Background: Transportation has become the second-largest source of global carbon emissions. Promoting low-carbon development by means of public transport and green travel and analyzing the mechanism and path of the carbon emissions reduction effect of public transport have become key to reducing carbon emissions in the transportation field and achieving “carbon peak and carbon neutrality”. Methods: The data from 30 provinces (2010–2019) were extracted from China Emission Accounts and Datasets (CEADs), China Energy Statistical Yearbook, China Statistical Yearbook, and China Automobile Statistical Yearbook. The two-way fixed-effect model was used to explore the carbon emissions reduction effect of public transport development level. The mediating-effect model was used to verify the transmission role of energy consumption in the carbon emissions reduction effect of public transport development level. Results: The study suggests that the public transport development level and CO₂ emissions are negatively correlated, showing an “Inverted U-shaped” curve relationship. Energy consumption is the transmission path of the carbon emissions reduction effect of public transport development level. The public transport development level adjusts the energy consumption structure through the traffic substitution effect, energy input optimization effect, and industrial structure optimization effect and then acts on carbon emissions. Moreover, the contribution rate of energy consumption is about 4.22%. In addition, regional heterogeneity is present in the transmission path of the carbon emissions reduction effect of public transport development level based on energy consumption. The carbon emissions reduction effect of public transport development level is more significant in the central and western regions than the eastern and northeast regions of China. Conclusion: The transmission mechanism of energy consumption in the carbon emissions reduction effect of public transport is worthy of attention. To promote low-carbon and circular development in the transportation sector, it is urgent to accelerate the green upgrading of transportation infrastructure, promote the low-carbon transformation of energy production and consumption, promote carbon emissions reduction in public transport, and strengthen the linkage regulation between effective government and an effective market.

Background: Despite China's economic growth, rural living environments have often lagged behind. While public participation is gaining importance in environmental governance, the magnitude and mechanism of its impact remain understudied.Purpose: This research investigates the relationship between public environmental concerns and the rural living environment in China and explores how public concerns impact living conditions.Methodology: Using panel data from 245 prefecture-level cities (2012–2021), we employed the entropy method to measure rural living environment scores and used fixed-effect models to analyze the relationship between public concern and the living environment.Results: The findings demonstrate a positive relationship between strong public environmental concerns and improved rural living environments. Further analysis suggests that local government environmental attention acts as a partial mediator in this relationship.Conclusion: This study reveals that public participation can influence government policies, ultimately leading to positive environmental outcomes. Promoting public participation in environmental governance is crucial for improving the rural living environment.

The quality of the living environment is a critical determinant of residents’ health and urban sustainability. To mitigate the environmental pollution induced by the traditional urbanization model, China launched the New-Type Urbanization Pilot Policy (NTUPP) as a nationwide experimental reform. Yet whether the NTUPP has improved the living environment remains underexplored. Drawing on a balanced panel dataset of 273 prefectures in China from 2011 to 2023, this study applies a staggered difference-in-differences approach to examine the NTUPP’s impact. We find that the NTUPP significantly improves the quality of the living environment, while its spatial spillovers to neighboring prefectures remain limited. Mechanistic analysis suggests that these gains are driven by stronger environmental regulation and increased investment in environmental governance. The policy’s effects are more pronounced in northwestern prefectures, prefectures in the servitization stage and the middle stage of urbanization, and small or medium-sized prefectures.

Agricultural development is vital to rural economies in developing countries. Rural e-commerce has emerged as an important instrument for promoting rural economic transformation, yet its impact on agricultural development remains underexplored. Using panel data for 1345 counties in China from 2010 to 2022, this study exploits a quasi-natural experiment created by the phased implementation of the Rural E-Commerce Demonstration County (REDC) program and applies a staggered difference-in-differences approach to identify its causal effects on agricultural development. The results show that the REDC program significantly promotes agricultural development, mainly through expanded consumer demand and greater social investment. Its effects are particularly evident in regions with balanced production and consumption and in economically developed counties. Moreover, the REDC program shows no evidence of a significant negative siphon effect within 50 km of pilot counties but generates strong positive spillovers in the 50–200 km surrounding range. Taken together, these findings provide empirical evidence supporting the advancement of rural e-commerce and agricultural scaling in China, while also offering policy implications for other developing countries seeking to promote rural e-commerce.