Investigating the Impacts of Built-Up Land Allocation on Carbon Emissions in 88 Cities of the Yangtze River Economic Belt Based on Panel Regressions

The supply of built-up land determines the depths of human activities, leading to the differences in scale and intensity of carbon emissions. However, the relationship between the composition of built-up land and carbon emissions has not been fully investigated. In response, this study collects the panel data of 88 cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China, and uses the fixed effect model and system GMM model, to explore the impacts of specific subtypes of built-up land on carbon emissions averaged by economic output and urban land. The findings show that industrial land and commercial land are the main contributors to increase carbon emissions; the increased proportions of land subtypes related to supporting facilities and infrastructures show significant restraining effects; carbon emission was a dynamic process with time-lagged effects. As a result, reallocating the structure of urban built-up land can directly and indirectly adjust the intensity of carbon emissions. Policy recommendations focus on the balanced supplies of production and ecological land.