IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i24p4936-d294746.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Asymmetrically Spatial Effects of Urban Scale and Agglomeration on Haze Pollution in China

Author

Listed:
  • Qingyu Fan

    (School of Geographic Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
    Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing 210023, China)

  • Shan Yang

    (School of Geographic Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
    Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing 210023, China)

  • Shuaibin Liu

    (School of Civil Architecture, Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, Zhengzhou 450000, China)

Abstract

Rapid urbanization in China not only promotes the rapid expansion of urban population and economic agglomeration, but also causes the aggravation of haze pollution. In order to better clarify the asymmetric and nonlinear effects of urban scale and agglomeration on haze pollution, this paper quantitatively evaluates the spatial spillover effects of population size and economic agglomeration on haze pollution in 342 Chinese cities from 2001 to 2016 by using exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and spatial econometric model. The results show the following: (1) During the research period, the distribution of urban scale, agglomeration, and haze pollution in China presented complex asymmetrical features, with the former two presenting a “core–periphery” distribution mode, while the latter having a tendency to spread around. In addition, under the influence of urban population size and economic agglomeration, haze pollution in Chinese cities presents significant spatial autocorrelation, with the agglomeration degrees showing a fluctuating upward trend during the study period. (2) Both urban scale and urban agglomeration have positive global spatiotemporal correlation with haze pollution. Local spatial correlation features are more obvious in China’s emerging urban agglomerations like Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei and Yangtze River Delta. (3) The spatial effects of haze pollution are better evaluated by spatial Durbin model (SDM) with spatial fixed effects, obtaining a coefficient of 0.416, indicating haze in neighboring cities affected each other and had significant spillover. By decomposing the effect of urban scale and agglomeration on haze as direct and indirect effects, the direct effect of urban population size and the indirect effect of urban economic agglomeration are found to be more prominent, reflecting that significant asymmetrical characteristics exist in the spatial effects of urban size and agglomeration on urban haze. (4) Among the control variables that affect China’s rapid urbanization, the level of urban economic development has a positive effect on haze pollution, while the high-level industrial structure and improved technical level can effectively reduce haze pollution. Continuous decline of haze concentration of Chinese cities in recent years has been indicating the spatial relationships between haze and urban size and agglomeration have a decoupling trend. The findings contribute to theory by emphasizing the spillover effect and spatial heterogeneities of geographical factors, and have implications for policy makers to deal with haze pollution reasonably and effectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Qingyu Fan & Shan Yang & Shuaibin Liu, 2019. "Asymmetrically Spatial Effects of Urban Scale and Agglomeration on Haze Pollution in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-18, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:24:p:4936-:d:294746
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/24/4936/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/24/4936/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Glaeser, Edward L. & Kahn, Matthew E., 2010. "The greenness of cities: Carbon dioxide emissions and urban development," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 404-418, May.
    2. Fodha, Mouez & Zaghdoud, Oussama, 2010. "Economic growth and pollutant emissions in Tunisia: An empirical analysis of the environmental Kuznets curve," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 1150-1156, February.
    3. Gene M. Grossman & Alan B. Krueger, 1995. "Economic Growth and the Environment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 353-377.
    4. List, John A. & Co, Catherine Y., 2000. "The Effects of Environmental Regulations on Foreign Direct Investment," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 1-20, July.
    5. Lichun Xiong & Martin De Jong & Fengting Wang & Baodong Cheng & Chang Yu, 2018. "Spatial Spillover Effects of Environmental Pollution in China’s Central Plains Urban Agglomeration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, March.
    6. Lijian Han & Weiqi Zhou & Weifeng Li, 2018. "Growing Urbanization and the Impact on Fine Particulate Matter (PM 2.5 ) Dynamics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-9, May.
    7. Cai-Rong Lou & Hong-Yu Liu & Yu-Feng Li & Yu-Ling Li, 2016. "Socioeconomic Drivers of PM 2.5 in the Accumulation Phase of Air Pollution Episodes in the Yangtze River Delta of China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-19, September.
    8. Matthew A. Cole & Eric Neumayer, 2003. "Examining the Impact of Demographic Factors On Air Pollution," Labor and Demography 0312005, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 13 May 2004.
    9. Siqi Zheng & Matthew E. Kahn, 2017. "A New Era of Pollution Progress in Urban China?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 71-92, Winter.
    10. Yafei Wang & Meng Liao & Yafei Wang & Arunima Malik & Lixiao Xu, 2019. "Carbon Emission Effects of the Coordinated Development of Two-Way Foreign Direct Investment in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-24, April.
    11. J. Paul Elhorst, 2003. "Specification and Estimation of Spatial Panel Data Models," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 26(3), pages 244-268, July.
    12. Ji, Xi & Yao, Yixin & Long, Xianling, 2018. "What causes PM2.5 pollution? Cross-economy empirical analysis from socioeconomic perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 458-472.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yu Song & Bingrui Liu & Xiaohong Chen & Jia Liu, 2020. "Atmospheric Pollution Mapping of the Yangtze River Basin: An AQI-Based Weighted Co-Word Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Zhidong Liu & Yang Cai & Xiaojing Hao, 2020. "The Agglomeration of Manufacturing Industry, Innovation and Haze Pollution in China: Theory and Evidence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-28, March.
    3. Zou, Guojian & Lai, Ziliang & Li, Ye & Liu, Xinghua & Li, Wenxiang, 2022. "Exploring the nonlinear impact of air pollution on housing prices: A machine learning approach," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    4. Chun Li & Xingwu Duan, 2020. "Exploration of Urban Interaction Features Based on the Cyber Information Flow of Migrant Concern: A Case Study of China’s Main Urban Agglomerations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-20, June.
    5. Yunling Ye & Sheng Ye & Haichao Yu, 2021. "Can Industrial Collaborative Agglomeration Reduce Haze Pollution? City-Level Empirical Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-22, February.
    6. Biao Sun & Shan Yang, 2020. "Asymmetric and Spatial Non-Stationary Effects of Particulate Air Pollution on Urban Housing Prices in Chinese Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-23, October.

    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. Castells-Quintana, David & Dienesch, Elisa & Krause, Melanie, 2021. "Air pollution in an urban world: A global view on density, cities and emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    2. Sapkota, Pratikshya & Bastola, Umesh, 2017. "Foreign direct investment, income, and environmental pollution in developing countries: Panel data analysis of Latin America," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 206-212.
    3. Charfeddine, Lanouar, 2017. "The impact of energy consumption and economic development on Ecological Footprint and CO2 emissions: Evidence from a Markov Switching Equilibrium Correction Model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 355-374.
    4. Wang, Yafei & Liao, Meng & Wang, Yafei & Xu, Lixiao & Malik, Arunima, 2021. "The impact of foreign direct investment on China's carbon emissions through energy intensity and emissions trading system," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Onafowora, Olugbenga A. & Owoye, Oluwole, 2014. "Bounds testing approach to analysis of the environment Kuznets curve hypothesis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 47-62.
    6. Zhao, Jing & Zhao, Ziru & Zhang, Huan, 2021. "The impact of growth, energy and financial development on environmental pollution in China: New evidence from a spatial econometric analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    7. Moon-Jung Kim & Yu-Sang Chang & Su-Min Kim, 2021. "Impact of Income, Density, and Population Size on PM 2.5 Pollutions: A Scaling Analysis of 254 Large Cities in Six Developed Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-30, August.
    8. Zhimin Zhou & Xinyue Ye & Xiangyu Ge, 2017. "The Impacts of Technical Progress on Sulfur Dioxide Kuznets Curve in China: A Spatial Panel Data Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-27, April.
    9. Wang, Shaojian & Xie, Zihan & Wu, Rong & Feng, Kuishang, 2022. "How does urbanization affect the carbon intensity of human well-being? A global assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    10. Wang, Yuan & Han, Rong & Kubota, Jumpei, 2016. "Is there an Environmental Kuznets Curve for SO2 emissions? A semi-parametric panel data analysis for China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1182-1188.
    11. Nicole Grunewald & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso, 2009. "Driving Factors of Carbon Dioxide Emissions and the Impact from Kyoto Protocol," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 190, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    12. George Halkos & Iacovos Psarianos, 2016. "Exploring the effect of including the environment in the neoclassical growth model," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 18(3), pages 339-358, July.
    13. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz, 2017. "Trade and Environmental Quality in African Countries: Do Institutions Matter?," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 43(1), pages 155-172, January.
    14. Tamazian, Artur & Bhaskara Rao, B., 2010. "Do economic, financial and institutional developments matter for environmental degradation? Evidence from transitional economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 137-145, January.
    15. Edy Yusuf Agung Gunanto & Tri Wahyu & Jaka Aminata & Banatul Hayati, 2021. "Convergence CO2 Emission in ASEAN Countries: Augmented Green Solow Model Approach," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(5), pages 572-578.
    16. Opoku, Eric Evans Osei & Boachie, Micheal Kofi, 2020. "The environmental impact of industrialization and foreign direct investment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    17. Florian Grosset & Phu Nguyen Van, 2016. "Consommation d’énergie et croissance économique en Afrique subsaharienne," Mondes en développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(4), pages 25-42.
    18. Shu-Hong Wang & Ma-Lin Song & Tao Yu, 2019. "Hidden Carbon Emissions, Industrial Clusters, and Structure Optimization in China," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 54(4), pages 1319-1342, December.
    19. Jun Bai & Shixiang Li & Nan Wang & Jianru Shi & Xianmin Li, 2020. "Spatial Spillover Effect of New Energy Development on Economic Growth in Developing Areas of China—An Empirical Test Based on the Spatial Dubin Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-17, April.
    20. Llorca, Manuel & Rodriguez-Alvarez, Ana, 2024. "Economic, environmental, and energy equity convergence: Evidence of a multi-speed Europe?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).

    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:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:24:p:4936-:d:294746. 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.