Ecological Effect Assessment of Low-Carbon City Construction in China

This paper takes the second batch of low-carbon pilot cities in China as the research object and selects the Urban Health Ecological Index to measure the green development level of cities, aiming to explore and evaluate the theoretical mechanism and policy effect of low-carbon pilot projects to promote the coordinated development of urban economy, society and the environment. The research conclusions show that: ① The low-carbon city pilot project is conducive to support the pilot cities to build a low-carbon industrial system, advocate a low-carbon lifestyle, establish a low-carbon evaluation system, and then play a positive role in promoting the green development level of the city; ② By applying the Propensity Score Matching–Difference in Differences (PSM-DID) model, the empirical analysis finds that after the implementation of the pilot policy, the green development level of low-carbon pilot cities has been significantly improved, and this conclusion is still stable in the parallel trend test, counterfactual test and sample expansion test; ③ In terms of regional heterogeneity, the low-carbon pilot projects have a more significant policy effect on promoting the green development of provincial capitals and eastern cities. Strict administrative supervision in provincial capitals and good economic foundations in eastern cities have had a positive moderating effect on the policy effect of low-carbon pilot projects. Finally, this paper discusses how to realize the ecological effects of low-carbon city pilot projects and put forward some relevant policy suggestions.