Exploring Green Economic Efficiency Trends in Dominant Chinese Urban Agglomerations: A Super-Efficient SBM Model Approach

This study comprehensively explores China’s urban green economy through an indicator framework constructed using the super-efficient SBM model. We assess the green economic performance of 19 key urban economies, investigating their spatial and temporal dynamics and analyzing technological innovation’s influence. China’s advantageous city clusters show significant green economy growth, enhancing national quality. Anticipated outputs indicate rising GDP in these clusters, although their share of total national GDP declines. Unintended outputs, like wastewater and emissions, fluctuate, revealing distinctions among clusters. Temporal analysis (2009–2022) reveals a substantial rise in green economic efficiency, from 0.24 to 0.56, with an evident progressive trend. Notably, agglomerations with rapid economic growth and robust environmental governance, like the Yangtze River Delta, exhibit pronounced efficiency increases. Spatially, disparities in green economic efficiency emerge, concentrating high value along the eastern coast and lower value in the northwest and Northeast, following an east–west, north–south trend. This study deepens our understanding of China’s urban green economy, uncovering spatial–temporal dynamics and technological influences. Valuable implications for policymakers, economists, and sustainability practitioners inspire further exploration of green economic development within China’s urban landscape.