From Innovation to Resilience: How Digital Technology Boosts the Risk Resistance Capability of Cities

As a transformative techno-economic paradigm shift in the digital economy, digital technology innovation (DTI) has profoundly reshaped urban socio-economic systems. Using panel data of 264 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2020, this research empirically examined DTI’s impact on urban economic resilience (UER) and its underlying mechanisms. Results show that DTI significantly boosts UER, with heterogeneous effects related to city size, emerging industry development, R&D investment, and public attention. Mechanism analysis revealed that DTI enhances UER indirectly by promoting the development of new-type infrastructure, advancing industrial structure upgrading, and fostering the agglomeration of scientific and technological talents. Spatial analysis showed significantly positive direct effects yet negative indirect spillover effects driven by the siphoning of digital resources. These findings offer practical implications for strengthening UER and achieving high-quality economic development.