How Does the “Civilized City” Selection Affect Environmental Governance Performance? A Spatial DID Approach Based on Prefecture-Level Cities

Weixing Ou, Ruirui Yang and Wanhai You ()
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Weixing Ou: School of Civil Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha 410114, China
Ruirui Yang: School of Mathematics and Statistics, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China
Wanhai You: School of Economics and Management, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-18

Abstract: Our study employs panel data from 272 Chinese prefecture-level cities (2003–2020), leveraging the “Civilized City” selection campaign as a quasi-natural experiment. Using a Spatial Durbin Difference-in-Differences model, we systematically analyze the policy’s impact on local environmental governance performance and its spatial spillover effects, with rigorous robustness checks. Results reveal a significant positive spatial correlation in China’s environmental governance performance, indicating interdependence among cities rather than isolated decision-making. The “Civilized City” initiative not only improves local environmental governance but also generates spillover benefits for neighboring regions, thereby enhancing coordinated regional sustainability. Finally, we propose policy recommendations grounded in empirical findings and China’s governance context.

Keywords: civilized city; environmental governance performance; SDM-DID model; spatial spillover effects; regional heterogeneity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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