AUTHOR=Li Yuanzhu , Pan Zhongfeng , Shen Yang 

TITLE=Regional integration policies and ecological resilience: a case study of urban agglomeration planning policies in China

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Environmental Science

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2025.1636479

DOI=10.3389/fenvs.2025.1636479

ISSN=2296-665X

ABSTRACT=Facing the severe challenges of global climate change, cities must transition to regenerative, equitable, and adaptive systems, which serves as the cornerstone of urban sustainable development. This study employs a multi-period difference-in-differences approach as a quasi-natural experiment to investigate how regional integration policies (RIP) shape urban ecological resilience (UER), with a particular concentration on the underlying mechanisms. The findings demonstrate that Regional integration significantly enhances urban ecological resilience. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that RIP exerts a pronounced positive effect on UER in eastern cities, whereas its impact is statistically insignificant in central and western regions. Moreover, the policy exerts a substantially stronger influence on provincial capitals compared to non-capital cities. RIP affects UER primarily through industrial structure upgrading and technological innovation. These analysis demonstrate the critical role of inter-city interactions and interdependencies in cross-administrative ecological governance, providing a scientific foundation for optimizing regional governance frameworks and enhancing ecological security.