Innovative City Research Articles

Sustainable Urban Development in the Post-Pandemic Era: Smart Shenzhen based on the 15-Minute City Concept

In the face of the pandemic, there has been a global focus on urban planning and sustainability. These have attracted attention in innovative cities. The 15-Minute City approach aims to address the COVID-19 pandemic, enhance urban sustainability, and encourage citizen involvement in urban planning and management. In 2018, the municipality of Milan launched the Fifteen Minute City project. The project aims to redefine the use of streets and public spaces, encourage cycling and walking, and reshape neighborhoods. By studying the success of Milan's 15-minute City, this paper aims to deeply analyze the necessary factors for the successful implementation of the 15-minute plan based on the Notice of Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Commerce on printing and distributing the Implementation Plan for the Pilot City Construction of Shenzhen Quarter Hour Convenient Living Circle. This paper will establish causal connections between the variables within the plan and propose strategies for mitigating the identified risks. Additionally, the document will present a fair and objective evaluation of the plan's consequences, along with practical suggestions for future execution. The paper highlights the importance of community involvement in urban planning and emergency management by examining key initiatives in Shenzhen, such as the implementation of digital technologies, green transport policies, community support, and public education. The research provides valuable lessons for both Shenzhen and other cities on sustainable development and infection management and highlights the need for community collaboration and public participation.

The Influence of Demand-Based Policy Instruments on Urban Innovation Quality—Evidence from 269 Cities in China

Enhancing the quality of urban innovation is a powerful strategy for advancing urban sustainability. A strong public innovation policy is a crucial building block for advancing urban innovation quality. This study identifies innovative procurement instances from over 640,000 public procurement contract data through textual analysis to investigate how urban innovation quality could benefit from demand-based policy instruments. The study’s findings indicate the following: (1) It provides evidence that the adoption of public innovation procurement has a significant impact on urban innovation quality, suggesting an inverse U-shaped relationship between the two. (2) Heterogeneity analysis reveals public innovation procurement stimulates urban innovation quality more remarkably in cities with provincial status and provincial capitals, as well as in eastern cities. (3) We discovered that it is not possible to increase the quality of urban innovation in the city when human capital in the city is performing poorly and when there is also a lack of external technology and entrepreneurial activity. Finally, this paper argues that our findings also provide important insights for the development of proactive innovation policy instruments, the construction of innovative cities, and the realization of sustainable development in countries around the world, especially in developing countries.

Effectiveness of Using Jendela Pontianak Integrasi (JEPIN) Application toward Developing Smart City in Siantar Hilir North Pontianak District

This article analyzes the effectiveness of using the Pintu Pontianak integration application in realizing a Smart City in the Siantan Hilir Village area, North Pontianak District. Jendela Pontianak Integrasi (JEPIN) implements the Smart City concept adopted by the Pontianak City government to facilitate public access to information and public services. Even though it is aimed at people who actively use technology, several obstacles hinder the effectiveness and acceptance of this application. Among them are the complexity of features and terms in applications that still need to be fully understood by the public and a need for more awareness of the benefits of the innovative city concept. Socialization efforts carried out by the government have yet to fully increase public understanding and interest in the JEPIN application. Therefore, concrete steps such as simplifying the user interface, increasing socialization, and regular evaluation are needed to ensure the success and broader acceptance of the JEPIN application. In this way, JEPIN can be a more effective tool in supporting Pontianak City's Smart City vision and improving the quality of public services for the community.

The impact of air pollution on regional innovation: empirical evidence based on 267 cities in China.

Based on the spatially correlated effects of air pollution on regional innovation, theoretical hypotheses are proposed, and this paper employs a spatial Durbin model to conduct empirical tests using panel data from 267 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2019, and investigates the mediating effect of human capital. Research has shown that (1) air pollution significantly reduces regional innovation output and has a negative spatial spillover effect significantly in the short term; (2) in the process of regional innovation impacted by air pollution, human capital acts as a mediator role; and (3) analysis of heterogeneity reveals that, from the regional perspective, air pollution has significantly damaged regional innovation in eastern and middle cities, but not significantly influences western cities, and in terms of innovation types, there is a stronger detrimental effect on invention patents exerted by air pollution compared to non-innovation patents. The study's findings provide theoretical and empirical evidence to strengthenenvironmental governance, enhance regional innovation and promote the coordinated development of regional innovation.

THE SPATIAL SPILLOVER EFFECT OF INNOVATIVE CITY POLICY ON CARBON EFFICIENCY: EVIDENCE FROM CHINA

The strengthening of the deep integration of innovation and green is a necessary measure for sustainable urban development. Based on the improved Global-EBM, this study regards the innovative city policy as a quasi-natural experiment and evaluates its spatial spillover effects and potential impact channels. The results show that (1) The innovative city policy enhances the urban total factor carbon emission efficiency (TFCEE) and has positive spatial spillover effects on surrounding regions. (2) The mechanism test shows that the effective channels for innovative city policies to enhance TFCEE and generate spatial spillover effects come from improving the degree of green technology and resource allocation. (3) The spillover effect of innovation city policy is more significant for developed, coastal and advanced industrial structures. This study strengthens the theoretical foundation for promoting cross-regional green coordinated development and provides valuable suggestions for policymakers.

From Innovation to Green: Does China’s Innovative City Construction Contribute to Green Development?

ABSTRACT China’s government has launched the innovative city pilot (ICP) policy since 2008 and taken green development as the principle goal of innovative city construction. However, whether or not the ICP policy shapes green development remains largely unknown. Leveraging variation in the timing of the ICP policy implementation across cities, we investigate the causal impact of innovative city construction on green development, as measured by green total-factor productivity (GTFP). Our staggered difference-in-differences (DID) estimator shows that cities which implement the ICP policy experience a 5.3% increase in GTFP. This effect appears one year after the introduction of ICP policy and shows an upward trend over time. Our mechanism analysis further confirms that the ICP policy effect is driven by green innovation effect, which is realized through the support of innovation policy and increased investment in innovation. Finally, substantial heterogeneity is explained by geographic location, environmental constraint, resource endowment, city size and different levels of innovation. Our paper underscores the pivotal role of innovative cities in promoting green development, which warrants nationwide expansion.

Comparative Analysis of Technological Innovation in Chinese Cities: Pre and Post-Government Green Performance Assessment

Comparative Analysis of Technological Innovation in Chinese Cities: Pre and Post-Government Green Performance Assessment

Metropolitan Marvels : To Forge Seamless Possibilities for Urban Discoverability and Connectivity

Embodies a particular approach with the devising set out to enrich the quality of the city living experience incorporating technology and real human relationships in applying information in the city. The research journey is going to trace dynamic pathways underpinning in software development through powerful tools like Android Studio among others that helps in designing simple and user-friendly interfaces that easily adjust themselves to the diversity of the residents who live in cities and visitors come to the city. It now focuses to build proper links of implementation not on the technological strides but only by increasing the spotlight. Reliability as well as availability is ensuring that hustling has a strong back-end that would handle the data smoothly by the use of applications like Firebase and Room Persistence. Added to it, the approach makes use of offline capabilities as well part of validation of strict security precursors for performing through real-user trials while designing the likes of the application in conformance to the changing user preferences of the urban communities. This methodology visualizes transformative fostering of people-centric cities in successfully intricacy technology by richness of human experiences within innovative city information application, and elevated urbanlifestyles.

The spatial effects of housing prices on innovation in cities: evidence from the Yangtze river economic belt in China

ABSTRACT Economic activities among cities are not mutually independent; rather, they exhibit significant spatial associations. Real estate prices also demonstrate a certain degree of spatial interdependence. Diverging from most of the relevant researches neglecting the existence of spatial spillover effect, our study employs spatial Durbin models for an in-deep investigation into the spatial spillover effects of housing prices on innovation within the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Furthermore, our study explores the talent agglomeration channel. In many studies on housing prices and innovation, the focus has often been on the channel of labour mobility, with limited in-depth exploration of labour characteristics. Our findings reveal the following: (1) An increase in housing prices stimulates innovative activities in local cities but hinders innovation in surrounding cities. (2) In the midstream and downstream regions of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the escalation of housing prices fosters innovation in cities but suppresses innovation in surrounding cities. Conversely, in the upstream region, the rise in housing prices inhibits innovative activities both locally and in surrounding cities. (3) The talent agglomeration channel underscores regional disparities in the impact of housing prices on talent agglomeration, highlighting the significant role of talent agglomeration in the impact of housing prices on innovation. These results remain robust when subjected to tests, including the instrumental variable method, alternative spatial matrices, and alternative housing price measures.

Promoting Urban Innovation through Smart Cities: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China

It is of great theoretical and practical significance to investigate the influence of intelligent city construction on urban innovation. Based on the data of 238 cities in China from 2006 to 2019, this paper utilizes the staggered difference-in-differences (staggered DID) model and the mediating effect model to examine the impact and mechanisms of smart city construction on urban innovation. We find that China’s smart city pilot policies significantly promote urban innovation. Mechanism analysis shows that this innovation promotion effect acts through improving urban informatization, government financial expenditure on science and technology, and the upgrading of the city’s industrial structure. Further analysis shows that smart city construction has a stronger promoting effect on innovation in cities of a larger scale, that located in the eastern region, and have a lower level of science and education. Overall, our findings provide new insights into urban innovation and objectively assess the impact of smart city construction in China.

Pothole detection in bituminous road using convolutional neural network with transfer learning

<p>The challenges of road maintenance, particularly in detecting potholes and cracks, and the proposed method using transfer learning and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are significant advancements in this domain. Transfer learning is particularly beneficial, as it allows leverage pre-trained models to enhance the performance of the pothole detection system. CNNs, with their ability to capture spatial hierarchies in data, are well-suited for image-based tasks like pothole detection. The potential applications of the suggested method for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) services, such as alerting drivers about real-time potholes, demonstrate we research’s practical implications. This contributes to road safety and aligns with the broader goals of innovative city initiatives and infrastructure management. Achieving a 96% accuracy rate is a significant result, indicating the robustness of the proposed approach. Using this information to assess initial maintenance needs in a road management system is forward-thinking. Overall, we work is a valuable contribution to intelligent transportation and infrastructure management, showcasing the potential of advanced machine-learning techniques for addressing critical issues in road maintenance.</p>

INVESTMENT POTENTIAL OF CITIES IN THE CONDITIONS OF WAR

The investment potential of Ukrainian cities during the war is analysed in this article. It defines the concept of 'investment potential of a city' and analyses its key components and interrelationships, including economic stability, infrastructure and logistics, market potential, level of innovation, education, and labour force. Research has shown that the investment potential of a city is closely linked to its level of economic stability. Therefore, effective risk reduction and sound financial management are crucial in attracting long-term investments. It has been revealed that transport connections, communication networks, and other logistical aspects contribute to the growth of a city's investment potential. However, the war has significantly impacted urban infrastructure and logistics in Ukraine, creating serious challenges for the functioning and development of cities. The military situation in Ukraine has had a significant impact on the economic environment and business infrastructure, challenging the market potential of cities. The level of innovation in cities is affected by the situation of war, which brings many challenges and limitations. However, innovation can be an important factor in post-conflict adaptation and reconstruction. Challenges that can affect a city's investment potential include the impact of military conflict on education and the workforce. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on restoring and supporting educational initiatives, creating conditions to attract the best talent, and stimulating innovation in education and human resource development to overcome the challenges posed by war. The investment potential of cities is a multi-faceted indicator that reflects economic, socio-cultural and technological dynamics and helps to make informed decisions about investment and urban infrastructure development.

Impact of National Innovative City Policy on Enterprise Green Technology Innovation—Mediation Role of Innovation Environment and R&D Investment

This study investigates the impact of the national innovative city policy on enterprise green technology innovation amid China’s transformation from a resource-dependent to an innovation-driven economy. Working on city- and enterprise-level data from 2003 to 2018, this study employs the multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model and the Sobel test to explore the impact of innovative city policies. The empirical results demonstrate that the innovative city policy has improved both the quantity and quality of enterprises’ green technology innovation output. This positive impact is accomplished via improving the urban innovation environment and stimulating enterprise research and development (R&D) investment. The promoting effect of the policy is stronger in attaining green utility patents by state-owned enterprises and green invention patents by non-state-owned enterprises. The positive policy impact is more pronounced for large enterprises. This study provides micro-level evidence regarding the policy’s impact on green innovation, and the results carry valuable policy implications.

Securing tomorrow’s urban frontiers: A holistic approach to cybersecurity in smart cities

To address the intricate interplay between digital infrastructure and urban ecosystems, this study will adopt a multidisciplinary approach, combining expertise from cybersecurity, urban planning, and information technology. The research will delve into the vulnerabilities and potential threats that arise with the integration of IoT devices, interconnected systems, and the extensive data networks inherent in Smart Cities. By understanding the technological landscape, our goal is to devise adaptive and resilient cybersecurity measures that safeguard critical infrastructures while preserving the privacy and security of citizens. The methodology involves a qualitative inquiry through an open-ended questionnaire from 50 stakeholders. The anticipated outcomes of this research include the development of practical guidelines, best practices, and policy recommendations to fortify the cybersecurity posture of existing and future Smart Cities. By addressing the intricate relationship between urbanization and technology, this project aspires to contribute to the creation of secure, resilient, and sustainable urban environments that harness the full potential of Smart City innovations while mitigating cybersecurity risks.

An Integrative Approach to Healthcare Enhancement through Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Smart City Innovations

An Integrative Approach to Healthcare Enhancement through Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Smart City Innovations

Urban innovation, heterogeneous environmental regulations and haze reduction effects–evidence from pilot policies of innovative cities

Innovation-driven development strategies have injected new momentum into haze management. In addition to its core innovation-driven role, innovative city pilot policy is significant for environmental enhancement and should not be overlooked. To assess the performance of the pilot policy in decreasing haze, a multiperiod double difference model was employed, and a spatial econometric model was used to empirically examine the potential spatial spillover effect of haze management as a regional synergistic concept between 2006 and 2020. Panel data from 282 prefecture-level cities were selected. To investigate and empirically examine the territorial spillover effect of haze reduction as a regional synergistic notion, a spatial econometric model was applied. Based on the study, the pilot construction significantly reduced haze pollution. In China’s eastern and central regions, small cities, and newer industrial bases, the inhibitory effect of pilot policies on haze pollution was more pronounced, according to heterogeneity analysis. Moreover, analysis of the heterogeneous environmental regulations revealed that the enforcement of policies would increase the sense of urgency of local governments, strengthen the concern and responsibility of the government for the environment, and further awaken the public’s concern for the environment, in addition to forcing enterprises to practice clean and sustainable production, thus achieving the effect of accelerated haze reduction. From the spatial perspective, innovative pilot cities have certain spatial spillover effects and thus can increase the effects of policy for neighboring regions, similar economic regions and local transportation regions.

The development of Innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems in cities: An institutional work approach

The innovation literature is growing rapidly, and a primary concern revolves around the contexts that foster and enhance innovation and entrepreneurial outcomes. Research on innovation environments still requires further development. This paper sheds light on fostering and developing innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems in cities from the institutional work perspective, emphasizing the need to institutionalize collaboration. The paper employs the case study method with a process data approach. The study took place in two Latin American cities, Porto Alegre and Florianópolis, within a cultural context characterized by a non-cooperative background. The findings are linked to the institutionalization of collaboration in the development of innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems, unfolding in three phases involving three groups of roles: leaders, supporters, and the community. The practices are associated with the leader's group in the first phase (Preparing for Collaboration). The second phase (Strengthening Collaboration) expands the practices and adjusts the focus to the supporter's group. Additionally, the third phase (Disseminating Collaboration) continues to broaden the scope and gains relevance for the community's group. Therefore, the evolution of the phases is connected to the expansion of the range of institutionalization practices and a focus on the most active roles. These results carry significant implications for the theory and practice of innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem emergence, offering insights into the phases and roles critical for fostering innovation environments. Furthermore, they can provide practical guidance for other cities or regions aiming to cultivate robust innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

A good neighbor, a found treasure: Do local neighbors affect corporate innovation?

AbstractThis study examines whether local neighbors operating in different industries affect corporate innovation engagement. Based on mimetic isomorphism theory, we find that innovative local neighbors can serve as a social reference group for corporations to build legitimacy and guide corporations' mimetic innovation behavior. Our results remain robust after controlling for endogeneity by employing various methods. More importantly, our mechanism analysis indicates that local government activism is crucial to promote mimetic innovation behavior in a region. Our study provides a valid mechanism to explain the emergence of highly innovative cities that agglomerate across industry boundaries. Our research makes two key contributions to the literature. First, our study contributes to the literature on corporate innovation clustering by adding new evidence of the mimetic effects in corporate innovation across industries. Different from the industrial peer effects in innovation, which address the industrial peer effects through the lenses of competitiveness and information dissemination, our results highlight that mimetic isomorphism explains the regional effects of mimicry on corporate innovation. We find strong evidence indicating that firms imitate the innovation behaviors of their local neighbors, and this tendency is most plausibly explained by the incentives associated with acquiring legitimacy. Second, our findings clarify the mimetic behaviors in corporate innovation by extending the theory of mimetic isomorphism. We link local government activism to mimetic isomorphism from the psychological and sociological perspectives. In particular, our results indicate that local governments can implement activism through the psychological and sociological mechanisms illustrated in this study. Those “soft” mechanisms initiated by government contribute to a better understanding of the regional effects of mimicry on corporate innovation.

The impact of the digital economy on urban total factor productivity: mechanisms and spatial spillover effects

Digital economy is the indispensable pathway for driving industrial structural upgrading and fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in cities, ultimately facilitating China's economic transformation. Simultaneously, the enhancement of urban total factor productivity (TFP) serves as a crucial means to achieve high-quality economic development in cities. This study examines the specific impact of the digital economy on urban TFP using a panel data model with a sample of 285 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2019. Additionally, it employs a mediation effect model to test the mechanisms through which the digital economy influences urban TFP and utilizes a spatial Durbin model to analyze the spatial spillover effects of the digital economy on urban TFP. The research findings reveal the following key points: (1)The digital economy has an overall significantly positive impact on urban TFP. (2)The digital economy indirectly promotes urban TFP by encouraging the advancement of industrial structure and fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in cities. (3)The influence of the digital economy on urban TFP exhibits spatial spillover effects, where the digital economy in neighboring cities significantly enhances the TFP growth of local cities.The results of this study contribute to elucidating the mechanistic pathways through which the digital economy affects urban TFP, holding significant practical implications for achieving high-quality economic development in urban areas.

A Review on Key Innovation Challenges for Smart City Initiatives

Smart city initiatives are being promoted across the world to address major urban challenges, and they all share a common belief in the transformative power of digital technologies. However, the pace of innovation in smart cities seems to be much slower than the rapid and profoundly disruptive transformations brought about by digital innovation in many other domains. To develop new insights about the main causes behind this relatively modest success, this study provides a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on the connection between major smart city challenges and the essential properties of digital innovation. The review involved the qualitative analysis of 44 research papers reporting on smart city innovation practices and outcomes. The results characterize five major challenge categories for smart city innovation: Strategic vision; Organizational Capabilities and Agility; Technology Domestication; Ecosystem Development; and Transboundary Innovation. This study also explores the connections between these challenges and concrete digital innovation practices in smart city initiatives. The main conclusion is that current innovation practices in smart cities are not properly aligned with what the research literature commonly describes as core properties of digital innovation and that this might be a major cause behind the limited progress in smart city initiatives.