Environmental effects of China’s sustainable development pilot policy: Evidence from the National Innovation Demonstration Zone for Sustainable Development Agenda

Exploring the specific environmental impacts and mechanisms of China’s sustainable development pilot policy can enrich and expand China’s institutional and practical experiences, offering valuable insights and references for advancing global environmental sustainability. This study selects the National Innovation Demonstration Zone for Sustainable Development Agenda (NIDZSDA) as the sample and empirically evaluates the effects of the policy on urban environmental quality, using panel data from 74 prefecture-level cities in China between 2006 and 2020. The findings indicate that the sustainable development policy significantly improves urban environmental quality. Two key mechanisms identified are the aggregation of high-quality talent and the enhancement of technological innovation capabilities. Furthermore, the policy exhibits heterogeneous effects across different types of cities, with more pronounced improvements observed in mega and super cities, as well as in resource-based cities.