Improving the green efficiency of industrial land use (GEILU) is essential to promoting low-pollution and highly efficient development, and industrial structure is a key factor in this dynamic. This paper aims to reveal how the optimization of industrial structure (OIS) affects GEILU in China. First, an analytical framework was proposed to understand the effect mechanisms from the perspective of rationalization, upgrading, and ecologization of industrial structure. Second, the panel data of 31 provincial units collected from 2006 to 2020 were taken as cases for empirical study. The super-SBM model was adopted to measure GEILU, and some variables were used to evaluate OIS. Finally, the spatial effects of OIS on GEILU were analyzed based on the spatial Durbin model. The results show that the GEILU presented a wave change and kept increasing after 2016. From a global perspective, the rationalization of industrial structure helped improve GEILU; however, the upgrading and ecologization of industrial structure generated inhibiting effects. When integrating the three perspectives, optimization of industrial structure was considered to have negative effects on GEILU. The negative effects stemmed from an inefficient expansion of industrial land and pollution from heavy chemical industries. From a phased perspective, in the early period of this study, the outdated technology in traditional industries brought about the negative effects; however, with high-knowledge and high-tech industries forming a market scale, optimization of industrial structure gradually became conducive to the improvement of GEILU. This study suggests that eliminating the market segmentation between provinces and accelerating the development of high-knowledge and high-tech industries can help promote low-pollution and highly efficient industrial land use in China.

Intensive urban land use has been proposed as a method to promote sustainable development in the context of rapid urban sprawl. However, a consensus has not been reached on whether this approach is beneficial for ecology and compatible with suitable living conditions. Exploring this issue in China will help promote high-quality development. Extant research has mainly explored the effects of intensive urban land use on quality of life, ecology, and urban-land-use scale separately, while a synthesized analysis in this regard is lacking. In the light of this, we establish an analysis framework by which to verify the effects of intensive urban land use on the three aspects, using data from China spanning 2005–2019, subjected to structural equation modeling. The results show that intensive urban land use has varying degrees of positive effects on quality of life, ecology, and urban-land-use scale. It had no strong effect on the three items initially, while quality of life was significantly optimized by 2010, and ecology was markedly improved from 2015. However, there was a trend toward shrinking living space and sprawling urban areas. The corresponding suggestions are formulated for policy makers to improve intensive urban-land-use policy.

In the context of urban development transforming from external expansion to internal improvement, identifying the patterns and characteristics of urban industrial land shrinkage and proposing response strategies are crucial for achieving high-quality and sustainable urban development. Unlike previous studies that focused on the expansion of industrial land based on absolute changes in land area, we propose a formation mechanism for urban industrial land shrinkage from the perspectives of both absolute and potential shrinkage. We quantitatively identified the Chinese cities that experienced shrinkage between 2006 and 2020, and developed a comprehensive indicator system to investigate the changes in the structural and functional characteristics of industrial land use during this process. The results indicated that urban industrial land shrinkage has become a widespread phenomenon nationwide. Absolute shrinkage was predominantly attributed to resource depletion and a lack of economic development, while potential shrinkage was mainly influenced by high-quality development and a lack of economic development. Cities exhibiting potential shrinkage experienced more severe structural deterioration, while cities with absolute shrinkage faced greater functional degradation. Extensive land use remains a serious challenge that must be addressed in industrial land redevelopment. Finally, we propose that more attention should be given to the utilization of stock urban industrial land, in particular in cities with relatively low administrative levels, small populations, and remote locations. Urban land redevelopment projects need to be conducted in accordance with the principle of intensive land use to promote the sustainable development of cities.