%I MDPI %V 17 %R 10.3390/ijerph17020446 %J International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health %T The double-edged sword of urbanization and its nexus with eco-efficiency in China %O cited By 21 %X Urbanization has made tremendous contributions to China�s economic development since its economic reforms and opening up. At the same time, population agglomeration has aggravated environmental pollution and posed serious challenges to China�s environment. This article empirically investigates the impacts of China�s urbanization on eco-efficiency, comprehensively reflecting economic growth, resource input, and waste discharge. We first measured the provincial eco-efficiency in China from 2005 to 2015 using the Super Slack-Based model (Super-SBM). We then constructed a spatial model to empirically analyze the effects of urbanization on eco-efficiency at the national level, and at four regional levels. The results indicated that the regional eco-efficiency in China has fluctuated, but is generally improving, and that a gap between regions was evident, with a trend toward further gap expansion. We observed an effect of spatial spillover in eco-efficiency, which was significant and positive for the whole country, except for the western region. The influence of urbanization on China�s eco-efficiency exhibited a U-curve relationship. The changing trend in the eastern, central, and western regions was the same as that in the whole country; however, the trend exhibited an inverted U-curve relationship in the northeastern region. To the best of our knowledge, covering a time period of 2005�2015, this article is the first of its kind to study the impact of urbanization on eco-efficiency in China at both the national and regional levels. This study may help policy-makers to create sustainable policies that could be helpful in balancing urbanization and the ecological environment. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. %K econometrics; economic growth; economic impact; environmental economics; pollution incidence; spatial analysis; sustainable development; urbanization, article; China; urbanization; China; economic development; environmental protection; human; pollution, China, China; Conservation of Natural Resources; Economic Development; Environmental Pollution; Humans; Urbanization %L scholars13554 %A L. Yue %A D. Xue %A M.U. Draz %A F. Ahmad %A J. Li %A F. Shahzad %A S. Ali %D 2020 %N 2