An Examination of the Decoupling Effect and Influential Mechanisms of Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in Chinese Urban Areas

An Examination of the Decoupling Effect and Influential Mechanisms of Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in Chinese Urban Areas | 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 Article An Examination of the Decoupling Effect and Influential Mechanisms of Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in Chinese Urban Areas Hao Cheng, Chun Li, Mengmeng Huangmei This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6196318/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 25 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 15 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Under the “dual-carbon” target and the shift towards a high-quality economy, achieving a decoupling of energy consumption from economic growth is crucial. This study investigates the decoupling effect and the spatial-temporal dynamics of energy use and economic development across 282 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2021, employing the Tapio decoupling model. To thoroughly assess the factors influencing energy decoupling, a geographically weighted Durbin model is constructed based on an extended STIRPAT model. Findings reveal that:① There are notable disparities and variations in the decoupling status across regions, and from the 11th Five-Year Plan period to the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the number of cities exhibiting a weak decoupling state has diminished, with numerous cities demonstrating a negative growth decoupling state. ② The decoupling state of the majority of cities is rather steady; nevertheless, a few cities continue to have limited decoupling stability, while the overall decoupling demonstrates a more stable state. ③ The geographical main effect indicates that energy structure and energy intensity exert a considerable positive influence on the energy consumption decoupling index, but GDP per capita and population density have a notable negative impact on the energy consumption decoupling index. ④The spatial spillover effect indicates that a city's energy intensity adversely affects the energy consumption decoupling index of all adjacent regions, while the degree of openness to external influences positively impacts the energy consumption decoupling index of neighboring areas. This paper presents policy recommendations in four areas: differentiated energy management, specialized financial and technical support, enhancement of energy efficiency, and reinforcement of regional cooperation and exchange to achieve the decoupling of energy consumption from economic growth. Physical sciences/Energy science and technology Physical sciences/Engineering Energy consumption Economic growth Decoupling index Decoupling intensity Impacting variables Chinese cities Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files data.zip Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 25 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 23 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 17 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 12 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 08 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 04 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Apr, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 04 Apr, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 04 Apr, 2025 Editor invited by journal 02 Apr, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 01 Apr, 2025 First submitted to journal 01 Apr, 2025 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. 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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-6196318","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":446680671,"identity":"d10bd00f-1fbd-457b-ba36-6b027d378c14","order_by":0,"name":"Hao Cheng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanning Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hao","middleName":"","lastName":"Cheng","suffix":""},{"id":446680672,"identity":"70f91e63-7ddb-4a31-9140-bdc5bcebb441","order_by":1,"name":"Chun Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanning Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chun","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":446680673,"identity":"59707db5-ee4e-408d-99ff-84e2e9619a33","order_by":2,"name":"Mengmeng Huangmei","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Guangxi Science \u0026 Technology Normal University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mengmeng","middleName":"","lastName":"Huangmei","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-03-10 14:08:25","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6196318/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6196318/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-16262-4","type":"published","date":"2025-08-25T15:58:17+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":90344964,"identity":"8d847d49-58db-4797-8e71-a968babbdc77","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-01 16:08:32","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":938177,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6196318/v1_covered_68d7d0a0-ace0-44a9-963d-2cc0d4b840c4.pdf"},{"id":81322882,"identity":"f7f7ffbb-4dc9-46cd-bc88-712bfca2e1f8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-24 18:16:09","extension":"zip","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":5878451,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"data.zip","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6196318/v1/d468875450f62e05381d507c.zip"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"An Examination of the Decoupling Effect and Influential Mechanisms of Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in Chinese Urban Areas","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Energy consumption, Economic growth, Decoupling index, Decoupling intensity, Impacting variables, Chinese cities","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6196318/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6196318/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eUnder the \u0026ldquo;dual-carbon\u0026rdquo; target and the shift towards a high-quality economy, achieving a decoupling of energy consumption from economic growth is crucial. This study investigates the decoupling effect and the spatial-temporal dynamics of energy use and economic development across 282 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2021, employing the Tapio decoupling model. To thoroughly assess the factors influencing energy decoupling, a geographically weighted Durbin model is constructed based on an extended STIRPAT model. 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This paper presents policy recommendations in four areas: differentiated energy management, specialized financial and technical support, enhancement of energy efficiency, and reinforcement of regional cooperation and exchange to achieve the decoupling of energy consumption from economic growth.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"An Examination of the Decoupling Effect and Influential Mechanisms of Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in Chinese Urban Areas","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-04-24 18:16:04","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6196318/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-04-23T05:01:57+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-04-17T04:12:28+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-04-12T09:13:28+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-04-08T09:34:13+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"256472492748868786727340020757680144889","date":"2025-04-06T12:46:57+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"209578102206843558968635053801549393178","date":"2025-04-06T04:39:33+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"2241006911726764198304202680415736279","date":"2025-04-05T03:37:11+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"185499323444196071889853825653771649214","date":"2025-04-04T15:23:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-04-04T07:08:55+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"159852020579572331205665315343402098591","date":"2025-04-04T06:14:03+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-04-04T05:50:27+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-04-04T05:43:37+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-04-02T08:59:05+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-04-01T16:44:27+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-04-01T16:43:18+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"ea694489-54dc-4b41-868c-e85b0c953dd3","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 24th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":47543505,"name":"Physical sciences/Energy science and technology"},{"id":47543506,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-09-01T16:03:41+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-6196318","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-16262-4","journal":{"identity":"scientific-reports","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Scientific Reports"},"publishedOn":"2025-08-25 15:58:17","publishedOnDateReadable":"August 25th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-04-24 18:16:04","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41598-025-16262-4","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-16262-4","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6196318","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6196318","identity":"rs-6196318","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}