Impact of Supportive Policy for Resource-Exhausted Cities on Urban Ecological Resilience: Evidence from China

Enhancing urban ecological resilience is key to addressing resource exhaustion and urban decline in resource-exhausted cities, as it facilitates the re-coordination of the human-land relationship territorial system. Using panel data from 281 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2023, we apply the multi-period Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to estimate the impact of supportive policies on urban ecological resilience. The results show that supportive policies significantly improve ecological resilience, with pronounced effects on resistance and adaptability, while the effect on recoverability remains limited. Mechanism analysis indicates that the policy works through promoting green innovation, reducing energy consumption, and strengthening environmental governance. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the effects vary across geographic locations and resource types. Supportive policies generate significant spatial spillover effects on enhancing urban ecological resilience and exhibit an evolutionary sequence of radiation, siphoning, equilibrium, and decline as geographic distance increases. These findings inform policy design for ecological restoration and regional coordination in resource-dependent regions.