The Relationship Between Urban Spatial Structure And Pollution Emissions

After the Industrial Revolution,environmental pollution has become a key issue in the construction and development of global cities gradually.The urban spatial structures impact urban pollution emissions differently.How to minimize the pollution emissions while the city is developing rapidly is a problem worthy of attention in the planning and construction of China's cities.Specifically,exploring the impact and correlation of urban spatial structure on pollution emissions has great significance for the future planning and management of cities in China.The empirical test of the relationship between them,analysis the impact mechanism of urban spatial structure on pollution emissions can provide new ideas and basis for the governance of urban pollution emissions and the sustainable development of cities.Based on the existing researches,this paper sorts out the theories of urban spatial structure and pollution emissions,then summarizes the evolution trends of two different pollutants:wastewater and SO₂,and urban spatial structure.Using the data of 196 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2016 and econometric methods to study the impact of population density and the land development intensity on wastewater and SO₂ emissions,considering the factors of China's vast territory and unbalanced development,the paper conducted the heterogeneity tests on the sample in terms of scale and location.The study found:?1?The empirical test results of the national sample show that the population density,the land development intensity and the pollution emissions such as wastewater and SO₂ show an“inverted U-shaped”relationship which rising fist and then decreasing.This means in China,with the deepening of the urbanization process,the compact urban structure with high population density and high land development intensity is more environmental friendly.?2?For cities of different sizes,urban spatial structure has different effects on pollution emissions.As the urban population expands,land development intensity has a greater impact on wastewater and SO₂ emissions than population density.For large cities,after the population density and the land development intensity reach the peak,increasing them will reduce the pressure on urban pollution emissions.?3?There are heterogeneity differences that urban spatial structure changes impact on pollution emissions in different regions.The urban spatial structure and pollution emissions in the Eastern region are presented as“U-shaped”,indicating that the population density and land development intensity in that region should be controlled in the process of urbanization,and the destruction of the environment caused by over-exploitation of the city should be prevented.Most of the Central regions are industrial cities,and the more compact urban space structure will bring less pollution.The relationship between population density and pollution emissions shows an“inverted U-shaped”in the Western region.Therefore,the government can implement corresponding policies to attract talents and labor into the Western region to promote the development.Possible innovations in this paper are:?1?Sample is selected as the prefecture-level cities.Compared with the study limited to a single region or province,the analysis of this paper is more comprehensive.Two different pollutants,wastewater and SO₂,were selected to measure the pollution emissions of the city,making the research results more representative.?2?Estimate the cities of different scales and regions by subdividing the sample,enhance the credibility of the conclusions,and provide more detailed theoretical basis for future development and planning of different types of cities.