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Designating National Forest Cities in China: Does the policy improve the urban living environment?

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  • Zhang, Yingjie
  • Zhang, Tianzheng
  • Zeng, Yingxiang
  • Cheng, Baodong
  • Li, Hongxun

Abstract

Urban green space improves people's living environment in cities. The Chinese government has been designating National Forest Cities (NFC) for almost two decades. By taking advantage of a large panel dataset of 265 cities from 2013 to 2017 and appropriate econometric methods, we evaluate the impacts of the NFC designation. It is found that after controlling the confounding effects of other factors, the designation increases total green space by 7.5%, per-capita green areas by 10.9%, and green coverage rate by 1.0%, and it reduces PM2.5 by 3%, compared to the matched cities that have not been designated. Also, the designation's effects are heterogeneous. The designation improves the urban green space in cities with a high level of economic activity or population density, but it enhances air quality only in cities with a low level of economic activity or population density; likewise, it has a more pronounced effect on urban green space in cities where its base level is low, and in the southeastern region. These empirical results are of broad academic and policy relevance.

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  • Zhang, Yingjie & Zhang, Tianzheng & Zeng, Yingxiang & Cheng, Baodong & Li, Hongxun, 2021. "Designating National Forest Cities in China: Does the policy improve the urban living environment?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:125:y:2021:i:c:s138993412100006x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2021.102400
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    1. Chizhi Ma & Weiming Song & Chang Xu, 2023. "Factors Influencing Resident Satisfaction with Afforestation in the Plains: Beijing as a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-12, April.
    2. Federica Leone & Ala Hasan & Francesco Reda & Hassam ur Rehman & Fausto Carmelo Nigrelli & Francesco Nocera & Vincenzo Costanzo, 2023. "Supporting Cities towards Carbon Neutral Transition through Territorial Acupuncture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-31, February.
    3. He, Wenjian & Cheng, Yu & Lin, Ying & Zhang, Hongxiao, 2022. "Microeconomic effects of designating National Forest Cities: Evidence from China's publicly traded manufacturing companies," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    4. Chen Wang & Juanjuan Cao & Jing Wen, 2024. "Calculation and Cause Analysis of Hidden Unemployment—A Case Study of the Northeast State-Owned Forest Areas in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-19, March.
    5. Hao Chen & Juanjuan Cao & Hongge Zhu & Yufang Wang, 2022. "Understanding Household Vulnerability and Relative Poverty in Forestry Transition: A Study on Forestry-Worker Families in China’s Greater Khingan Mountains State-Owned Forest Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, April.
    6. Ai, Hongshan & Zhou, Zhengqing, 2023. "Green growth: The impact of urban forest construction on economic growth in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    7. Liang Chun Lu & Yung-ho Chiu & Shih-Yung Chiu & Tzu-Han Chang, 2022. "Do Forests help environmental development of Cities in China?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 6602-6629, May.

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