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Journal of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences ›› 2021, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (4): 486-493.DOI: 10.7523/j.issn.2095-6134.2021.04.007

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Spatiotemporal evolution of urban eco-efficiency in China and its influencing factors based on super-efficiency SBM model

YAN Tao, ZHANG Xiaoping, ZHAO Yanyan   

  1. College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2019-12-30 Revised:2020-05-30 Online:2021-07-15

Abstract: Urban eco-efficiency is an effective indicator to show the relationship between regional economic development and its impact on resources and environment. The spatiotemporal evolution of the eco-efficiency of 285 cities above the prefecture level in China from 2005 to 2017 was calculated by the super-efficiency SBM model containing the undesirable outputs. The panel regression models were further constructed to analyze the factors that significantly influenced the urban eco-efficiency. The conclusions are as follows. 1) The average urban eco-efficiency across China fluctuated slightly and showed a rising trend. 2) Even though the gap of eco-efficiency between cities decreased gradually from 2005 to 2017, the regional disparity in the whole country was still obvious. 3) The spatiotemporal pattern of urban eco-efficiency among different regions and cities has evolved significantly. The cities with higher ecological efficiency in 2005 were mainly distributed in the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, and Shandong Province. By contrast, the territorial ranges of cities with higher urban eco-efficiency in 2017 were greatly expanded. 4) Results from the regression models showed that factors as urbanization rate, economic development level, openness to foreign economies, science and technology investments, and industrial transition were important determinants promoting the urban eco-efficiency in China. Therefore, high priorities should be given to upgrade industrial structure, increase investments in science and technology, and reduce resources consumption and pollutants emissions when authorities make policies towards regional sustainable development.

Key words: eco-efficiency, super-efficiency SBM model, undesirable output, spatiotemporal evolution

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