ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1583074
This article is part of the Research TopicEnvironmental degradation, health, and socioeconomic impactsView all 13 articles
Horizontal Ecological Compensation and Urban Resilience: Mechanisms of Low-Carbon Transformation
Provisionally accepted
- 1South-Central Minzu University, Wuhan, Hebei Province, China
- 2Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China
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This study investigates the socioeconomic impacts of horizontal ecological compensation (HEC) policies in China, focusing on their role in mitigating environmental degradation and enhancing urban resilience. Panel data from 180 cities in the Yangtze and Yellow River basins (2007–2022) are utilized, and an Inclusive and Resilient City (IRC) index is constructed to evaluate policy effects through a multi-period quasi-natural experiment. The results indicate that HEC policies are associated with a 0.3% average increase in the IRC index, primarily driven by improvements in green innovation and industrial upgrading. These mechanisms contribute to reducing pollution-related health risks and enhance urban resilience against environmental stressors. While the average increase appears modest , it represents a meaningful improvement in urban well-being within the constraints of regional development and ecological sustainability . The robustness of these findings is confirmed through multiple tests, including parallel trend analysis and placebo tests. This research highlights HEC policies as an innovative policy tool that balances environmental protection with socioeconomic development. To strengthen their impact, policy optimization is recommended, aiming to further alleviate the socioeconomic burdens of environmental degradation and improve public health in urban areas.
Keywords: horizontal ecological compensation, Inclusive and Resilient Cities, environmental degradation, Low-carbon transformation, Industrial structure advancement, green innovation
Received: 25 Feb 2025; Accepted: 05 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 An, Xiao, Li 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: Hengli Wang, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China
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