Urbanization, green development and residents' happiness: The moderating role of environmental regulation

The fundamental goal of development is to continuously improve people's well-being. Studying the relationship between urbanization, green development and well-being can better promote people's happiness index. This paper matches the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS)2017 data with the urbanization data of 28 provinces and the inter-provincial green development index and employs the Ordered Probit model to examine the relationship between urbanization, green development and residents' happiness (RHAP). On this basis, the mediating effect of green development and the moderating effect of environmental regulation intensity are further studied. The research results indicate that the level of economic urbanization and social service urbanization significantly promote the RHAP, while the level of population urbanization has a significant negative impact. There are significant differences in the level of RHAP needs due to the heterogeneity of regions, urban and rural areas, and income levels. The social service level has a stronger role in promoting the RHAP in eastern regions and cities, and the level of economic development is more obvious for residents in central and western regions and rural areas. Moreover, green development plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between urbanization and RHAP, and environmental regulation positively regulates the relationship between urbanization and green development. This study provides new ideas for the government to effectively formulate policies and improve RHAP.