How Does Land Urbanization Promote CO2 Emissions Reduction? Evidence From Chinese Prefectural-Level Cities

作者：Maogang Tang, Fengxia Hu · 发表于：Frontiers in Environmental Science · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.3389/fenvs.2021.766839 · 被引用次数：24 · 研究领域：Energy, Environment, Economic Growth、Environmental Impact and Sustainability、Urban Transport and Accessibility

The process of land urbanization may result in a great change in land use structure, land use intensity, and efficiency, which could further lead to an increase in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. Despite rich literature on the link between urbanization and CO 2 emissions, the mechanism through which land urbanization promotes CO 2 emissions reductions has not been fully investigated. To address this gap, this study theoretically and empirically explores the mechanism of land urbanization’s influence on CO 2 emissions by integrating land use optimization and high-quality industrial development into a unified framework. Firstly, the theoretical mechanism analysis indicates that low-level industrial development and land use management promote the increase of CO 2 emissions per unit of land at the extensive land use stage; however, high-quality industrial development and land use optimization lower CO 2 emissions per unit of land at the intensive land use stage. Subsequently, a STIRPAT model and a spatial adaptive semi-parametric model are employed to verify the relationship between the land urbanization rate and total CO 2 emissions. The results indicate that the land urbanization rate and total CO 2 emissions present an inverted U-shaped relationship. In addition, the mediating mechanism of the advanced industrial structure, CO 2 emissions per unit of GDP, and CO 2 emissions per unit of land, are studied using the mediating effect model. Results indicate that CO 2 emissions r...