Examining the Decoupling of Economic Growth with Land Expansion and Carbon Emissions in Zhejiang Province, China

Zepan Li, Zhangwei Lu (), Lihua Xu, Yijun Shi, Qiwei Ma, Yaqi Wu, Yu Cao and Boyuan Sheng
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Zepan Li: School of Landscape Architecture, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou 311000, China
Zhangwei Lu: School of Landscape Architecture, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou 311000, China
Lihua Xu: School of Landscape Architecture, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou 311000, China
Yijun Shi: School of Landscape Architecture, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou 311000, China
Qiwei Ma: School of Landscape Architecture, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou 311000, China
Yaqi Wu: School of Landscape Architecture, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou 311000, China
Yu Cao: School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
Boyuan Sheng: School of Landscape Architecture, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou 311000, China

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-21

Abstract: Coordinating the interrelationships among economic growth, land resource utilization, and carbon emissions is critical for promoting high-quality economic growth and achieving sustainable urban progress. According to the gravity model and the Tapio decoupling model, this study examined the decoupling relationships of economic growth with land expansion and carbon emissions in Zhejiang Province during the period of 2002–2017. We found that (1) The economic gravity center and the built-up area gravity center generally shifted towards the northwest; however, the carbon emission gravity center initially shifted towards the northwest and then towards the southwest. The spatial coupling between the economic gravity center and the built-up area gravity center exhibited a tendency of ‘first weakening, then strengthening, and last weakening’, whereas the spatial coupling between the economic gravity center and the carbon emission gravity center displayed a tendency of ‘first strengthening and then weakening’. (2) The decoupling of economic growth and land expansion is weak at every stage with effective controls on land expansion. However, in recent years, the phenomenon of ‘expansive negative decoupling’ has become prevalent in counties and cities surrounding the central city. The decoupling of economic growth and carbon emissions steadily increased at each stage, first ‘expansive coupling and expansive negative decoupling’, then ‘weak decoupling’, and finally ‘strong decoupling’. The urban low-carbon transformation effect is remarkable. (3) Zhejiang Province should prioritize addressing the regional imbalance and state instability in the decoupling relationships. It is crucial to comprehensively consider the natural resource endowment, macro-policy factors, and urban development orientation of counties and cities while implementing differentiated planning and control strategies, which will promote regional coordination and comprehensive, high-quality development in all areas.

Keywords: economic growth; land expansion; carbon emissions; migration of gravity centers; decoupling relationship; Zhejiang Province (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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