Spatial division of labor, specialization of green technology innovation process and urban coordinated green development: Evidence from China

• There is a division of labor in green technology innovation among different cities. • Green technology innovation process specialization prompt urban green development. • Green technology innovation process specialization reduces urban development gaps. A theoretical framework is helpful to solve the problem of how to realize green coordinated development of urban in developing countries under the background of uneven distribution of green technology innovation resources. Adhering to the Confucian thought of "not afraid of scarcity, only afraid of uneven distribution", this paper constructs a theoretical framework of urban green coordinated development under the division of labor in urban green technology innovation on the basis of China's reform experience and space science, and empirically tests the impact of urban green technology innovation process specialization on urban green development. The research results show that there is a spatial division of labor and urban green technological innovation process specialization between central city and non-central city in China. While the professionalization of the urban green technology innovation process promotes urban green development, it also narrows the gap in the level of green development between China's central cities and non-central cities, and this promotion effect is even greater in underdeveloped areas. Different types of cities have heterogeneity in the intermediary transmission mechanism of urban green technology innovation process specialization affects urban green development: Central cities mainly rely on the two channels of human capital advancement and environmentally friendly modern industrial system; non-central cities mainly rely on economic activity and the green transformation of heavily polluting enterprises. Finally, policy recommendations are made for policymakers to proactively use the theoretical framework to improve urban life.