Can Land System Innovation Promote the Improvement of Green Land Use Efficiency in Urban Land—Evidence from China’s Pilot Reform of the Approval System for Urban Construction Land

Land serves as a crucial repository of resource elements, and enhancing the green use efficiency of urban land (GUEUL) is essential for attaining sustainable development. Based on 296 cities in China from 2006 to 2022, this study explored the relationship between land system innovation and GUEUL by integrating multi-source data, ArcGIS analysis, the EBM-DEA model, and the DID model, and elucidating the temporal trend and spatial utilization characteristics of GUEUL in China. Based on the natural experimental scenario of the pilot reform of China’s urban construction land use approval system, this study finds through in-depth analysis of the double-difference model that the vertical transfer of land approval authority has fundamentally optimized the development pattern of GUEUL, and that this positive impact is mainly reflected in two dimensions: on the one hand, it reduces the systematic transaction costs, and on the other hand, it enhances the density of industrial spatial agglomeration. Second, the lower the initial level of infrastructure and the lower the degree of dependence on land finance, the more significant the decentralization of land approval power in the promotion of GUEUL. Currently, China is undergoing a swift phase of urbanization and industrialization, and this study provides policy support for improving the comprehensive efficiency of green land use and promoting high-quality and sustainable development of the region.