Does Rapid Urbanization Improve Green Water-Use Efficiency? Based on the Investigation of Guangdong Province, China

The green water-use efficiency considers the undesired output of water pollution discharge as well as desirable output, pursuing the unification of economic and ecological benefit. In recent years, China has been undergoing a process of rapid urbanization and a dramatic change in the water utilization pattern, while the water pollution discharge is becoming more obvious. Taking Guangdong Province as an example, the largest economy and urbanization pilot area, exploring the impact of different aspects of rapid urbanization on green water-use efficiency is of great significance for promoting new-type urbanization and green development. This study adopts the super efficiency slack-based model (SE-SBM) considering undesirable output to measure the green water-use efficiency of each city in Guangdong Province. On this basis, mixed panel, random panel, and fixed panel models are used to explore the relationship between industrial urbanization, population urbanization, land urbanization, social urbanization, and urban-rural integration on green water-use efficiency. The results reveal that Guangdong’s green water-use efficiency follows a low upward trend. The green water-use efficiency of the Pearl River Delta has improved rapidly, while other regions are maintained at a low level, so regional disparities are also widening. Industrial urbanization and land urbanization have a significant positive effect on green water-use efficiency, while social urbanization and urban-rural integration have a significant negative effect. The effect of population urbanization on the efficiency is not significant. The construction of new-type urbanization should be accelerated, the green transformation and upgrading of industries should be guided, and the urbanization of agricultural migrants should be promoted. It is necessary to rationally plan and utilize urban land resources and comprehensively improve urban functions and livability.