Spatiotemporal effects of intercity economic network on water use efficiency in China: A multidimensional proximity perspective

Abstract

Water use efficiency is increasingly influenced by the intercity economic network in the context of flow space. It is crucial to evaluate the impact of intercity economic network on water use efficiency from a multidimensional proximity perspective for urban sustainability. This paper investigated the spatiotemporal changes in water use efficiency and intercity economic network indexed by corporates connection among 283 cities in China, and explored the direct and indirect impacts of intercity economic network on water use efficiency from the perspective of multidimensional proximity by applying spatial Durbin model with panel data. Findings indicate that intercity economic network has transitioned towards to state of polycentricity and equilibrium and has shown positive direct impact on water use efficiency in dimensions of geographical proximity and network proximity. Whereas the indirect impact is significantly positive only when employing the directed network proximity. The impacts transcend geographical boundaries, leading to directional spatial spillover effects. The intercity economic network improves water use efficiency by enhancing innovation capabilities and promoting borrowed size, exhibiting regional heterogeneity in geographical location and population size.