Analysis on urban scaling characteristics of China’s relatively developed cities

China is undergoing rapid urbanization, but the speed and stage of urban development are quite heterogeneous among different regions and city types. Understanding the urban scaling characteristics of China’s relatively developed cities is important for addressing environmental and social challenges. Within the scope of 114 third-tier-and-above Chinese cities, the research calculate the scaling parameters of various urban development variables with respect to urban population and urban GRP in different city types based on urban scaling quantitative models. Also, univariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed on the factors affecting urban electricity consumption. The research results show that the urban scaling characteristics of Chinese cities differ between different types of cities, industrial cities show unique scaling features compared to commercial cities and mixed-economy cities. Additionally, urban electricity consumption is found to be closely related to urban population, urban construction land area and street lamp number. The results can help different types of cities make targeted policies and provide insights for reducing resource consumption during the urbanization process.