LAUSR

Abstract Coordination between land urbanization and urban eco-efficiency can lead to sustainable economic growth. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the mechanism by which land urbanization promotes urban eco-efficiency through the advancement of the industrial structure. To address this gap, this study demonstrates this mechanism by constructing a macroeconomic model with output loss and innovative compensation factors. Taking the example of prefecture-level cities in China, this empirical study demonstrated that land urbanization has a negative impact on urban eco-efficiency. A U-shaped curve depicts the relationship between land urbanization and urban eco-efficiency. However, the mediating variable, industrial structure advancement, has a positive and partially mediating effect between land urbanization and urban eco-efficiency. Analysis of cities in the various regions of China showed that the negative impact of land urbanization on urban eco-efficiency was greater in the Northern region than in the Southern region, and the extent and significance of the effect of land urbanization on urban eco-efficiency was higher in the Midwestern region than in the Eastern region. The study suggests that the government should optimize the land use structure and promote an advanced industrial structure to further ensure the improvement of urban eco-efficiency.