Forests
Does Forest City Construction Improve County-Level Air Quality? Evidence from China’s National Forest City Policy
Urban forest policies are increasingly used as nature-based solutions, but their large-scale effects on ambient air quality remain uncertain. This study evaluates China’s National Forest City Construction Policy (NFCC) using a panel of 2076 counties from 2001 to 2021 and a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) design. Annual mean PM2.5 concentration is used as the main outcome. In the preferred specification with county and year fixed effects, NFCC exposure is associated with a reduction of approximately 1.39 μ …