The effect of Economic Development on haze pollution (PM2.5) based on a spatial perspective: Urbanization as a mediating variable

With the development of the economy and urbanization, haze pollution in Chinese cities has become increasingly serious. This paper uses the spatial Durbin model (SDM) to explore the impact mechanism of economic development on haze pollution using panel data of 249 cities from 1998 to 2016. Urbanization is used as an intermediary variable to test whether it plays a mediating effect. The results show that 1) from the national and regional level, there are N-shaped relationships between economic development and haze pollution and a U-shaped relationship between urbanization and haze pollution; 2) urbanization plays a mediating role in the impact of the economy on haze pollution; that is, through the effect of urbanization, economic development causes more serious haze pollution; 3) convenient transportation, technological progress, and increased education levels can alleviate haze pollution while an increased opening-up level aggravates pollution; moreover, technological progress and an increased opening-up level alleviate haze pollution in the eastern region; and 4) an increase in the annual average humidity can alleviate haze pollution while an increase of the annual average wind speed will lead to the aggravation of haze pollution in adjacent areas. According to the research of this paper, some pertinent policies and suggestions are proposed. •The spatial Durbin model and a mediating effect model are used to analyze the panel data of 249 Chinese cities.•Through the mediating effect of urbanization, economic development causes more serious haze pollution.•There is an N-shaped relationship between economic development and haze pollution.•There is a U-shaped relationship between urbanization and haze pollution.