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The purpose of this paper is to estimate the real urbanization level in China so as to provide a measurement that can be compared with the international level.

Taking into consideration 300m residents living in the administrative towns (300m residents here are referred to the population in administrative towns, including those in all counties), the gap between the urbanization rate of China and that of the world average becomes much wider.

China, however, implements the administrative system of government at the central, provincial, municipal, county and township levels. By city, it means the jurisdiction at and above the level of county, which includes the municipality directly under the central government, prefecture-level municipal and county. By town, it means the jurisdiction below the level of county (including the Chengguan Town, or capital town, where the county government is located) and exclusive of rural townships.

China has witnessed rapid development for 40 years since the reform and opening up in 1978. Nowadays, China has already stepped into the period of post-industrialization, with its urbanization rate (UR) of permanent population reaching 58.58 percent. However, on the basis of registered population, the UR is 43.37 percent, which is not only far below the average level of 81.3 percent in high-income countries, but also lower than the average of 65.8 percent in upper middle-income countries which are comparable to China in terms of per capita income. (The classification of state income level is based on the data of national income per capita and division standards in 2016 from the World Bank, in which annual revenue per capita in high-income countries reaches over US$12,736 and that in upper middle-income countries between US$4,126 and US$12,735.)

This paper aims to analyze the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of regional total factor productivity (TFP) growth and explores how haze pollution and different levels of new-type urbanization affect China’s economic growth.

This paper constructs an index for evaluating the TFP growth of China’s 31 provinces by integrating slack-based measures and the Global Malmquist (GM) productivity index. Meanwhile, the panel threshold estimation method is used to examine the complex relationships among haze pollution, new-type urbanization and TFP growth.

The results reflect conspicuous spatiotemporal heterogeneity in TFP growth in China. Interestingly, the influence of haze pollution on TFP growth is limited by the “critical mass” of new-type urbanization in China. When new-type urbanization does not cross the first threshold, haze pollution has a negative but non-significant effect on TFP growth. When new-type urbanization crosses the first threshold but not the second, haze pollution has a significant positive impact on TFP growth. When new-type urbanization crosses the second threshold, haze pollution significantly and positively affects TFP growth with the strongest positive effect.

This study innovates by combining haze pollution and TFP growth and proposing an integrated framework from the perspective of new-type urbanization, providing insight into how different degrees of new-type urbanization impact the mechanism between haze pollution and TFP growth. Using panel data in China and emphasizing green development, a sustainable economy and new-type urbanization, this study contributes to the current studies on haze pollution and economic development based on developed countries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between urbanization and economic growth in ASEAN countries for the period 1993-2014.

The Granger causality test and the regression estimation method with static and dynamic panel data (FE, RE, Driscoll and Kraay, D-GMM and PMG) were used. The sample includes seven ASEAN countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The results show that at least a causal relationship exists between urbanization and economic growth and urbanization positively impacts economic growth. However, the relationship between urbanization and economic growth is non-linear. The urbanization reaches a threshold after which it may impede the economic growth. The estimated threshold is 69.99 percent for the static model and 67.94 percent for the dynamic model.

The evidence from this study suggests that there is a non-linear relationship between urbanization and the economic growth. Urbanization has the potential to accelerate the economic growth, and this potential will depend on the establishment of favorable institutions and investments in appropriate public infrastructure.

The decision on the model of urbanization needs to be based on social and environmental considerations as well as market-based economic efficiency. The quality of urbanization manifests in the way that people and businesses perceive when they come to cities and their position in the labor market, urban housing, niche commodity markets, supply chain, collaborative network and physical space for the operation of the business. Most ASEAN countries have not yet reached a high level of urbanization, despite having a number of policies for promoting urbanization to contribute to the economic growth. However, policymakers should find ways to facilitate the development of urbanization that contributes to economic growth, employment growth, environmental sustainability, rather than the pursuit of speeding up the process of urbanization.

Between urbanization and economic growth at least a causal relationship exists. Urbanization positively impacts economic growth. However, the relationship between urbanization and economic growth is non-linear. The urbanization reaches a threshold after which it may impede the economic growth. The estimated threshold is 69.99 percent for the static model and 67.94 percent for the dynamic model.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze regional correlation contributions of urbanization rate and tourism revenue, based on the dynamic panel data from 2000 to 2010 of 31 provinces in China.

Based on the Modified Cobb-Douglas and fixed effect regression models, the study analyzes the dynamic panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2000 to 2010. The paper conducts tests on the correlation and the economic influence between urbanization rate and tourism revenue in different regions.

The empirical results show that on the national scale, the urbanization rate has a positive contribution to the increase rate of tourism revenue with 3.1 percent. The influence of urbanization on tourism revenue in different regions has considerable non-equilibrium characteristics. In the central region, the correlation contributing potential is even stronger than in the eastern and western regions. Different regions have significant regional disparities in the tourism growth pattern.

On the national scale, the urbanization rate has a positive correlation contribution to the development of tourism economics. Urbanization has made remarkable achievements, and has played an important role in propelling the development of tourism industry. In the process of deepening the urbanization trend, the urbanization rate has a positive contribution to the increase rate of tourism revenue with 3.1 percent.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of industrialization and urbanization on CO₂ emissions in 20 African countries for the period 1980 to 2013.

In order to correct for cross-sectional dependence, this study adopts the use of pooled mean group. Also, the study contributes to the literature by estimating the direct, indirect and total effects of industrialization and urbanization on carbon emission.

The results show that industrialization and urbanization directly increase environmental degradation. Interestingly, industrialization and urbanization were also found to reduce environmental degradation through their indirect effects on per capita income. In general, the authors conclude that the indirect effect of industrialization will overcrowd the direct effect, and this will lead to a decline in the overall effect of industrialization on carbon emission. Also, the positive direct effect of urbanization outweighs the negative indirect effect, thus the overall effect of urbanization will endanger carbon emission in the long run.

The existing studies on emission, industrialization and urbanization have typically been biased toward Africa. This present study filled this gap. The choice of African countries is based on the notion that the continent is desirous of expanding her industrialization level. This has coincidentally led to the increase in urbanization growth rate as well as income level of former rural dwellers. The second contribution of this study is the “effects decomposition” into direct, indirect and total effects. This is to reveal some inherent information that might be missing.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the trajectories of the urbanization process in Saudi Arabia in its regional context from the unification of the country by King Abdul Aziz Al Saud in 1932 to the present time, and the urbanization impact on the status and management of cultural heritage in the Kingdom.

Our study design integrated a well-articulated theoretical frame of sustainability to gain a heuristical understanding of urbanization in Saudi Arabia, and its link to cultural heritage. The methodological approach was mixed in nature involving (1) literature search and review, (2) analysis of public documents and databases, (3) analysis of photographs and (4) expert interviews.

One of the most obvious findings reached in this study is that there is considerable trade-off between heritage site conservation, population and economic demand for increased urbanization. Hence, with increasing urbanization pressures, the value of the heritage site may be rethought based on Saudi Arabia's economic and cultural conservation perspectives.

Since our data are mostly of textual narrative in origin, precise predictions were difficult or impossible for many reasons such as non-linearity, and non-equilibrium dynamics, context and scale dependence as well as the historical exigency of urbanization. However, the same theoretical framework can be applied to appropriate longitudinal/ time series data for predictive analyses, which can be taken up as a future research agenda.

This paper analyzes the urbanization process and sustainability challenges of cultural heritage sites employing a mixed methodological approach, embedded in a holistic theoretical framework of sustainability.

This study investigates the relationship between urbanization and carbon dioxide emission in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community from 1990 to 2019. The literature reveals that the relationship between urbanization and carbon dioxide emissions is still debatable and the existing findings are inconclusive.

Carbon dioxide is the regressand; while, urbanization, gross domestic product (GDP) and financial development (FD), rule of law (ROL) and government effectiveness (GEF) are the regressors. Johansen Fisher and Kao residual co-integration tests alongside the fully modified and dynamic ordinary least squares.

The results show a significant positive relationship between urbanization and carbon dioxide emissions. The causality tests results show that carbon dioxide granger causes urbanization, GDP and FD unit directionally.

The countries' governments should effectively improve their legal systems to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. Urbanization laws should be implemented to limit urbanization environmental deteriorating effects on carbon dioxide emissions. This occurs as the countries practiced unregulated urbanization which increases population's environmental impacts. The study recommends sustainable green urbanization policies for environmental conservation through tree planting and horticulture. Balance development in urban and rural areas is vital to decongest the urban cities' pressure in the states. The governments should motivate the private sector with rural investments captivating policies to limit rural urban migration.

The findings contribute value by supporting a positive link between urbanization and carbon dioxide emissions in the CEMAC zone. The causality tests findings confirm the view that carbon dioxide granger causes urbanization, GDP and FD unit directionally. This value addition is essential to the governments and policy makers to mitigate urbanization and carbon dioxide emissions in the CEMAC region.

The connection between urbanization and energy consumption in the context of cross-country and cross-sector analyses is poorly understood, especially in the Association of South East Asian (ASEAN). This paper aims to present the first extensive multi-level analysis of the relationship between urbanization and energy consumption in ASEAN countries from 1995 to 2013.

The multi-level (across country and sector) index decomposition method is used to analyze urbanization, energy mix, energy intensity and activity effects on energy demand. Urbanization is measured by two representative factors, name the urban population and the number of non-agriculture workers.

Despite the decreasing rate of urbanization, its effect on energy consumption has played the most important role since 2000. Since then, the effect has continued to increase at the national and sectoral levels across the whole region. The strongest urbanization impacts are encountered in the residential sector, followed by transportation and industrial sectors with much weaker effects in the commercial sector. The way in which urbanization impacts energy consumption depends strongly on the income level of the country studied.

The results provide quantitative relationships between urbanization and energy demand. For example, if the urban population and the non-agriculture workers decreased by 0.1 per cent per year, this would reduce energy demand by 1.4 per cent and 2.6 per cent per year respectively.

This contribution provides detailed quantitative insights into the relationships between urbanization and energy demand at sectoral, national and international levels, which are invaluable for policymakers in the region.

The study aims to reinvestigate the regional urbanization gap in China and some projects are to be presented for reducing the gap.

An innovative weighted kernel density approach is applied for identifying the regional urbanization development with population migration and investment and evaluating the projects.

The regional urbanization gap is 7 and 9 percent with the unconditional estimation, 13 (23) percent and 13 (23) percent with population (investment) weighted estimation between eastern and middle region, eastern and western region, respectively. The project on the interior migration of population by 30 percent and the project on the selective investment enhancement by 30 percent both reduce the regional urbanization gap by about 4 percent between middle and eastern region.

Focus is only on the investigation of urbanization development level with single population migration or investment enhancement; the identifications and projects with joint impact of population and investment are not considered.

The study not only measures the urbanization development with the nonparametric approach but also designs some practicable projects for reducing the regional urbanization gap, which is helpful for the Chinese Government in the policymaking process.

Given the recent rapid economic development, the processes of industrialization and urbanization are accelerating. At the same time, the contradiction between environmental quality and economic development has become increasingly prominent and is likely to restrict the normal pace of China’s economic development and environmental protection. As such, the purpose of this paper is to incorporate the urbanization factor into an analytic framework to discuss the relationship among urbanization, economic development, and environmental pollution.

A panel data of 31 Chinese provinces from 2004 to 2015 is selected for this research. A spatial correlation test is first conducted on the environmental pollution status, then the spatial Durbin model is used to carry out spatial econometric testing of the relationship among the above three factors.

Interprovincial environmental pollution in China has significant positive spatial correlation, environmental pollution discharge in most provinces is significantly stable, discharge of environmental pollutants is transitioning from coastal to inland provinces, and urbanization and economic growth can both aggravate environmental pollution, but economic growth can relieve environmental pollution in neighboring provinces.

The relationship between economic growth, urbanization, and environmental quality has always been an important issue for sustainable development. As such, China’s urbanization leads to economic development, while rapid economic growth and environmental pollution are coordinated. This paper focuses on the specific relationship between them. To this end, local governments make concerted efforts to formulate sound environmental regulation policies based on local environmental conditions, where economic development is an effective means of alleviating the contradictory relationship between economic development and environmental protection.