Urban network connections on carbon emission intensity in the Yellow River Basin

In the spatial context of “flows”, clarifying the impact of urban network connections on carbon intensity is an important guideline for a synergistic regional response to the low-carbon transition. Based on the investment data of listed enterprises, this study portrays the network linkages between cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2005 to 2020, and analyzes the characteristics of the network linkages of cities in the region and their impacts on carbon emission intensity. The results show that: 1) The urban network within the Yellow River Basin displays a rising trend, characterized by multi-center loose radial connections. Notably, middle and lower region network density increases alongside socio-economic progression. 2) Carbon emission intensity in the Yellow River Basin exhibit a notable decrease, demonstrating an east-west gradient of low-high-low and significant spatial clustering. High-high clusters primarily situated around the enriching mineral resource Ji-shaped bend region of the Yellow River, while low-low clusters are concentrated around the downstream economic hub. 3) Urban network connections have a significant inhibitory effect on carbon emission intensity. And under the spatial organization mode of central place, the betweenness centrality has a significant negative spatial spillover effect on the intensity of urban carbon emissions. 4) Under different spatial organization modes, urban network connections can reduce carbon emission intensity through the regulation effect of borrowed technology and borrowed function. 5) The influence of urban network connections on carbon emission intensity is spatially heterogeneous. The cities in the middle and lower reaches mainly show the continuous borrowing scale effect or the agglomeration shadow to the borrowing scale under the action of urban network connection, while the cities in the upper reaches mainly show the continuous agglomeration shadow effect. This study reveals the effect of urban network externalities on carbon emission intensity, which has important theoretical and practical significance for pointing out the mode of different regions’ collaborative response to low-carbon transition.