The spatiotemporal change and correlation of energy transition and urban-rural income gaps in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Abstract

[Objective] Energy transition is a key path to achieving China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, and exploring the impact of energy transition on the urban-rural income gaps can provide a scientific basis for realizing equity in the transition. [Methods] Based on the panel data of 108 cities at the prefecture level and above in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2010 to 2020, this study employed spatial analysis and fixed-effects model to analyze the characteristics of the temporal and spatial change of energy transition and urban-rural income gaps, and to reveal the correlation between the two and their regional heterogeneity of this relationship. [Results] (1) The performance level of energy transition of cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt shows an overall upward trend, and the energy transition index values of provincial capital cities has remained at a high level for a long time. At the same time, urban-rural income gaps have been narrowing year by year, showing a pattern of high in the west and low in the east. (2) The relationship between energy transition and urban-rural income gaps in cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt was U-shaped. With the improvement of the performance level of energy transition, urban-rural income gaps showed the characteristic of decreasing and then increasing. (3) There was a significant difference in the relationship between energy transition and urban-rural income gaps in cities in the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, with the upstream showing an inverted U-shaped relationship and the middle reaches showing a U-shaped relationship, and the downstream showing no significant correlation. This suggests that the energy transition paths of cities in the upstream region were gradually moving towards a fair direction, while the opposite was true in the midstream region, and that urban and rural residents in the downstream region were less sensitive to the socioeconomic effects caused by energy transition. [Conclusion] Therefore, diversified energy transition policies should be formulated in accordance with the actual development of the upstream, midstream and downstream, so as to effectively prevent the negative impacts of the transition and actively promote the just energy transition and the balanced development of urban and rural regions.

Keywords

• energy transition|urban-rural income gaps|fixed effects model|spatiotemporal evolution|u-shaped relationship|yangtze river economic belt