Public services and urban green development: Empirical evidence based on city-level data

Background: Foreign capital, a significant component of the contemporary export-oriented economy, helps to solve ecological and environmental issues and encourages the green transformation of urban development techniques. This study develops an assessment framework for urban green development using panel data from 80 cities in Central China between 2007 and 2022. Simultaneously, the impact of foreign capital on urban green development was tested through the mechanism of green technological innovation using the panel mediating effect model, and the impact of economic development level on the impact of foreign capital on the same was tested using the threshold effect model. The primary research findings are as follows: (1) Foreign capital has greatly enhanced urban green development in Central China; (2) Green technology innovation acts as a major mediating variable in the process by which foreign capital influences urban green development; (3) Economic development has a single threshold effect on foreign capital influencing urban green development. This article suggests that the government focus more on the prudent use of foreign capital in light of the findings above. The study's findings offer an empirical foundation for more effectively encouraging urban green development as well as some theoretical direction for the long-term growth of human society in underdeveloped nations or areas. Objective: The objective of this study is to explore the key factors affecting urban green development in Central China, including the direct impact of foreign capital, the mediating effect of green technology innovation and the threshold effect of economic development, with the aim of improving urban green development in Central China. Theoretical Framework: This study mainly refers to Sustainable Development Theory and Schumpeterian Innovation Theory. Because urban green development belongs to the category of sustainable development, and the mediating analysis in this article is consistent with Schumpeterian Innovation Theory. Method: The entropy method is used to measure the degree of urban green development. Baseline regression is used to analyze the direct impact of foreign capital on urban green development. The mediating model is used to analyze the mediating role of green technology innovation in the impact of foreign capital on urban green development. The threshold model is used to analyze the threshold effect of economic development on foreign capital in affecting urban green development. Results and Discussion: The results confirmed the hypothesis. First, foreign capital has a positive impact on urban green development. Second, green technology innovation plays a mediating role in the process of foreign capital affecting urban green development. Third, economic development plays a single threshold effect in the process of green technology innovation affecting urban green development.However, this study still has certain limitations. Because there are certain differences between official statistics and reality, and the indicators selected in this article are limited, they cannot fully reflect the actual results. Research Implications: The practical and theoretical implications of this research are discussed, providing new ideas for urban green development in Central China from the perspective of foreign capital. And the role of green technology innovation and economic development cannot be ignored. This is not only in line with the world theme of green and sustainable development, but also conducive to accelerating the internationalization process of Central China. And this research also provides theoretical support for green development in developing countries or regions. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by being based on official data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China and using a series of recognized empirical methods to study Central China's urban green development and key influencing factors. The value of this article is that it not only enriches the research on urban green development in Central China. It also provides a reference for green development and international development in other developing regions in China and other developing countries or regions around the world.

Full implementation of green urban planning and development has become the main theme of urban revival and development, but the construction and development of green infrastructure occupies a very important position in green urban development. Green infrastructure includes the micro-energy, high efficiency and low pollution engineering-form infrastructure and the urban green space network, which has at least the functions of improving urban environment and saving energy and reducing consumption. Factors restricting the planning and construction of green infrastructure have the changes in the philosophy of urban planning and design, green technological innovation and grant investment costs. However, because China is at the stage of urbanization and low carbon strategy development, there are still many opportunities. To accelerate the planning and construction of green infrastructure, it is necessary to take policies and measures on relevant standards and specifications, green assessments and audits, taxation and financial support and other aspects.

Urban green development has become a crucial approach for balancing ecological conservation and socio-economic development. The digital economy (DE) and new-type urbanization (NTU), as technological and social systems, respectively, are both driving urban green development. In this context, furthering their synergistic effects could substantially improve urban sustainability outcomes. Grounded in sociotechnical systems theory, this study applied pooled and multi-period fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze urban green development pathways in 79 Yellow River Basin cities (2020–2022). The pooled fsQCA indicates that urban green development is driven by synergistic interaction within the NTU-DE subsystem, especially industrial digitalization–spatial urbanization. The multi-period fsQCA further demonstrates that industrial digitization has always existed as a core condition, which means that it plays a more general role. In addition, the Yellow River Basin exhibits distinct regional variations in urban green development, where the downstream region is dominantly driven by DE and spatial urbanization, the upstream region by industrial digitization, and the midstream region demonstrates diversified pathways. This study enhances understanding of complex system interactions in urban green development and provides policy-relevant insights. For policy implementation, local governments should not only prioritize effective synergies between industrial digitization and spatial urbanization but also develop differentiated strategies for the DE and NTU subsystems based on local conditions.

Spatial division of labor, specialization of green technology innovation process and urban coordinated green development: Evidence from China

The convergence of digitalization and greening is emerging as a focal point for scholars. Existing research has predominantly examined the linear effects of these two factors at the provincial and municipal levels, with scant attention paid to their non-linear relationship or to the heterogeneity within urban agglomerations. This study employs a panel regression with two-way fixed effects based on data from 280 Chinese cities spanning 2011 to 2019. The results indicate that in the short term, the negative externalities and “digital divide” arising from digitalization may impede urban green development. Over the medium to long run, once digitalization reaches maturity it overcomes these frictions and becomes a net driver of green progress. Specifically, a 1 % increase in the level of digital economic development will elevate the level of urban green development by 0.0159 %. The promotion of urban green development by the digital economy exhibits heterogeneous effects, with key urban agglomerations, economically developed cities in the eastern region, and high-tier cities exhibiting positive effects. The implementation of the policy of “Innovative Cities” has also significantly enhanced the urban green development of pilot cities. Finally, this study proposes policy recommendations to strengthen the digital economy development and implement green development strategies tailored to local conditions.

The built urban infrastructure which includes the various types of residential and commercial buildings, the parking and public transport network, water and electricity networks, and delivery mechanisms determine the energy use and carbon emissions of our city.At Building level, controlling resultant GHG emissions could be done through measures such as better insulation, more efficient heating and cooling systems, and the installation of rooftops solar photovoltaics. IFC’s EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) certification has addressed the need for a mass market tool to identify such opportunities and provides third-party validation of achievement of resource efficiency in buildings. EDGE certification rewards developers who implement strategies to reduce energy and water use in their buildings and embodied energy in materials.At Precinct level, dense, mixed use urban developments that are close to public transit nodes give people convenient, less polluting transportation options while maximising resource use and improving their access to more job opportunities and higher quality of life. To encourage such “Green Urban Developments,” IFC is piloting a new concept to quantify urban strategies such as location, transportation options, achievement of optimum density, overall configuration, planning, and layout to reduce waste all the while ensuring comfort and affordability. The aim is to influence private and public-sector developers to choose “Green Urban Development” design options early in the project planning process.This paper presents a methodology for calculating GHG impacts of the site and horizontal infrastructure options for an Urban Development and explains the benefits and challenges of putting such a concept into practice.

The traditional development model of high consumption and low efficiency approaches the threshold of resource and environmental carrying capacity, bringing a series of severe social and ecological environmental problems, and it is urgent to realize green development transformation. Based on a multidimensional perspective, this paper constructed a comprehensive evaluation system for urban green development along the Yellow River Basin (YRB). Entropy method, exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) model, and trend analysis were used to measure and characterize the spatiotemporal evolution of urban green development index (UGDI) along the YRB in 2008, 2013, and 2018, and geographically weighted regression (GWR) model was used to explore the influencing factors of urban green development. The results are as follows: (1) the UGDI along the YRB showed a slow upward trend, but the absolute value was relatively low, mainly concentrated in 0.2699–0.3799. (2) The UGDI had obvious regional differences, and cities such as Baotou and Zibo showed a “high‐high” agglomeration, while most cities in the midstream showed a “low‐low” agglomeration, and in terms of space, they were “high in the east and west, low in the middle” and “high in the north and low in the south.” (3) Influencing factors had different degrees of impact on the UGDI. Economic, industrial, urbanization, and green infrastructure factors played a positive role in promoting the urban green development, while the relationship between governance, technological factors, and green development varies from city to city.

Urbanisation is taking place at an unprecedented rate throughout the world, often outpacing plans and the capacity of city managers. As a result, natural open space areas in cities are being degraded and diminished, and problems such as flooding, air and water pollution are getting worse. The environmental problems associated with increased hardened surfaces and the loss of natural areas and ecosystem services are particularly acute in developing country cities, where a lack of regulation and resources has led to poor planning, the expansion of informal settlements in highrisk, marginal areas, and the inability to adequately manage the quantity and quality of surface water flows. While conventional storm water conveyance measures contribute to reducing flooding impacts, they have not been able to keep ahead of the problem and have also contributed to pollution and degradation of downstream aquatic systems. However, great strides have been made in the design of more sustainable engineering mechanisms to dealwith urban flooding and water quality problems, andthe management and planning of cities is increasinglyfocusing on a more holistic approach that includes theconservation of natural areas as part of a green urban development (GUD) strategy. A GUD strategy does notonly focus on surface water issues but also involves the maintenance of natural open space areas for recreationwhich is essential for human health and well being.One of the challenges of green urban development will be to find the right balance between natural, seminatural,innovative and conventional built infrastructure. Understanding the costs and benefits associated with the different types of measures is important and requires careful consideration of their potential benefits and cost effectiveness in managing urban environmental problems. Durban, located within the eThekwini Municipality onthe east coast of South Africa, is rich in biodiversity, butfaces a number of environmental and developmental challenges. Green urban development is an approach that aimsto minimize the impacts of urbanization on the environment, and tackles the core problems of pollution and waste, the consumption of natural resources, theloss of urban open space and the degradation and loss of biodiversity, as well as mitigation of the urban contribution to climate change. In addition to a range of policy interventions, this involves investing in naturalcapital as well as use of green structural engineering and conventional grey infrastructure. Green urban development includes (1) sanitation services and regulations to minise pollution, (2) applying “green engineering” approaches to urban problems such as stormwater management, (3) controlling consumption and carbon emissions, (4) protecting natural assets and(5) maintaining parks, street trees and gardens.The study involved modelling current flooding and water quality in the Umhlatuzana - Umbilo catchment,and determining the change in water quality and flood hydrographs under a series of hypothetical scenarios inwhich the past development of the area had involved different combinations and extents of green urban development measures including better sanitation,stormwater management and conservation measures.

New green theories of urban development in China

This article studies the relationship between green transportation and urban sustainable development from the perspective of urban sustainable development, and discusses in detail the theory, design and implementation of green transportation system construction based on urban sustainable development, and believes that green transportation is a city. An important component of sustainable development plays an important role in promoting its development. In the analysis of existing research materials, it discusses how urban development should create an environment and conditions for the development of green transportation from the aspects of planning, policy, awareness, technology, management and internal and external coordination. It also proposes scientific planning of urban development and improving urban land utilisation, and other suggestions to better promote the development of urban green transportation, improve the role of green transportation in the process of urban sustainable development, and put forward corresponding countermeasures.

"The structural differences and nature of the social, economic and environmental challenges of small and medium-sized cities of the Republic of Belarus demand to address the Green Urban Development in a locally tailored manner. The importance of climate adaptation and mitigation at the global level finds its contextualization in the new practice of the strategic sustainable development planning that was introduced by the Green Cities Project. The paper describes the research in progress regarding basic trends for territorial urban development in the future. It analyzes three spatial strategies for the cities of Navahrudak, Polatsk and Navapolatsk which were elaborated by the Green City Project as a structural part of the Green Urban Development Plan – a local strategy that integrated energy consumption and CO2 emissions reduction with spatial development. The main objects of the study are the spatial elements of the “sustainable urban development” paradigm: “land use”, “density”, “transport and mobility”, “public and green spaces”, “spatial model”. The article argues that globally accepted spatial models of sustainable cities appear to match with the Belarusian context with necessary adjustments under the influence of some external and internal factors. Finally, the paper offers key directions for advancing green urban development in Belarus."

This paper focuses on the green urban development paradigm. Its inspiration is the work of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). It cites perspectives developed by GGGI HQ in Seoul, Korea, enriched by its praxis in Uganda. The latter is through the European Union (EU) funded project, greening urbanisation and industrialisation (2020-24). The argument is in five sections, beyond its introduction and conclusion. Firstly is the green policy impact with an urban bias. Secondly is the green practical impact, explicitly urban, from a responsive institutional perspective. Thirdly, the responsive description is taken to the smart city idea. Fourthly is infrastructure, specifically its shaping or reinforcing urban form. Finally is superstructure—in this case, green buildings. Each section is offered as a step towards a greater appreciation and potential application of green urban development.

This paper uses a double difference method to examine the impact of civilized city policies on urban green total factor productivity and its mechanism of action using Chinese city-level data from 2005 to 2021. The study finds that the civilized city policy promotes urban green development. The mechanism test finds that the civilized city policy achieves urban green development by strengthening government investment in environmental governance, optimizing industrial structure upgrading, and promoting urban innovation. The moderating mechanism finds that economic growth targets and environmental regulations influence the green growth effect of civilized city policy. Heterogeneity analysis found that the green growth effect of civilized cities has an asymmetric relationship in the east-central region, in areas with lower population density, and was more pronounced in cities with high human capital, high local government financial autonomy, and high levels of information technology.

The concept of socio-hydrology was applied in this study to explore the interaction between urban development and water-related hazards in Can Tho using both primary and secondary data. The results showed that water-related hazards tend to increase. Many drivers are identified including both social and hydrological. The trend of water level at Can Tho station (mid-stream) in the last 20 years has a positive relationship with down-stream (Dai Ngai station), and a negative relationship with up-stream (Chau Doc station). It means that sea level rise has increasingly affected the water regime in Can Tho. Heavy short duration rainfall also contributes to urban floods. Moreover, social drivers as human behaviors and uncontrolled urban development also increase the risk. Therefore, to minimize the impacts of water-related hazards it is necessary to take into account a combination of hard measures and soft measures. Green urban development which shows potential for improving the quality of ecosystem services and provide opportunities for urban dwellers to reconnect with nature should be promoted for disaster risk reduction.

Digital transformation has become one of the key driving forces behind global economic development. Concurrently, there is growing recognition of the importance of green finance as a critical tool for promoting sustainable development and facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy. While previous studies have acknowledged the contribution of digital technologies to financial innovation, there is a lack of comprehensive examination from the perspective of the intersection between green finance and digital transformation. In this study,the difference-in- difference method to systematically evaluate the impact of digital transformation on the development of urban green finance. Our findings demonstrate that digital transformation has consistently stimulated the growth of urban green finance, leading to a significant increase of approximately 1.42% in the Urban Green Finance Development Index. Moreover, the policies exhibit sustained effects and spatial spillover. Additionally, digital transformation significantly influences the development of urban green finance by local fiscal autonomy mechanism, institutional environments, and resource inputs. From a spatial distribution perspective, the impact of digital transformation on urban green finance development follows the pattern of the eastern region > central region > western region region, with regional synergy effects enhancing the influence of cross-regional digital transformation strategies on urban green finance development. This paper provides a theoretical foundation and practical guidance for the discussion of sustainable financial transformation and policy effects. Additionally, it serves as a practical reference for other developing countries in implementing digital transformation policies, further promoting sustainable development and the realization of a low-carbon economy.