Spatiotemporal ‌interaction‌ between new-type urbanization and low-carbon technology development on curbing urban SO2 pollution in China

Abstract

The spatiotemporal heterogeneity of new-type urbanization in Chinese cities, with its emphasis on ecological development, interacts with the low-carbon technology development (LCT), a critical initiative for achieving carbon peak and neutrality targets. This interplay may lead to varied outcomes in air pollution control. This study investigates the spatiotemporal interplay between the four innovation priorities of new-type urbanization and LCT in influencing urban sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions and emission intensity. By constructing the Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) model, we estimate the spatiotemporally varying coefficients across 294 cities and 18 urban agglomerations in China from 2012 to 2022. Our findings reveal that: (1) LCT has a strengthening effect on the inhibitory effect of new-type urbanization on urban industrial SO₂ emission intensity across all Chinese cities and in 73 % of the cities for SO₂ emissions. (2) LCT alleviates the energy rebound effect caused by population and land use changes accompanying new-type urbanization. (3) In 41 % of the cities, the relationship between economic new-type urbanization and SO₂ emissions was identified to be an inverted U-shaped correlation. (4) Urban agglomerations have better SO₂ control impacts during their new-type urbanization process, where the strengthening effect of LCT on inhibiting SO₂ emissions is 1.6 times higher. This study provides empirical evidence to inform nuanced new-type urbanization strategies and targeted SO₂ pollution control measures at city and urban agglomeration scales.