Smart City Pilot Research Articles

Can smart city construction be the answer to sustainable development? Evidence from Chinese corporates

The construction of smart cities plays a pivotal role in promoting regional sustainability by utilizing technology-driven urban development in the digital era. This study employs the difference-in-differences model to empirically analyze the impact of the smart city pilot policy on corporate carbon intensity, using data from Chinese A-share listed corporates from 2009 to 2021. The findings are as follows: First, the smart city pilot policy significantly reduces corporate carbon intensity in pilot cities, and this conclusion remains robust after a series of sensitivity tests. Second, the policy exhibits heterogeneous effects on corporate carbon intensity across different industries and city locations, with more pronounced effects observed in central cities, traditional industries, and heavily polluting industries. Third, mechanism analysis reveals that the policy reduces corporate carbon intensity through three channels: promoting technological innovation, increasing external market attention, and providing ex-ante government subsidies.

The impact of national land supervision system on urban low-carbon transformation: evidence from China

The land system is a crucial factor influencing urban low-carbon sustainable development. However, previous research has paid little attention to the effects and mechanisms of the national land supervision system (NLSS) on urban low-carbon transformation (ULCT). This study uses China’s routine land inspection as a quasi-natural experiment and examines the impact of NLSS on ULCT using panel data from 283 Chinese cities between 2005 and 2016. The study finds that NLSS significantly promotes ULCT, with a series of robustness checks supporting this conclusion, showing a 1.95% improvement in carbon emission performance in cities under supervision. NLSS mainly facilitates ULCT by improving land use efficiency, upgrading the structural of the service sector, and promoting technological progress. Compared to eastern cities, southern cities, large cities, and non-resource-based cities, NLSS more effectively promotes low-carbon transformation in central and western, northern, small- and medium-sized, and resource-based cities. Additionally, in contrast to cities with high environmental awareness, high marketization levels, high financial development levels, and high fiscal pressure, NLSS more strongly promotes ULCT in cities with lower levels of these factors. Furthermore, NLSS exhibits a significant positive spatial spillover effect in promoting ULCT. In advancing ULCT, NLSS can be synergized with smart city pilot policies and innovative city pilot policies but has not shown synergies with low-carbon city pilot policies.

Can smart cities improve energy resilience? Evidence from 229 cities in China

Energy security is a crucial component of national economic stability and growth. Given current technological limitations, improving management strategies is essential for safeguarding energy resources. Digital technologies play a pivotal role in enhancing management efficiency, thus contributing to energy security. As a key element of modernization, smart cities leverage digital solutions to drive urban development and have the potential to catalyze an energy revolution. Nevertheless, the relationship between energy security and smart cities remains underexplored, creating gaps in policy-making and implementation. This study, leveraging the smart city pilot policies enacted in 2012, 2013, and 2015, utilizes a sample of 229 prefecture-level cities covering the period from 2010 to 2020. Employing the Propensity Score Matched Difference-in-Differences (PSM-DID) model, the research assesses smart city policies’ impact on energy resilience. The results show that smart city policies significantly enhance energy resilience through three separate pathways: optimizing resource allocation, upgrading industrial structure, and promoting technological progress. Notably, smart city polices have more beneficial effects on the city characterized by low fiscal expenditure, being populous, resource-based, having high human capital, and being located in eastern region. This study aids in the improvement and promotion of smart city policies, thereby enhancing energy resilience and achieving sustainable urban development.

Understanding how digital infrastructure construction could promote sustainable development

Progress made in environmental protection may negatively affect regional socioeconomic development, reducing or impairing the ability of local economic systems to defend against external shocks, culminating in weakened economic resilience. Implementing carbon abatement programs without risking economic resilience is therefore an urgent problem for the international community, especially for its emerging national economies. Digital infrastructure construction (DIC), as a driving force of technological progress and structural transformation, may offer a viable solution to that problem. Here, we used county-level data for China, the biggest emerging economy in the world, to investigate whether and how Smart City Pilot policy (SCP, a policy close to DIC) has lowered regional carbon emissions and influenced economic resilience. We find that the SCP could significantly promote carbon abatement goals, and this result is robust under several tests. Further, chain-based mediating effect analysis revealed that the SCP's beneficial impact could have arisen by first promoting innovation and then productivity, and public concern acting as a stressor that pressures officials to engage in environmental governance. Furthermore, our results show the SCP is capable of bolstering regional economic resilience, and could even offset or negate the adverse effects of strict environmental regulation on that resilience. However, the positive effects of the SCP on carbon abatement in China's developed counties, or ones located in a resources-based city, were not significant. Altogether, our empirical results highlight how DIC can serve as a way to help achieve sustainable development, but more studies on its contributing role are clearly needed.

Is environmental information disclosure driving green energy development? Contextual evidence from Chinese city level data in the lens of sustainability

As an important supplement to mandatory environmental regulation, third-party participation in environmental regulation has become an important driving force for the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. Environmental information disclosure (EID) has become a widely used form of third-party participation ecological regulation, and the study of its impact on green energy development (GED) is receiving more and more academic attention. However, the research on this issue is still insufficient in academia. Based on resource-based theory and information processing theory, with IPE project of pollution information survey in China as an exogenous impact, this paper analyzes the causal impact of EID for GED using panel data of 285 Chinese cities from 2000 to 2020. The findings revealed that EID is a strong driver of GED in the long run, further amplified by the smart city pilot program. Besides, industrial structure transformation (IST), substantive green technological innovation (SGTI), non-substantive green technological innovation (NOSGTI), and green finance development (GFD) are important mediating mechanisms through which EID facilitates the GED. Concerning resource endowments of different regions and cities, the heterogeneity test asserted that the promotion effect of EID for GED is best in resource-based cities and old industrial parks. These results emphasize the importance of public participation in urban sustainable development and provide new ideas for promoting green growth.

The Impact of Smart City Policies on City Resilience: An Evaluation of 282 Chinese Cities

This study uses four dimensions, namely social resilience, economic resilience, infrastructure resilience, and ecological resilience, to construct an index system for urban resilience. The subject data came from the panel data of 282 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2020. We selected a multiperiod double-difference model to study the effects of smart city pilot policies on macro-urban resilience. By conducting parallel-trend tests and selecting appropriate robustness tests, this study drew the following relevant conclusion: smart city pilot policies can have a positive effect on the urban resilience level. These policies exert their influence by facilitating industrial structure upgrading, which plays a partial mediating role. Considering different city area distributions and city scales, smart city pilot policies can have significant heterogeneity in their enhancement of urban resilience. The effect is pronounced in the “east > central > west” states and is more likely to have a significant impact on small- and medium-sized cities. Therefore, promoting the scope of smart city pilots, strengthening the intermediary role of industrial structure upgrading, and implementing differentiated policies for different regions and city sizes are important for sustainable urban development.

Smart city construction and quality upgrading of export products: Evidence from China

Smart cities, as an advanced form of urban development in the digital age, are likely to profoundly affect the operations of local businesses. This paper analyzes the impact of smart city construction on the quality of firms’ export products by exploiting a quasi-natural experiment based on a smart city pilot policy in China and employing the staggered difference-in-differences (DID) method. Our empirical results reveal that the implementation of the policy significantly improves the export product quality of local firms, and this finding remains quite robust after a series of sensitivity tests. Mechanism analysis shows that the improvement of innovation efficiency and the reduction of transaction costs are two effective channels through which smart city construction enhances export product quality. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the policy effects are more prominent in high-tech industries, cities with high administrative levels, the eastern and central regions, non-state-owned firms, and general trade firms, which enjoy greater policy dividends than their counterparts.

The Impact of Pilot Policies for Smart Cities on Carbon Emissions in Cities along the Eastern Coast of China

Based on panel data from 111 prefecture level cities in the eastern coastal region of China from 2006 to 2021, this article regards the three batches of smart city pilot policies implemented since 2012 as a "quasi natural experiment", uses the asymptotic difference in differencesAA (DID) method to explore their impact on carbon emissions in the eastern coastal region of China, and verifies the scientific and credibility of the research results through multiple robustness tests. Then, heterogeneity analysis and mechanism analysis are conducted to explore the impact mechanism of smart cities on carbon reduction according to policies. The research results indicate that, firstly, the pilot policy of smart cities is beneficial for reducing carbon emissions in the eastern coastal areas of China, and this result remains robust after robustness tests such as PSM-DID (propensity score matching), placebo test, and exclusion of other policy interferences. Secondly, the pilot policies of smart cities have different carbon emission reduction effects in cities with different characteristics, and have more significant carbon emission reduction effects on small cities, non resource-based cities, and high GDP cities. Thirdly, the pilot policy of smart cities promotes the green and low-carbon development of cities in the eastern coastal areas of China by enhancing technological level and optimizing industrial structure.

Impact of energy saving and emission reduction policy: Empirical evidence from regional and local business in China

AbstractReducing energy intensity (EI) is essential to promoting sustainable development. The “National Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Comprehensive Demonstration Fiscal Policy” (ESERP) is the green fiscal policy adopted by China in an effort to maximize energy use and promote sustainable development. The paper analyzes the influence of ESERP on EI from regional and business standpoint. The results indicate that ESERP is effective in reducing EI, especially when it is implemented in noneastern, low administrative, and high urbanization cities. This policy effect is realized by promoting green technology innovation and enhancing industrial structural upgrading. However, ESERP enhances EI of neighboring areas around the pilot cities, especially within 200 to 400 km of the perimeter. Meanwhile, the co‐implementation of ESERP and smart city pilot policies is beneficial in reducing EI. Additionally, business strategy analysis indicates that ESERP effectively reduces EI of firms, especially in private, technology‐intensive, asset‐intensive, and heavy polluting firms. This paper provides empirical experience for optimizing green fiscal policy and promoting sustainable business development, which has significant policy guidance value and business strategy significance.

Can smart city policies foster digital innovation in the construction industry? Evidence from BIM-related patents in China

PurposeThe construction of smart cities holds the potential to drive digital innovation in the construction industry through various means, such as enhancing supply and demand. This study echoes the urgent need for the construction industry to overcome development challenges. Hence, it is necessary to study the extent and ways in which smart city policies promote digital innovation in the construction industry.Design/methodology/approachThis study treats China’s smart city policies as quasi-natural experiments. Using a dataset of Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2007 to 2021 and a difference-in-differences model, the study scrutinizes the impact of smart city policies on digital innovation within the construction industry.FindingsThe study reveals a substantial positive influence of smart city policies on digital innovation in the construction industry. In addition, the study explains these results by analysing supply-side and demand-side mechanisms. Moreover, the effect of smart city pilot policies on promoting digital innovation within the construction industry displays noteworthy heterogeneity across cities at different regional and political levels.Originality/valueBy exploring the impact and mechanisms of smart city policies on digital innovation in the construction industry, this research contributes to a more comprehensive and profound comprehension of the role of policies in facilitating the digital transformation of the construction sector. It is a valuable reference for policymakers and industry practitioners aiming to advance digital development.

The impact of digital transformation on enterprise export resilience: Evidence from China

External shocks have negatively affected trade activities around the world, how to improve the enterprise's anti-risk ability to external shocks has gained widespread attention. This study explores whether and how the digital transformation affects enterprise export resilience after the 2008 financial crisis. By expanding an export growth model and utilizing a merged dataset from the Chinese customs trade and A-share listed company database, we find that digital transformation significantly enhances export resilience, and this effect is more prominent in private enterprise as well as high-tech enterprise types. The mechanism analysis shows that digital transformation promotes enterprise export resilience through cost reduction and demand diversification channels. In addition, the effect of digital transformation is more evident on enterprises exporting to high-income countries. Furthermore, this paper finds that the smart city pilot policy has strengthened the promoting effect of digital transformation on enterprise export resilience. These findings shed insights into the relationship between the digital transformation and enterprise's export behavior in the post-crisis era.

Can Smart City Construction Promote Urban Green and High-Quality Development?—Validation Analysis from 156 Cities in China

The in-depth participation and application of new-generation information and communication technologies, such as big data, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, etc., in the field of smart cities have promoted their abilities in urban fine governance, public services, ecological livability, scientific and technological innovation, etc. Smart cities are gradually becoming recognized as the best solution to “urban problems”. Smart city construction drives urban innovative development, accumulates kinetic energy for economic growth, strengthens social support functions, enhances the effectiveness of the ecological environment, and promotes the convergence and integration of urban green development and high-quality development. This paper constructs a difference-in-differences model based on propensity score matching. Additionally, fiscal science and technology investment is introduced as mediating variables to further explain the mechanism through which smart city pilot policy impacts urban green and high-quality development. This research uses panel data from 156 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019 to empirically test that the construction of smart cities has a significant positive effect on urban green and high-quality development. The mediation effect model shows that an increase in the level of local government’s fiscal science and technology investment enhances the positive effect of smart city construction on urban green and high-quality development. This research concludes with policy recommendations: the government should seize the development opportunity presented by smart city pilot policy, providing necessary policy support and financial incentive for the construction of smart cities. This will optimize the local economic structure, transform the driving forces of urban development, and assist cities in achieving green and high-quality development.

Can the implementation of the smart city pilot policy improve the social adaptive health and mental health of middle-aged and elderly people? Evidence from China

With the accelerating pace of population aging in China and the implementation of the smart city pilot policy, whether the middle-aged and elderly population can integrate and adapt to this “smart” society has become an urgent problem that needs to be solved. In this context, exploring the impact of smart city pilot policies on the social adaptation health and mental health of middle-aged and elderly people has become a top priority for China to implement a national strategy to actively respond to population aging. Thus, based on panel data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) for the years 2011, 2013, and 2015, this study employs the difference-in-differences (DID) method to investigate whether the smart city pilot policy can improve the social adaptive health and mental health of middle-aged and elderly people and to explore in depth the mechanism of its influence. The study finds that compared with non-pilot cities, the social adaptive health and mental health of middle-aged and elderly people in smart cities improve by 0.6% and 2.2%, respectively. The mechanism effect study shows that the smart city pilot policy can improve the mental health of the middle-aged and the elderly through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the enhancement of human capital. Furthermore, for the social adaptive health of middle-aged and elderly individuals, the smart city pilot policy can only make improvements through the enhancement of human capital. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect of smart city pilot policies on social adaptive health is more pronounced in the middle-aged group than in the elderly group.

Smart-City Policy in China: Opportunities for Innovation and Challenges to Sustainable Development

Urban development relies on the promotion of innovation, while sustainable development is an inevitable requirement for green urban development. As the primary carrier of innovation and sustainable development, cities have seen the construction of smart cities become a hotspot topic of public concern against the backdrop of rapid advancements in information technology. Based on the Chinese smart-city pilot policies, this paper selects data from 278 prefecture-level cities between 2007 and 2020, employing difference-in-difference (DID), epsilon-based measures and global Malmquist–Luenberger index (EBM-GLM), and the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to analyze the direct impact, spatial effects, and regional differences of smart-city construction on urban innovation capacity and sustainable development. The research results indicate the following: (1) the implementation of smart-city policies significantly enhances the urban innovation capacity (UCI), but its impact on green total-factor productivity (GTFP) is unstable and even insignificant; (2) the UCI and GTFP of smart cities have spillover effects, and the implementation of policies may inhibit the improvement of UCI and GTFP in neighboring cities; (3) the impact of smart-city construction varies across different regions, with a more significant promotion effect on the innovation capacity of economically developed cities.

The impact of digital inclusive finance on environmental pollution: A case study of air pollution.

This study delves into the impact of digital inclusive finance on environmental pollution, with a specific focus on air pollution. Utilizing data from 265 Chinese cities, advanced econometric methods such as the bi-directional fixed effects model, threshold model, spatial Durbin model, and multi-period difference-in-differences model are employed, incorporating a variety of control variables. The empirical findings indicate that digital inclusive finance significantly reduces air pollution. This mechanism chiefly operates through enhancing public environmental consciousness and fostering green technological innovation. The study also uncovers the spatial spillover effect and non-linear characteristics of digital inclusive finance on air pollution, along with its interactive effects with specific policies (e.g., smart city pilot policies and the "major protection, no major development" initiative). Moreover, heterogeneity analysis reveals regional variations in the environmental effects of digital inclusive finance. These insights provide a novel perspective on the relationship between financial technology and environmental protection and offer crucial guidance for policymaking.

Mechanisms and effect assessment of smart city policy pilots on employment resilience: Empirical evidence based on 275 sample cities in China

In the context of a global economic slowdown and structural shifts, comprehending labor market stability is crucial for devising effective macro-employment strategies. This research introduces an innovative framework to analyze employment resilience in the wake of China's smart city pilot policy. Utilizing data from 275 prefecture-level cities across China, spanning 2008 to 2020, the study delves into the beneficial effects of the smart city pilot policy on employment resilience. It employs a dual approach, integrating the Differences-in-Differences method (DID) with robustness analysis. Findings indicate that employment resilience in smart city pilot cities is approximately 0.58% higher compared to non-pilot cities. Factors such as location, size, and city type exhibit varying influences on this outcome. The research further reveals that entrepreneurial activities significantly mediate the link between smart city policies and employment resilience. Additionally, the concentration of manufacturing and productive services, along with their interplay, demonstrates notable moderating effects. This investigation broadens the economic research scope regarding smart cities and offers fresh empirical insights into the labor market impacts of smart city pilot policies, serving as a valuable guide for policymakers in managing employment markets.

Enhancing export resilience through smart cities: a city-level quasi-natural experiment in China

ABSTRACT Faced with currently numerous uncertainties at home and abroad, the construction of new infrastructure plays a critical role in enhancing region’s ability to cope with external shocks. Based on resilience perspective, this paper takes smart city pilot as a quasi-natural experiment and utilizes time-varying difference-in-difference (DID) model to investigate the policy effect on city export resilience in ChinA. Research shows that smart city pilot significantly improves city’s anti-risk ability after external shocks, which is manifested as stronger export resilience in pilot cities. Mechanism tests show that smart city pilot promotes export resilience through diversification, efficiency-improved, and innovation-driven channels. Moreover, the effect of smart city pilot is more evident on cities in central and western regions, as well as exporting to high-income countries. These findings shed new insights into the relationship between the smart city pilot and city export behaviour and provide references for Chinese government to promote export upgrading in the post-crisis erA.

Smart City Pilot Policy and Urban Productivity in China: Based on Difference-in-Differences Model

Smart City Pilot Policy and Urban Productivity in China: Based on Difference-in-Differences Model

Do smart city policies improve energy efficiency? Evidence from China

To address air pollution and offer a convenient and comfortable living environment, the Chinese government launched a smart city pilot (SCP) project in 2012, accompanied by a comprehensive set of environmental and energy-related laws and regulations. Although academic interest in smart cities has surged, there remains a notable gap in empirical research exploring the economic, environmental, and energy effects of such initiatives. Taking 232 prefecture-level cities from 2003 to 2017 as research subjects, this study measures energy efficiency by using energy consumption per unit of GDP and adopts a difference-in-differences (DID) analysis to investigate the impact of SCPs on energy efficiency. The empirical results indicate that SCPs improved energy efficiency by promoting urban technological innovation capabilities and green total factor productivity, and this effect was more pronounced in cities that were more dependent on traditional fossil fuel energy sources and had more developed fiscal and financial levels. Studying the impact of smart city construction on energy utilization efficiency in developing countries, such as China, is not only significantly enlightening for China’s green and low-carbon transition but also provides reference opinions for constructing smart cities and the path to enhancing energy efficiency in other developing countries. The findings provide valuable insights into the global development of smart cities, urban sustainability, and high-quality economic growth.

A significance of smart city pilot policies in China for enhancing carbon emission efficiency in construction.

The Chinese government seeks to promote economic growth and sustainable development while achieving carbon neutrality by establishing phased smart city pilots. Therefore, it is important to study whether smart city pilots can promote carbon emission efficiency (CEE). This paper constructs a multi-period difference-in-difference (DID) model based on panel data from 241 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2019, aiming to investigate the mechanism of the impact of smart city pilot policies (SCPP) on CEE and whether there is a rebound effect. The study found that smart city construction (SCC) significantly improves carbon efficiency, with pilot cities increasing their CEE by 1.4% compared to non-pilot cities. The conclusions remain robust under a variety of scenarios including the introduction of placebo tests, counterfactual tests, sample data screening, and omitted variable tests. The results of the mechanism test show that although the rebound effect can inhibit the improvement of CEE, the environment can be improved and the CEE can be enhanced through green technology innovation, industrial structure upgrading, energy structure optimization, environmental regulation effect, information technology support, and resource allocation effect. The heterogeneity results indicate that the SCPP is more effective in promoting CEE in cities in the eastern region, southern cities, environmentally friendly cities, large cities, and medium-sized cities. This study contributes to the existing literature in clarifying the environmental benefits of SCPP and provides valuable policy insights for cities to address climate change and sustainable development.