Regional variations and the dynamic evolution of water environment governance efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration

FU Hui-shan; LI Jia-lin; LIU Yong-chao; CAO Luo-dan; ZHU Xiao; KONG Jiang-tao

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China Environmental Science ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (3) : 1747-1763.

Environmental Impact Assessment and Management

Regional variations and the dynamic evolution of water environment governance efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration

FU Hui-shan¹, LI Jia-lin^1,2, LIU Yong-chao^1,2, CAO Luo-dan¹, ZHU Xiao¹, KONG Jiang-tao¹

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Abstract

This study focused on 26 cities within the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration and employed a comprehensive analytical approach, utilizing the Super-SBM model, Malmquist index, Gini coefficient, standard deviation ellipse model, and Tobit model based on statistical data from 2010 to 2023. The study systematically analyzed regional disparities, dynamic evolutionary characteristics, and the factors influencing water environment governance efficiency. Key findings included that the overall water governance efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration exhibited a fluctuating upward trend, with a notable dip in 2022 attributed to a decline in scale efficiency (SE), with an average value of 1.121. Spatially, water governance efficiency followed a “high-west, low-east”pattern: western cities experienced significant efficiency gains through ecological compensation and green industrial transfer, while eastern cities relied on technological innovation to drive improvements. The largest intergroup disparity in water environment governance efficiency occurred between the Anhui Province and Zhejiang Province, with an average value of 0.067. Within the Jiangsu-Shanghai region, the internal equilibrium was the highest, with an average value of 0.055. The hyper-variation density contributed the most to the overall difference, with an average annual value of 38.053. Over the study period, the center of gravity of the standard deviation ellipse for water environment governance efficiency shifted southwestward, suggesting a trend toward a more aggregated spatial distribution. Population size, urbanization level, and industrial structure showed significant negative correlations with water environment governance efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration. In contrast, innovation levels, environmental management, openness to external markets, and industrial scale positively drove water environment governance efficiency.

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Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration / water environment governance / governance efficiency / dynamic evolution / coordinated development

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FU Hui-shan, LI Jia-lin, LIU Yong-chao, CAO Luo-dan, ZHU Xiao, KONG Jiang-tao. Regional variations and the dynamic evolution of water environment governance efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration[J]. China Environmental Science. 2026, 46(3): 1747-1763

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