Study on Enhancement Effect of Climate-Resilient City Pilot Policy Construction on Urban Ecological Resilience

Under the severe situation of increasing global climate change, it is urgent to improve the ability of cities to cope with climate change and achieve sustainable development. As a key institutional arrangement for China’s climate adaptation, the climate-resilient city initiative has been piloted in 67 cities across two batches since 2017, aiming to foster urban resilience through systematic governance. Based on complex adaptive system theory, this study constructs an urban ecological resilience evaluation framework under the “Pressure–State–Response” (PSR) model. Using panel data from 243 prefecture-level cities from 2010 to 2022 and a difference-in-differences model, it empirically examines the impact of climate-resilient city construction on ecological resilience, further exploring the moderating mechanism of government attention to environmental protection and spatial heterogeneity effects. Key findings include the following: (1) climate-resilient city construction significantly enhances urban ecological resilience, with pilot cities experiencing an average increase of approximately 0.74%; (2) government attention to environmental protection strengthens policy effectiveness, demonstrating a significant positive moderating effect; and (3) policy effects show notable regional variations, with more pronounced improvements in resource-based cities, western regions, and ecologically vulnerable areas.