ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Social-Ecological Urban Systems
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1579001
This article is part of the Research TopicUrban Carbon Emissions and Anthropogenic ActivitiesView all 19 articles
Spatiotemporal Analysis of Decoupling Urban Expansion and Carbon Emissions in China: Insights from Different Expansion and Decoupling Patterns
Provisionally accepted
- 1Zhanjiang Planning, Survey and Design Institute Co., Ltd, Zhanjiang, China
- 2Guangzhou Urban Planning & Design Survey Research Institute Co.,Ltd, Guangzhou, China
- 3Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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As urbanization accelerates, decoupling urban development from environmental consumption, particularly carbon emissions, is crucial for sustainable growth and achieving carbon neutrality goals.Chinese cities are classified. The Tapio model is used to examine the spatiotemporal variations in decoupling from 2007 to 2022, while the LMDI model identifies key factors influencing regional carbon emissions. Findings reveal: (1) a polarized decoupling pattern, dominated by weak and strong negative decoupling; (2) a strong link between urban expansion types and decoupling modes, with fast-expanding cities exhibiting weak/strong decoupling and growth linkage, while slow-expanding or shrinking cities show expansion-negative and strong negative decoupling; (3) expansion and affluence effects drive emissions, while technology mitigates them, with significant regional differences. This study provides theoretical insights into urban expansion and carbon decoupling dynamics, informing region-specific policy interventions.
Keywords: carbon emissions, Urban expansion, Urban expansion disparity index, Tapio model, LMDI model
Received: 19 Feb 2025; Accepted: 15 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lin, Liao and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shaojian Wang, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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