Towards Sustainable Urban Growth: The Role of Horizontal Ecological Compensation in Fostering Inclusive and Resilient Cities

Towards Sustainable Urban Growth: The Role of Horizontal Ecological Compensation in Fostering Inclusive and Resilient Cities | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Towards Sustainable Urban Growth: The Role of Horizontal Ecological Compensation in Fostering Inclusive and Resilient Cities Hengli Wang, Hong Liu, Hongce Xiao, Weiyi Li This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5733666/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Can horizontal ecological compensation (HEC) policies in China promote the development of more inclusive and resilient cities? This study explores the impact of HEC policies on urban growth, examining their role in advancing greener, more inclusive, and resilient cities aligned with global sustainability goals. Using panel data from 180 cities in the Yangtze and Yellow River basins (2007–2022) and an Inclusive and Resilient City (IRC) index, we assess the effect of HEC through a multi-period quasi-natural experiment. Our findings reveal that HEC policies positively influence IRC, mainly through industrial upgrading and green innovation, particularly in cities in the upper and middle river basins. The results are robust, confirmed by parallel trend analysis, placebo tests, propensity score matching, and trimming to account for endogeneity. This study enhances the understanding of ecological compensation and its role in fostering sustainable, resilient urban development, offering valuable insights for future policy initiatives. Horizontal ecological compensation Inclusive and Resilient Cities Sustainable Urban Development Industrial Structure Advancement Green Innovation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Appendix1.xlsx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5733666","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":395836697,"identity":"0928e475-1957-41a7-8cb8-cb56dc160f79","order_by":0,"name":"Hengli Wang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJACZoYCGxDVwMDARrQWgzQgxUialsMkaDE4fvbw6wKD8/YGxxsbGD6UHWbgb+9OwK/lTF6a9QyD28wGZw42MM44d5hB4szZDXi1mB3IMTPmMbjNZnAjsYGZt+0wg4FELgEt59+AtJzjMbj/sIH5L1FabuQYP+YxOCBhcIOxgZmRGC32N96YMfMYJBtInklsONhzLp2HoF8k+3OMP/NU2NnzHT988MGPMms5/vZe/FqAgE0CxjoAxDyElIMA8wdiVI2CUTAKRsEIBgBHbke4t+O2VAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Zhongnan University of Economics and Law","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hengli","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":395836698,"identity":"60b09780-cc54-41db-b972-204c29bb6f19","order_by":1,"name":"Hong Liu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhongnan University of Economics and Law","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hong","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":395836699,"identity":"bd2fd71e-3246-4016-bc98-767cf788e9d1","order_by":2,"name":"Hongce Xiao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhongnan University of Economics and Law","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hongce","middleName":"","lastName":"Xiao","suffix":""},{"id":395836702,"identity":"38715112-f605-4614-b81f-e978790bece6","order_by":3,"name":"Weiyi Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhongnan University of Economics and Law","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Weiyi","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-12-30 07:53:16","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5733666/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5733666/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":73630325,"identity":"5553ab27-3797-467a-98bc-51216e33a18b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-13 06:17:23","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":655582,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MainManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5733666/v1_covered_94a3f506-2517-46fb-a906-3f6ce98d9b1a.pdf"},{"id":72753629,"identity":"1eca072b-38b9-4a79-b762-3486042eb498","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-01 16:22:32","extension":"xlsx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":18566,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Appendix1.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5733666/v1/77dd7def2f8a8a73e992ae64.xlsx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Towards Sustainable Urban Growth: The Role of Horizontal Ecological Compensation in Fostering Inclusive and Resilient Cities","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Horizontal ecological compensation, Inclusive and Resilient Cities, Sustainable Urban Development, Industrial Structure Advancement, Green Innovation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5733666/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5733666/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eCan horizontal ecological compensation (HEC) policies in China promote the development of more inclusive and resilient cities? This study explores the impact of HEC policies on urban growth, examining their role in advancing greener, more inclusive, and resilient cities aligned with global sustainability goals. Using panel data from 180 cities in the Yangtze and Yellow River basins (2007\u0026ndash;2022) and an Inclusive and Resilient City (IRC) index, we assess the effect of HEC through a multi-period quasi-natural experiment. Our findings reveal that HEC policies positively influence IRC, mainly through industrial upgrading and green innovation, particularly in cities in the upper and middle river basins. The results are robust, confirmed by parallel trend analysis, placebo tests, propensity score matching, and trimming to account for endogeneity. This study enhances the understanding of ecological compensation and its role in fostering sustainable, resilient urban development, offering valuable insights for future policy initiatives.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Towards Sustainable Urban Growth: The Role of Horizontal Ecological Compensation in Fostering Inclusive and Resilient Cities","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-01-01 16:22:27","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5733666/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"6b8392f7-ff81-4c11-b9e3-53238fab1870","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 1st, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-01-13T11:08:33+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-01-01 16:22:27","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5733666","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5733666","identity":"rs-5733666","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}