Evaluation mechanism of urban green competitiveness via a gray fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model

• Treat a problem of comprehensive evaluation for urban green competitiveness. • A novel green competitiveness evaluation index system is constructed. • Establish a gray fuzzy evaluation model to evaluate urban green competitiveness. • The weight of each evaluation index is determined via the entropy weight method. • Some countermeasures are provided to promote the urban green competitiveness. Green development is a mode of economic growth and social development aimed at efficiency, harmony and sustainability. Green competitiveness has gradually become a key factor in measuring the comprehensive competitiveness of a country or region. However, existing studies lack a unified evaluation index system and comprehensive methodology for assessing urban green competitiveness. This study fills this gap by integrating gray correlation analysis and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation to provide a more accurate and systematic assessment. First, 40 green competitiveness indicators were selected from four aspects of economic level, environmental pressure, resource consumption and social policy, and a green competitiveness evaluation index system was constructed. Second, the weight of each evaluation index was subsequently determined via the entropy weight method. Third, the gray correlation analysis and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method are combined to establish a gray fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model for evaluating urban green competitiveness. Finally, 11 provinces and cities along the Yangtze River Economic Zone in China were used as research objects, and the established evaluation mechanism was applied for empirical analysis. According to the comprehensive scores and ranking results of provinces and cities, some corresponding countermeasures and suggestions are provided to promote the competitiveness of the Yangtze River Economic Zone in terms of the economy, environment, resources, society and so on.