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  • Jul. 13, 2025

Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (6): 1031-1042.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2024.702

• Population and Urban Studies • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Measurement and spatial convergence of green development level of prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin

REN Shiqi(), WANG Yongyu()   

  1. School of Statistics and Data Science, Lanzhou University of Finance and Economics, Lanzhou 730020, Gansu, China
  • Received:2024-11-14 Revised:2024-12-19 Online:2025-06-25 Published:2025-06-18
  • Contact: WANG Yongyu E-mail:shiqi_ren@163.com;yongyu_wang@163.com

Abstract:

Green development represents s critical approach for advancing ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. This study examines green development patterns across 81 prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2006 to 2021. Based on the logical framework and internal mechanisms of green development, we constructed a comprehensive evaluation index system and employed the entropy weight method, kernel density estimation, and β convergence models to analyze development levels, distribution characteristics, and spatial convergence. Our analysis revealed three key findings: (1) Temporal and spatial patterns: Green development levels across prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin demonstrated consistent improvement throughout the study period. A clear spatial gradient emerged with downstream regions outperforming midstream areas, which in turn surpassed upstream regions. Significant differences persist between individual prefecture-level cities. (2) Distribution characteristics: Kernel density analysis showed uneven peak distribution with a narrow width and pronounced right tail extension, indicating a substantial imbalance in green development levels. Some cities have achieved notably high green development levels, creating significant gaps compared to other urban cities in the basin. (3) Convergence dynamics: Both absolute β convergence and conditional β convergence were statistically significant across the entire basin and within the three major river sections. Convergence rates followed an “upstream>midstream>downstream” progression. Additionally, differentiated spatial spillover effects were observed in green development levels across the three major convergence processes. These findings over valuable insights for enhancing green development levels in prefecture-level cities throughout the Yellow River Basin and promoting coordinated regional development strategies that address the identified spatial disparities.

Key words: level of green development, statistical measure, distribution characteristics, spatial convergence, Yellow River Basin