Does Suburbanization Cause Ecological Deterioration? An Empirical Analysis of Shanghai, China

Suburbanization in the US largely occurred to solve various urban problems; however, it has also caused many issues, such as the decline of central urban areas, the waste of land resources, and the deterioration of ecological environments in the suburbs. Therefore, the study of suburbanization has received considerable attention in academia. Scholars have argued that suburbanization leads to ecological deterioration. To examine this viewpoint, the authors analyzed spatial-temporal changes in the ambient environment, the soil environment, the water environment, and other ecological environments, as well as carbon emissions of the central urban areas and the suburbs, in the suburbanization process exemplified by Shanghai. The results showed that suburbanization indeed caused many changes in ecological and environmental quality, but that the overall environmental quality in the suburbs of Shanghai remained better than that in the central urban area. It is important not to exaggerate the negative impact of suburbanization in metropolitan areas on the quality of the surrounding ecological environments. However, great attention must be given to controlling the diffusion of pollutants resulting from industrial and population suburbanization. It is also crucial to continue strengthening ecological environmental remediation, improvement, and recovery in the central urban area, and to comprehensively promote the coordinated development of agricultural modernization, industrial aggregation, low-carbon urbanization, and ecological sustainability, in both urban and rural areas.