Measurement And Influencing Factors Of Urban Green Transformation Efficiency In Nine Provinces Along The Yellow River

The Yellow River flows through nine provinces,Qinghai,Sichuan,Shanxi and so on.It is one of the main birthplaces of Chinese civilization.Since the founding of New China,the region’s rich natural resources have enabled the rapid development of the secondary industry,but most of the industrial development is at the expense of the environment.Currently,urban development is still facing huge obstacles and severe challenges.Therefore,on the basis of seeking the continuous development of cities along the nine provinces of the Yellow River,it is also necessary to give consideration to the ecological environment and the development of future generations.Inspired by this,this paper studies the measurement and influencing factors of urban green transformation in nine provinces along the Yellow River.In this context,98 cities in nine provinces along the Yellow River were selected for research,with a time span from 2012 to 2019.First,the measurement of green transformation efficiency of cities in nine provinces along the Yellow River was studied.Based on the theory of urban metabolism,the input index was selected as follows: For land,labor,investment,water and energy,the expected output indicators were gross regional product and public service level,while the non-expected output indicators were unemployment,waste water discharge and waste gas discharge.The SBM model containing the non-expected output was used to measure the efficiency of urban green transformation in 98 cities.The analysis results show that: On the whole,the number of cities with efficiency value of 1 showed a fluctuating upward trend,increasing from 31 DEA effective cities in 2012 to 43 DEA effective cities in 2019.In terms of the mean value of urban transformation efficiency,it also increased from 0.5795 in 2012 to 0.7348 in 2019,indicating that with the proposal of a series of policies,Since 2012,more cities in nine provinces along the Yellow River have paid more attention to urban green transformation,seeking coordinated development of urban economy,society and environment.Locally,the green transformation efficiency of coastal cities is stable at the highest value,and cities in the middle reaches of the Yellow River gradually pay attention to development quality.By 2019,the number of cities in DEA effective status has increased significantly,while the green transformation efficiency of some cities in remote areas needs to be improved.Then,the green transformation efficiency of the nine provinces along the Yellow River was taken as the explained variable,and seven explanatory variables were selected from different perspectives to construct the spatial Dubin model respectively.The analysis results show that the increase of urbanization rate has a negative impact on the green transformation efficiency of the local and surrounding cities in the lower Yellow River.The increase of science and technology expenditure ratio has a positive impact on the efficiency of green transformation in the nine provinces along the Yellow River,in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and in the surrounding cities,and in the lower reaches of the Yellow River.The improvement of economic development level has a positive impact on the cities along the Yellow River and the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River.The increase of the industrial structure upgrading index has a positive effect on the green transformation efficiency of the cities along the nine provinces of Yellow River.The improvement of the comprehensive utilization rate of general industrial solid waste has a positive effect on the green transformation efficiency of cities along the Huangjiu province.The increase of carbon emissions has a negative impact on both the local and surrounding cities along the Yellow River Nine provinces,and has a negative impact on the efficiency of green transformation of the local cities in the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River.Through the research results,in order to improve the efficiency of urban green transition in nine provinces along the Yellow River,this paper draws the following policy implications:(1)Urban green transition should seek progress while maintaining stability and pursue high-quality development.(2)Technological development is a powerful driving force for urban green transformation.(3)Strengthen urban environmental governance,improve waste recovery and utilization.(4)Vigorously develop low-carbon economy and promote low-carbon life.