As for influencing factors, the levels of economic development, social consumption, energy consumption, and R&D intensity have an inhibitory effect on neighboring regions, while digital economy and environmental regulation intensity have a positive spatial spillover effect on neighboring provinces. Finally, countermeasures are proposed to promote the coordinated development of the two systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Xin Wen & Xueqin Cao & Longqing Wang & Jiaxin Wen & Zhibo Yu, 2025. "New Urbanization and Low-Carbon Energy Transition in China: Coupling Coordination, Spatial–Temporal Differentiation, and Spatial Effects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-28, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3352-:d:1631280
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3352/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3352/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xiaoying Xu & Xinxin Tian, 2023. "Dynamic Evolution and Trend Prediction in Coupling Coordination between Energy Consumption and Green Development in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Murshed, Muntasir & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2023. "Rethinking energy poverty reduction through improving electricity accessibility: A regional analysis on selected African nations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    3. Xie, Lunyu & Yan, Haosheng & Zhang, Shuhan & Wei, Chu, 2020. "Does urbanization increase residential energy use? Evidence from the Chinese residential energy consumption survey 2012," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    4. Yu, Binbin, 2021. "Ecological effects of new-type urbanization in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    5. Shao, Jun & Wang, Lianghu, 2023. "Can new-type urbanization improve the green total factor energy efficiency? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PB).
    6. Dagum, Camilo, 1997. "A New Approach to the Decomposition of the Gini Income Inequality Ratio," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 515-531.
    7. Cheng, Zhonghua & Wang, Lan, 2023. "Can new urbanization improve urban total-factor energy efficiency in China?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    8. Wang, Fayuan & Wang, Rong & He, Zhili, 2021. "The impact of environmental pollution and green finance on the high-quality development of energy based on spatial Dubin model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    9. Jing Peng & Yanhong Liu & Qi Wang & Guoping Tu & Xinjian Huang, 2021. "The Impact of New Urbanization Policy on In Situ Urbanization—Policy Test Based on Difference-in-Differences Model," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-16, February.
    10. Bin Xu and Boqiang Lin, 2023. "Investigating the Determinants of the Growth of the New Energy Industry: Using Quantile Regression Approach," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    11. Sher Khan & Muhammad Tariq Majeed, 2023. "Toward economic growth without emissions growth: the role of urbanization & industrialization in Pakistan," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 13(1), pages 43-58, March.
    12. Luo, Shunjun & Chishti, Muhammad Zubair & Beata, Szetela & Xie, Peijun, 2024. "Digital sparks for a greener future: Unleashing the potential of information and communication technologies in green energy transition," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    13. Suyi Kim, 2020. "The Effects of Foreign Direct Investment, Economic Growth, Industrial Structure, Renewable and Nuclear Energy, and Urbanization on Korean Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-14, February.
    14. Su, Xiang & Tan, Junlan, 2023. "Regional energy transition path and the role of government support and resource endowment in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    15. Runyuan Wang & Hong Ren & Weiguang Cai & Qingwei Shi, 2023. "Effects of various stages and modes of urbanization on building energy consumption intensity in China," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 66(6), pages 1147-1166, May.
    16. Motz, Alessandra, 2021. "Security of supply and the energy transition: The households' perspective investigated through a discrete choice model with latent classes," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    17. Zhanhang Zhou & Linjian Cao & Kuokuo Zhao & Dongliang Li & Ci Ding, 2021. "Spatio-Temporal Effects of Multi-Dimensional Urbanization on Carbon Emission Efficiency: Analysis Based on Panel Data of 283 Cities in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-20, December.
    18. Gianluca Egidi & Luca Salvati & Andrea Falcone & Giovanni Quaranta & Rosanna Salvia & Renata Vcelakova & Antonio Giménez-Morera, 2021. "Re-Framing the Latent Nexus between Land-Use Change, Urbanization and Demographic Transitions in Advanced Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-17, January.
    19. Schill, Wolf-Peter, 2020. "Electricity Storage and the Renewable Energy Transition," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 4(10), pages 2059-2064.
    20. Guofu Li & Xiue Zhang, 2023. "The Spatial–Temporal Characteristics and Driving Forces of the Coupled and Coordinated Development between New Urbanization and Rural Revitalization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-27, December.
    21. Ting-Huan Chang & Kung-Mien Ma & Ssu-Li Chang, 2024. "Towards green growth: Industry structure and energy transition in OECD countries," Energy & Environment, , vol. 35(2), pages 833-847, March.
    22. Tian, Jinfang & Yu, Longguang & Xue, Rui & Zhuang, Shan & Shan, Yuli, 2022. "Global low-carbon energy transition in the post-COVID-19 era," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    23. Ram, Manish & Osorio-Aravena, Juan Carlos & Aghahosseini, Arman & Bogdanov, Dmitrii & Breyer, Christian, 2022. "Job creation during a climate compliant global energy transition across the power, heat, transport, and desalination sectors by 2050," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PA).
    24. Sun, Shuyu & Tong, Kangkang, 2024. "Rural-urban inequality in energy use sufficiency and efficiency during a rapid urbanization period," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 364(C).
    25. Shengsheng Li & Yuanyuan Wang & Hasan Dincer & Serhat Yuksel & Dongyao Yu, 2023. "The Effects of New Urbanization Pilot City Policies on Urban Innovation: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-15, July.
    26. Wang, Qiang & Lin, Jian & Zhou, Kan & Fan, Jie & Kwan, Mei-Po, 2020. "Does urbanization lead to less residential energy consumption? A comparative study of 136 countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    27. James P. Lesage, 1997. "Bayesian Estimation of Spatial Autoregressive Models," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 20(1-2), pages 113-129, April.
    28. Sebastian Majewski & Urszula Mentel & Raufhon Salahodjaev & Marek Cierpiał-Wolan, 2022. "Electricity Consumption and Economic Growth: Evidence from South Asian Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-10, February.
    29. Bin Xu & Lin Boqiang, 2023. "Investigating the Determinants of the Growth of the New Energy Industry: Using Quantile Regression Approach," The Energy Journal, , vol. 44(2), pages 241-258, March.
    30. Feng, Yidai & Liu, Yaobin & Yuan, Huaxi, 2022. "The spatial threshold effect and its regional boundary of new-type urbanization on energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    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. Pengyang Zhang & Lewen Zhang & Dandan Han & Tingting Wang & He Zhu & Yongtao Chen, 2023. "Coupled and Coordinated Development of the Tourism Industry and Urbanization in Marginal and Less Developed Regions—Taking the Mountainous Border Areas of Western Yunnan as a Case Study," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-24, March.
    2. Cheng, Zhonghua & Wang, Lan, 2023. "Can new urbanization improve urban total-factor energy efficiency in China?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    3. Cheng Chen & Yajie Gao & Yidong Qin, 2023. "A Causal Relationship between the New-Type Urbanization and Energy Consumption in China: A Panel VAR Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-18, July.
    4. Feng, Yidai & Yuan, Huaxi & Liu, Yaobin & Zhang, Shaohui, 2023. "Does new-type urbanization policy promote green energy efficiency? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    5. Ren, Shenggang & Bao, Ruizhi & Gao, Zhengye, 2025. "Arrival of distant power: The impact of ultra-high voltage transmission projects on energy structure in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    6. Weisong Li & Zhenwei Wang & Zhibin Mao & Jiaxing Cui, 2022. "Spatially Non-Stationary Response of Carbon Emissions to Urbanization in Han River Ecological Economic Belt, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-15, December.
    7. Feng, Yidai & Yuan, Huaxi & Liu, Yaobin, 2023. "The energy-saving effect in the new transformation of urbanization," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 41-59.
    8. Liu Yang & Bingyang Han & Zhili Ma & Ting Wang & Yingchao Lin, 2022. "Analysis of the Urban Land Use Efficiency in the New-Type Urbanization Process of China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-22, July.
    9. Zhou, Di & Hu, Yanning & Xie, Dongchun & Sun, Qiong, 2023. "Land resource mismatch and energy efficiency: Evidence from 243 cities in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    10. Shi, Jian-hua & Han, Ying & Li, Xue-dong & Zhou, Jie-qi, 2022. "How does urbanization affect the direct rebound effect? Evidence from residential electricity consumption in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PE).
    11. Weiqiang Zhu & Yun Zhang, 2024. "Household Energy Clean Transition Mechanisms under Market Failures: A Government Financing Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-29, July.
    12. Qiucheng Li & Jiang Hu & Bolin Yu, 2021. "Spatiotemporal Patterns and Influencing Mechanism of Urban Residential Energy Consumption in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-17, June.
    13. Huang, Guobin & Zhang, Jie & Yu, Jian & Shi, Xunpeng, 2020. "Impact of transportation infrastructure on industrial pollution in Chinese cities: A spatial econometric analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    14. Yuqi Zhu & Siwei Shen & Linyu Du & Jun Fu & Jian Zou & Lina Peng & Rui Ding, 2023. "Spatial and Temporal Interaction Coupling of Digital Economy, New-Type Urbanization and Land Ecology and Spatial Effects Identification: A Study of the Yangtze River Delta," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-27, March.
    15. Zeng, Lijun & Du, Wenjing & Wang, Jinfeng & Hong, Weichen & Zhang, Jinsuo, 2024. "An evolutionary game analysis of new urbanization in mineral resource abundant regions in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    16. Hussain, Syed Asad & Razi, Faran & Hewage, Kasun & Sadiq, Rehan, 2023. "The perspective of energy poverty and 1st energy crisis of green transition," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    17. Domguia, Edmond Noubissi & Ngounou, Borice Augustin & Pondie, Thierry Messie & Bitoto, Fabrice Ewolo, 2024. "Environmental tax and energy poverty: An economic approach for an environmental and social solution," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    18. Erkul, Abdullah & Türköz, Kumru, 2024. "Green growth governance and total factor energy efficiency: Economic growth constraint and policy implementation in OECD countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    19. Xu, Aiting & Song, Miaoyuan & Wu, Yunguang & Luo, Yifan & Zhu, Yuhan & Qiu, Keyang, 2024. "Effects of new urbanization on China's carbon emissions: A quasi-natural experiment based on the improved PSM-DID model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    20. Qiangyi Li & Lan Yang & Fangxin Jiang & Yangqing Liu & Chenyang Guo & Shuya Han, 2022. "Distribution Characteristics, Regional Differences and Spatial Convergence of the Water-Energy-Land-Food Nexus: A Case Study of China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-28, September.

    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:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3352-:d:1631280. 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.