Eco-efficiency and effectiveness evaluation toward sustainable urban development in China: a super-efficiency SBM-DEA with undesirable outputs

Eco-efficiency, especially the total-factor eco-efficiency, measured by DEA models considering undesirable outputs, has been a popular instrument to evaluate sustainable development in recent years. However, sustainable development pursues not only high eco-efficiency which ensures that the utilization of natural resource and environment is in a sustainable way, but also good effectiveness which ensures that the development is in the right direction. In this paper, firstly, the efficiency of sustainable urban development is measured, i.e., measuring the eco-efficiency of 35 major cities in China during the period of 2011-2015 based on a super-efficiency SBM-DEA model with undesirable outputs and the Malmquist-Luenberger index is used to explore the dynamic change of eco-efficiency. Secondly, the effectiveness of urban development is measured by overall well-being including urban HDI and life satisfaction. Thirdly, a comprehensive analysis based on efficiency and effectiveness is conducted to evaluate sustainable urban development. The results indicate that: (1) the overall efficiency of 35 major cities in China as a whole is at a low level during the 12th five-year plan period, and the improvement of total-factor ecological productivity is mainly enhanced by technological progress. (2) With regarding to the effectiveness of urban development, Hangzhou, Jinan, Ningbo, Xiamen and Qingdao rank top five, while the cities with a high level of urban HDI like Guangzhou, Changsha and Beijing only rank in the middle due to a relatively low level of life satisfaction. (3) Based on efficiency and effectiveness, most of the cities perform with a low-level efficiency or poor effectiveness, only four cities including Qingdao, Changchun, Ningbo and Tianjin perform with a relatively high efficiency and good effectiveness. Finally, some implications and policy suggestions are proposed based on the above findings.