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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Digital Infrastructure and the Limits of Smart Urbanism: Evidence from a Panel Analysis and the Case of Wang Chan Valley

by
Boonyakorn Damrongrat
1,
Titaya Sararit
1,*,
Jaturong Pokharatsiri
1,
Tanut Waroonkun
1,
Watcharapong Wongkaew
2 and
Kittipat Phunjanna
3
1
Faculty of Architecture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
3
IPCV, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Smart Cities 2025, 8(5), 180; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities8050180
Submission received: 18 August 2025 / Revised: 4 October 2025 / Accepted: 13 October 2025 / Published: 20 October 2025
(This article belongs to the Topic IoT for Energy Management Systems and Smart Cities, 2nd Edition)
Versions Notes

Abstract

This study investigates how digital infrastructure contributes to smart city performance in emerging economic contexts and whether its impact is shaped by governance models. We estimate the effect of a Digital Technology Index on a composite Smart City Index, employing a generalized least squares (GLS) random-effects model to address heteroskedasticity and serial correlation. The analysis reveals a robust and statistically significant relationship: a one-standard-deviation increase in digital infrastructure corresponds to a 0.7-standard-deviation rise in smart city performance. The relationship is piecewise-linear, stagnating in the early stage before rising sharply after a threshold. To interpret these results, we draw on a qualitative case study of Wang Chan Valley (WCV), a science and innovation hub in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor. WCV exemplifies how early-stage digital investment can amplify smart development outcomes and generate spillover effects across the broader urban region. The case reinforces the hypothesis that digital infrastructure embedded within participatory innovation ecosystems yields greater and more sustainable smart-city gains than technology investment alone. Taken together, the findings contribute to the understanding of how governance mediates the effectiveness of digital infrastructure in driving smart urban transformation within emerging economies.
Keywords: smart city; digital infrastructure; urban governance; quadruple helix; innovation ecosystem; sustainable urban development; technology adoption smart city; digital infrastructure; urban governance; quadruple helix; innovation ecosystem; sustainable urban development; technology adoption

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MDPI and ACS Style

Damrongrat, B.; Sararit, T.; Pokharatsiri, J.; Waroonkun, T.; Wongkaew, W.; Phunjanna, K. Digital Infrastructure and the Limits of Smart Urbanism: Evidence from a Panel Analysis and the Case of Wang Chan Valley. Smart Cities 2025, 8, 180. https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities8050180

AMA Style

Damrongrat B, Sararit T, Pokharatsiri J, Waroonkun T, Wongkaew W, Phunjanna K. Digital Infrastructure and the Limits of Smart Urbanism: Evidence from a Panel Analysis and the Case of Wang Chan Valley. Smart Cities. 2025; 8(5):180. https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities8050180

Chicago/Turabian Style

Damrongrat, Boonyakorn, Titaya Sararit, Jaturong Pokharatsiri, Tanut Waroonkun, Watcharapong Wongkaew, and Kittipat Phunjanna. 2025. "Digital Infrastructure and the Limits of Smart Urbanism: Evidence from a Panel Analysis and the Case of Wang Chan Valley" Smart Cities 8, no. 5: 180. https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities8050180

APA Style

Damrongrat, B., Sararit, T., Pokharatsiri, J., Waroonkun, T., Wongkaew, W., & Phunjanna, K. (2025). Digital Infrastructure and the Limits of Smart Urbanism: Evidence from a Panel Analysis and the Case of Wang Chan Valley. Smart Cities, 8(5), 180. https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities8050180

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