Economic Growth Does Not Mitigate Its Decoupling Relationship with Urban Greenness in China

Min Cheng, Ying Liang (), Canying Zeng, Yi Pan, Jinxia Zhu and Jingyi Wang
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Min Cheng: Institute of Land and Urban-Rural Development, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou 310018, China
Ying Liang: Dongfang College, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Jiaxing 314408, China
Canying Zeng: Institute of Land and Urban-Rural Development, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou 310018, China
Yi Pan: Institute of Land and Urban-Rural Development, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou 310018, China
Jinxia Zhu: Institute of Land and Urban-Rural Development, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou 310018, China
Jingyi Wang: Institute of Land and Urban-Rural Development, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou 310018, China

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Accompanied by China’s rapid economic growth, significant urban greening has occurred in Chinese cities, in particular in the urban core areas. In contrast, rapid urbanization and economic growth also led to a high probability of vegetation degradation in urban fringe regions. However, these significant spatial differences in urban greenness associated with economic growth in Chinese cities are not well understood. This study explored the spatiotemporal characteristics of the nighttime light (NTL) and annual maximum enhanced vegetation index (EVI max ) in urban areas from 2001 to 2020. A strong decoupling status between economic growth and urban greenness on the national scale was found. Overall, 49.15% of urban areas showed a decoupling status. Spatially, this percentage of urban areas with a decoupling status would significantly decrease when the long-term average NTL surpasses 51. Moreover, this significant threshold of decoupling status was found in 189 cities out of 344 (54.65%) in China. This threshold in each city showed significant spatial heterogeneity but can mostly be attributed to the gradient in the long-term average precipitation (P mean ) of each city during the period of 2001–2020. Specifically, a spatial increase in P mean of 100 mm responded to a decrease in the threshold of 0.4 DN ( p < 0.01). In contrast, there was no significant correlation between the threshold and the economic growth status of each city. Our results provide valuable insights for coordinating the development of urban greening and economic growth.

Keywords: urban ecosystems; economic growth; urban greening; decoupling relationship; threshold effects; nighttime light; climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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