Urban areas, although representing less than 4% of the world's terrestrial expanse, contribute to over 70% of global carbon emissions (CE). It is well-known the development of Yangtze River Delta megacity clusters in China is uneven, and CE reduction is urgently needed

In a study published inScience of the Total Environment, researchers from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) and Hohai University  presented a new method for calculating urban socioeconomic development indexes using a variety of data sources. 

Based on the lighting index, business point of interest (POI) data and output value, the researchers obtained the YRD urban socioeconomic development index. They divided YRD urban units into core cities, transitional cities and peripheral cities based on this index. By employing extended Kaya-index decomposition models , they evaluated the effects of regional industrial growth, consumer markets, and spatial expansion on urban CE. They then explored differences in CE drivers across and within these city categories. 

They found that the key to emission reduction in core cities lied in the market consumption of residents, while peripheral cities had greater potential for CE reduction in terms of industrial upgrading and spatial layout. In terms of the YRD city cluster as a whole, market consumption by residents was the most important driver of CE in the YRD megacity cluster，followed by spatial expansion. Industrial transformation and upgrading reduced CEs.

Various factors influenced intragroup differences in CE intensity, including industrial structure, population density, per capita living effect, spatial expansion effect, population size effect, urbanization effect, and consumption inhibition effect, etc.  

"Residents' consumption is the most important factor of CE in most cities, so we must advocate forward-looking green low-carbon consumption to minimize the impact of human activities on the environment," said FANG Zhou of XTBG. 

Contact 

FANG Zhou 

Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China                   

E-mail: fangzhou@xtbg.ac.cn  

Published: 1 September 2023 

An analysis framework for the driving factors of carbon reduction in cities. (Image by FANG Zhou)