Effects of Urban Construction Land Allocation on Urban Green Land-Use Efficiency: An Empirical Study Based on 283 Prefecture-Level Cities in China

Improving urban green land-use efficiency (UGLUE) through the optimization of urban construction land allocation (UCLA) is crucial to achieve sustainable urban development and land utilization. This is especially important in the context of inventory planning. In this study, we performed an empirical analysis covering 283 prefecture-level cities in China. We first used the superefficiency slack-based measure with the undesirable outputs model to measure UGLUE, revealing a general, but fluctuating, increase in UGLUE between 2003 and 2017. Additionally, we used three land metrics [residential (Rrl), industrial (Ril), and public facilities (Rfl) land ratios] to characterize UCLA, demonstrating substantial regional differences in UCLA during the 2003‒2017 period. The significance of the spatial effects of UCLA on UGLUE was highlighted using a Tobit model; we found negative associations between UGLUE and Rrl and Ril, while Rfl had an insignificant impact on UGLUE at the national level. Notably, we demonstrate that the impact of UCLA on UGLUE is sensitive to regional heterogeneity. In particular, UCLA appears to be ineffective in stimulating UGLUE in cities in the eastern and central regions of China. However, UGLUE in cities in western China can be effectively enhanced by reducing Rrl and Ril; in northeastern China, increasing Rfl and Ril will improve UGLUE. These findings are informative for the development of relevant land planning and management policies in developing countries experiencing similar levels of urbanization to that of China; they will also aid the implementation of regionally differentiated policies relating to UCLA management.