Study on the Characteristics of Spatial Evolution and Influencing Factors of Green Buildings in China

Utilizing panel data pertaining to green building across 333 prefecture-level administrative units in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) during the period spanning 2008-2020, an exhaustive examination of the evolution of China's spatial pattern in green building is conducted employing the nearest neighbor index method, spatial autocorrelation analysis method, and kernel density analysis method. Furthermore, geographic probes are employed to scrutinize the determinants influencing China's spatial configuration of green buildings. The findings reveal that: (1) An alteration in the density distribution from a "unipolar nucleus and double sub-nuclei" configuration to a "triple polar nuclei and multiple sub-nuclei" manifestation has been discerned in the spatial agglomeration of green buildings in China, exhibiting annual growth. Additionally, the center of green building development has shifted from the northwest to the southwest. (2) Pronounced agglomerations are predominantly situated in the eastern, central, and western regions of the country. High-high agglomerations have gradually dissipated over time in the central provincial capitals of China, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the city clusters of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei along the eastern seaboard. The western regions manifest a concentration of low-low and low-high aggregates, with high-low agglomeration primarily observed in the provincial capitals of the western regions. (3) The spatial differentiation of green buildings in China is attributable to a multitude of variables encompassing the environment, economy, society, and policies. Among these factors, economic, social, and innovative elements exert the most significant influence on the explicable degree of spatial differentiation.