ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Cities
Sec. Urban Economics
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsc.2025.1617346
This article is part of the Research TopicSustainable Urban Transitions: Integrating Renewable Energy, Circular Economy, and Policy InnovationView all articles
Neighbor s' gain or neighbor s' pain? Explor ing the impact of China's fuel cell vehicle demonstr ation policy on ur ban gr een technology innovation: Quasi-natur al exper iment evidence fr om China
Provisionally accepted
- Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China
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Addressing global climate change and advancing sustainable development necessitates bolstering urban green technology innovation, since cities are the main source of energy consumption and carbon emissions. This study focuses on China’s Fuel Cell Vehicle Demonstration policy to explore its influences on urban green technology innovation performance. By employing a quasi-natural experimental method and the Difference-in-Differences model, combined with data from 283 Chinese cities from 2014 to 2023, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of the policy on urban green technology innovation. It was found that the policy significantly enhances urban green technology innovation in demonstration cities. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the policy exerts a more pronounced effect on promoting urban green technology innovation in cities in eastern China and non-resource-based cities. Spatial analysis indicates that the policy exhibits a positive spatial spillover effect on urban green technology innovation in neighboring cities. However, a siphon effect was also observed between urban green technology innovation levels across them. The study recommends that central authorities tailor strategies to cities' geographic and resource profiles. It also recommends establishing intercity collaboration platforms and innovation resource compensation mechanisms. These measures aim to mitigate regional disparities and siphon effects, ensuring inclusive green technology development. These findings provide actionable insights for China's national development strategy for the fuel cell vehicle industry and global low-carbon transportation transitions.
Keywords: ur ban sustainability, r enewable ener gy, fuel cell vehicle, hydr ogen policy, lowcar bon tr anspor tation, ur ban gr een technology innovation, Differ ence-in-Differ ences model, Spatial spillover effects
Received: 24 Apr 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yan, Liu and Cai. 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: Yangtian Yan, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China
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