Urban land use efficiency and its driving factors in ecologically fragile areas: the case of northwest China

ABSTRACT

Urban land serves as the medium for urban economic and residential activity. The degree of intensive and efficient use of urban land and the coordinated growth of the economy and society are significantly impacted by utilization efficiency. Northwest China’s temperature, geography, water, and soil characteristics make less of the region suited for urban development. Thus, it is imperative to investigate Northwest China’s urban land use efficiency (ULUE). This study applies the efficiency loss model to highlight the discrepancy between the optimal and actual values of each input-output variable of the ULUE, and uses the Super-SBM model to compute the ULUE of 39 cities. Additionally, the internal driving elements of the ULUE are examined using the Global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) index. This study discovered that Northwest China had a low ULUE, with a modest upward trend seen between 2004 and 2018. The overall shape of the region was similar to an ‘N’ curve, with high efficiency values concentrated in the southeast of the region in 2018. When considering the agglomeration impact of urban agglomeration, these results are dependable. Moreover, the efficiency loss model discovered that pollution and wasteful resource usage were the main reasons behind the drop in ULUE in Northwest China. Finally, the GML index and its constituents revealed that the main force behind ULUE’s growth in Northwest China is technological developments. This research provides important policy implications for reducing the gap between eastern and western regions, supporting high-quality development in northwest China, and protecting and intensively using urban land.

KEYWORDS:

• Northwest China
• Urban land use efficiency
• Efficiency loss
• GML index
• Environmental pollution

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Notes

^1. The 39 cities studied in this paper are Hohhot, Baotou, Wuhai, Chifeng, Tongliao, Ordos, Hulunbuir, Bayannur and Wulanchabu in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; Xi’an, Tongchuan, Baoji, Xianyang, Weinan, Yan’an, Hanzhong, Yulin, Ankang and Shangluo in Shaanxi Province; Lanzhou, Jiayuguan, Jinchang, Baiyin, Tianshui, Qingyang, Wuwei, Zhangye, Pingliang, Jiuquan, Dingxi and Longnan in Gansu Province; Yinchuan City, Shizuishan City, Wuzhong City, Zhongwei city and Guyuan City in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region; Xining City in Qinghai Province; Urumqi and Karamay in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the University Philosophy and Social Science Project of Jiangsu Province (No. 2023SJYB1270), the National Social Science Foundation Project ” (No: 19BJL088), the National Natural Science Foundation Project (No. 72273016) and the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Project of the Ministry of Education (No. 22YJC710035).