Spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing factors of China's urban water resource utilization efficiency from the perspective of sustainable development

The sustainable use of water resources is a fundamental and strategic issue for sustainable economic and social development. Thus, it is vital to strengthen the research on the sustainable use and recycling of water resources. Based on data envelopment analysis, an Epsilon-based measure super-efficiency model considering undesirable output is constructed in this study to measure the water resource utilization efficiency (WRUE) of 286 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2018. Descriptive statistics and spatial econometric models are used to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing factors of the WRUE in China. The results show that the WRUE increased from 0.342 in 2003 to 0.876 in 2018, with an average annual growth rate of 6.451%. This efficiency varied significantly from northern to southern regions. In addition, economic development, foreign investment, industrial development levels, government environmental control intensity, population density, and water-use structure had significant and stable influences on this efficiency. Distinct characteristics of spatiotemporal dependence and regional heterogeneity were observed. Thus, analysis of the temporal and spatial characteristics of the WRUE and its influencing mechanism is of great significance for scientifically understanding the current situation of water resource utilization in Chinese cities and improving the sustainable utilization degree of water resources.