Examining the Impact of Urban Development Factors on the Sustainable Environmental Performance of the Chinese Economy

China’s rapidly growing population, driven by socioeconomic and political conditions, has intensified environmental challenges, highlighting the need to understand these dynamics to achieve sustainable environmental performance and global sustainable development. This study investigates the effects of air pollution, urbanization, urban land area, access to electricity in urban areas, and population density on sustainable environmental performance in China. Time-series data spanning the period from 1991 to 2022 are analyzed using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) estimation model, with the Akaike information criterion applied to determine the optimal lag structure. The results indicate that air pollution exerts a statistically significant negative impact on sustainable environmental performance in both the short term and the long term. Urbanization and urban land area are also found to have adverse short-term and long-term effects on environmental performance, while access to electricity in urban areas negatively influences environmental sustainability. In contrast, population density demonstrates a positive impact on environmental performance in both the short run and the long run. Overall, the findings provide robust empirical evidence that these factors play a significant role in shaping China’s sustainable environmental performance. The study suggests that Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries can support the achievement of sustainable environmental goals by promoting green technologies, strengthening environmental regulations, enhancing public awareness, and implementing sustainable development policies in China.