Gravity center change of carbon emissions in Chinese residential building sector: Differences between urban and rural area

In China, dynamic spatial-temporal evolution and urban-rural gap in carbon emissions of residential building sector are crucial for understanding the current state, which is faced with great challenges related to emission mitigation. To overcome the challenge, this study employed the gravity center model to explore spatial-temporal evolution of carbon emissions and analyzed the driving factories leading the differences between urban residential buildings and rural residential buildings via decomposition analysis. Meanwhile, Tapio decoupling index is used to predict the future movement of the gravity center. Our results indicated that: (i) the carbon emissions gravity center of both residential building types tends to move south; (ii) the northeast and northwest regions play the largest role in driving the gravity center movement of urban residential buildings and rural residential buildings, respectively; (iii) per capita disposable income is the primary factors affecting the gravity center movement. (iv) the gravity center of both residential building types might tend to move westward in the future. Overall, this study attempts to remedy the current lack of research pertaining to spatial-temporal evolution laws governing carbon emissions in the Chinese residential building sector and provides a reference point for the implementation of targeted urban and rural emission reduction policies.(c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study explores the spatio-temporal evolution and urban-rural gap in carbon emissions of the residential building sector in China. It utilizes the gravity center model to analyze the movement of carbon emissions gravity center and identifies the driving factors behind the differences between urban and rural residential buildings. The results show that the carbon emissions gravity center of both residential building types tends to move south, with the northeast and northwest regions playing significant roles in driving the gravity center movement of urban and rural residential buildings, respectively. Per capita disposable income is identified as the primary factor affecting the gravity center movement. Additionally, the study suggests a potential westward movement of the gravity center in the future. Overall, this research fills a gap in understanding the spatial-temporal evolution of carbon emissions in the Chinese residential building sector and provides insights for targeted emission reduction policies in urban and rural areas.