Spatial difference analysis of water and sanitation in China's counties based on a spatial econometric model

Access to safe drinking water and sanitation are preconditions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which is beneficial to promote new urbanization construction accurately. However, the urbanization rate is still less than 25%. Comprehensive governance capacity and carrying capacity are still relatively weak. This study seeks to increase knowledge of spatial differences in water and sanitation in China's counties, which can reveal the living environment and health conditions of residents in different areas. Furthermore, studying the spatial distribution of water and sanitation facilities in different counties can help understand the development differences between urban and rural areas and narrow the gap between urban and rural. Therefore, four indicators of water supply, sewage disposal, garbage disposal, and public toilets as proxy indicators of water and sanitation were selected, and Moran's I was used to test the spatial correlation between county-level sanitation and economic conditions, government fiscal behavior, and social and geographical factors. This study exploited the inverse distance spatial weight matrix to implement the spatial spillover effect of water and sanitation according to the division of the east, middle, and west and four aspects of water supply, sewage disposal, garbage disposal, and public toilets in terms of per capita occupancy. We observed that there was no significant correlation between population density and county-level water, sanitation, and hygiene enhancement. Economic growth can promote the improvement of water and sanitation to a certain extent. The comparison results indicated that the level of urbanization and education had a positive spatial spillover effect on water and sanitation. The water and sanitation of the demonstration county was characterized by siphon, which occupied the water and sanitation development space of neighboring counties. The results of this study are of great significance to improve county-level water and sanitation facilities and narrow the gap between urban and rural.