Does urban concentration mitigate CO2 emissions? Evidence from China 1998-2008

•We examine the impact of urban concentration on CO2 emission intensity in China.•There is a bell-shaped link between CO2 emission intensity and urban concentration.•The spatial organization of cities plays a key role in addressing CO2 emissions.

We provide evidence of first increasing and then decreasing CO2 emission intensity as the degree of urban concentration increases, based on data from 25 provincial regions in China over the period 1998-2008. This evidence is consistent with the environmentally desirable urban concentration argument identified in recent literature. Our findings indicate the importance of the spatial organization of activities and people in addressing regional CO2 emissions.