Environmental pressure exerted by the petrochemical industry and urban environmental resilience: Evidence from Chinese petrochemical port cities

Based on a multi-source data fusion-driven assessment framework, this study quantitatively evaluates the urban environmental resilience (UER) of seven Chinese petrochemical port cities (PPCs) from 2012 to 2019 under the compound environmental pressures (CEPs) of the petrochemical industry. The findings revealed that Tangshan and Zhangzhou can be classified as high-pressure and low-resilience cities; Lianyungang and Huizhou as highpressure and medium-resilience cities; Dalian and Ningbo as medium-pressure and medium-resilience cities; and Shanghai as a low-pressure and high-resilience city. From 2012 to 2019, the UER of PPCs exhibited a fluctuating upward trend. However, most cities can currently only withstand single petrochemical environmental pressures and are incapable of managing the CEPs of the petrochemical industry. Except for Shanghai, the UER of all cities is below the average level of 0.106. The implementation of cleaner production and the green petrochemical industry's scale have not yet met the policy expectations set by authorities. Moreover, major ecological initiatives and policy regulations are lagging, relative to the pace of the development of petrochemical industries. Key environmental pressure sources from the petrochemical industry were identified: reinforced dependence on petrochemical fuels (0.0393), high carbon emissions from the petrochemical industry (0.0335), and the instability of fossil energy supplies (0.0328). Insufficient environmental resistance (-0.068) and delayed renewal capacity (0.041) have been identified as weak links limiting the UER of PPCs. Strengthening environmental protection projects, improving urban infrastructure, and controlling petrochemical industry risks were projected as common focal points and effective environmental measures for all PPCs to manage long-term threats and sudden CEPs from the petrochemical industry.