Impact of Coastal Urbanization on Marine Pollution: Evidence from China

The increasing marine pollution in China’s coastal areas has seriously affected the sustainable development of the economy and the living standards of residents. It is of great significance to explore the relationship between urbanization and marine pollution in coastal areas for the sustainable development of coastal cities. Based on the marine pollution data and nighttime light (NTL) data of 46 coastal cities from 2006 to 2015, the paper discusses the impact of urbanization on marine pollution by using the generalized spatial two-stage least square method (GS2SlS), and analyzes the role of technological innovation, financial development, and human capital in the impact of urbanization on marine pollution by using the three-stage least square method (3SLS). Results show that China’s coastal marine pollution has a strong spatial spillover effect, and a U-shaped relationship exists between urbanization and marine pollution. Regional heterogeneity analysis shows that an inverted U-shaped relationship was found between coastal urbanization and marine pollution in the northern marine economic circle, while the eastern and southern marine economic circles have a U-shaped correlation. The heterogeneity of the urbanization pattern indicates that the relationship between different urbanization patterns and marine pollution in coastal areas is generally in a positive correlation stage, but the depth of urbanization occupies a dominant position. Further mechanism tests show that urbanization can effectively reduce coastal marine pollution and improve the marine environment through the technological innovation effect, financial development effect, and human capital effect.