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Industrial development is critical in improving a nation's economy and in how it consumes energy resources. However, such development often causes environmental problems. Among others, the haze caused by industrial SO2 emissions is particularly prominent. Based on Niche theory and combined with Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA, a decoupling index model, and a Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) factor decomposition model, this paper reports a study on the spatio-temporal distribution and the driving factors of industrial development and industrial SO2 emissions of cities in Henan, China between 2005 and 2014. The results showed that over the studied period in Henan: (1) SO2 emissions reduced by 4.56 × 105 tons and showed a slowly decreasing trend, which gradually transitioned to a "green health" industrial structure in Henan cities; (2) studied cities with high and low industrial niche values (0.038–0.139) showed an absolute decoupling relationship between industrial development and industrial SO2 emissions; (3) except for Zhengzhou city and Hebi city, other studied cities showed a trend of gradually increasing industrial output; (4) along with increases in the values of industrial output, studied cities showed increased levels of SO2 emissions but with energy intensity and energy structure showing a fluctuating trend of increases and decreases in their contributions to SO2 emissions; and (5) the energy consumption intensity and environmental technology were critical factors that were conducive to industrial SO2 emissions and the evolving industrial structure. These findings are important for the control of industrial SO2 emissions, though the levels of their influences are different in different cities. The scale of industrial production and the composition of energy structure in a region could lead to further deterioration of industrial SO2 emissions in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]