Based on the data from 105 key environmental cities in China from 2008 to 2018, the fixed-effect model and geodetector is used to explore the impact of environmental regulations on urban air quality. It is found that command-and-control environmental regulations are effective in specific contexts, while economic-incentive regulations are consistently effective and significantly reduce air pollution. Voluntary regulations significantly impacted air quality in 2018. Moreover, the interaction between economic-incentive and voluntary regulations is increasingly important for improving air quality. It is recommended to strengthen economic incentives, raise public environmental awareness, and develop environmental policies adapted to regional characteristics to promote environmental quality improvement and sustainable development.