Do Compactness and Poly-Centricity Mitigate PM 10 Emissions? Evidence from Yangtze River Delta Area

Jing Tao, Ying Wang, Rong Wang and Chuanmin Mi
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Jing Tao: College of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China
Ying Wang: College of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China
Rong Wang: School of Economics and Management, Nanjing Institute of Technology, Nanjing 211167, China
Chuanmin Mi: College of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-18

Abstract: The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region is one of the most densely populated and economically developed areas in China, which provides an ideal environment with which to study the various strategies, such as compact and polycentric development advocated by researchers to reduce air pollution. Using the data of YRD cities from 2011–2017, the spatial durbin model (SDM) is presented to investigate how compactness (in terms of urban density, jobs-housing balance, and urban centralization) and poly-centricity (in terms of the number of centers and polycentric cluster) affect PM 10 emissions. After controlling some variables, the results suggest that more jobs-housing-balanced and centralized compactness tends to decrease emissions, while poly-centricity by developing too many centers is expected to result in more pollutant emissions. The effect of high-density compactness is more controversial. In addition, for cities with more private car ownerships (>10 million within cities), enhancing the polycentric cluster by achieving a more balanced population distribution between the traditional centers and sub-centers could reduce emissions, whereas this mitigated emissions effect may be limited. The difference between our study and western studies suggests that the correlation between high-density compactness and air pollution vary with the specific characteristics and with spatial planning implications, as this paper concludes.

Keywords: PM 10 emissions; compactness; poly-centricity; vehicle mile travelled; congestion; Yangtze River Delta (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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