Environmental decentralization and urban green space provision: based on the multidimensional perspective of decentralization

Di Wang () and Yinfeng Liang ()
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Di Wang: Peking University
Yinfeng Liang: Peking University

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2025, vol. 27, issue 5, No 84, 12013-12044

Abstract: Abstract Urban green space is critical in the provision of environmental public goods and serves as a critical support for achieving sustainable development and fostering an ecological civilization society. Clarifying the association between environmental decentralization and the provision of urban green space holds the utmost importance in optimizing the environmental management system and enhancing the urban ecological environment. This paper employs a two-way fixed-effects model to empirically examine the influence of environmental decentralization—including various forms of environmental management function decentralization and multitiered government environmental decentralization—on the provision of urban green space. This analysis is grounded in panel data from Chinese cities spanning 2003 to 2019. The study finds a positive association between environmental decentralization and the provision of urban green space. Notably, this effect is particularly prominent in areas characterized by a high level of institutional quality. Intriguingly, regional disparities are observed, with environmental decentralization exerting a positive influence in eastern and central China, but yielding a negative impact in western China. From the multidimensional perspective of decentralization, environmental supervision decentralization and environmental monitoring decentralization demonstrate a significantly positive effect, while the influence of environmental administration decentralization is statistically insignificant. Moreover, the enhancement of environmental decentralization at the city and county levels emerges as a significant catalyst for the promotion of urban green space provision. This study offers valuable perspectives on harnessing environmental decentralization to augment urban green space. It proposes specific strategies for regions with distinct levels of institutional quality and economic development, emphasizing the significance of diverse forms of environmental decentralization in managing environmental matters.

Keywords: Environmental decentralization; Urban green space provision; Institutional quality; Environmental management function; Multilevel government (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-04393-5

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