Search Results (44)

As a key engine driving China’s green financial transformation, the Green Financial Reform and Innovation Pilot Zones have demonstrated significant achievements in enhancing the capacity of financial services to support green real economies, preventing and mitigating green financial risks, and bolstering national and urban economic resilience. On this basis, a spatial Markov chain model is applied to further analyze the economic toughness of prefecture-level cities. This study treats the establishment of these pilot zones as a quasi-natural experiment, using panel data from 269 prefecture-level cities in China from 2013 to 2023 and employing a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model to empirically examine the impact of green financial reform on urban economic resilience and its underlying mechanisms. The results reveal that the establishment of these pilot zones significantly enhances urban economic resilience. Specifically, green financial reforms primarily improve urban economic resilience by increasing credit accessibility and capital allocation efficiency in the pilot cities. Furthermore, the policy effects are more pronounced in large cities and resource-dependent cities compared to small and medium-sized cities and non-resource-dependent cities, with stronger impacts observed in southern and coastal regions than in northern inland areas. Additionally, the policy effects are significantly greater in environmentally prioritized cities than in non-prioritized cities. By integrating green financial reforms and urban economic resilience into a unified analytical framework, this study provides valuable insights for policymakers to refine green financial strategies and design resilience-enhancing policies. Full article

Under the impetus of the global urbanization, the synergistic relationship between smart city policies and green innovation capabilities has emerged as a critical agenda for achieving sustainable development goals. While existing studies have explored the techno-economic effects of smart cities, systematic evidence remains scarce regarding their pathways and heterogeneous impacts on green growth. This study investigates the influence of smart city pilot policies on urban green growth trajectories and their heterogeneous characteristics. Leveraging panel data from 293 Chinese prefecture-level cities, we employ a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model with two-way fixed effects to control for unobserved city-specific and time-specific factors, complemented by robustness checks including parallel trend tests, placebo tests, and alternative dependent variable specifications. Data sources encompass the China City Statistical Yearbook, CNRDS, and CSMAR databases, covering core metrics such as green patent applications and grants, industrial upgrading indices, and environmental regulation intensity, with missing values being addressed via mean imputation. The findings demonstrate that smart city pilot policies significantly enhance green innovation levels in treated cities, with effects exhibiting pronounced spatial and resource-based heterogeneity; there are notably stronger impacts in non-resource-dependent cities and eastern regions. Mechanism analysis shows that policies are driven by a dual effect of industrial upgrading and environmental regulation. The former is manifested by the high substitution elasticity of the digital economy for traditional manufacturing, while the latter is reflected in the rising compliance costs of polluting enterprises. This research advances a cross-nationally comparable theoretical framework for understanding green transition mechanisms in smart city development while providing empirical benchmarks for policy design in emerging economies. Full article

Drawing upon a quasi-natural experiment, this research investigates the influence of China’s National Digital Economy Innovation Development Pilot Policy on urban energy intensity. By examining a sample of 282 Chinese cities with the difference in differences (DID) approach, the findings provide robust empirical support for the proposition that digital economy pilot policies substantially reduce urban energy intensity. Furthermore, the policy’s effectiveness in lowering urban energy intensity differs across cities with varying administrative levels and population scales. The results suggest that the policy’s impact is more pronounced in ordinary cities (non-provincial capitals/municipalities) and in those with smaller populations. An examination of the underlying mechanisms reveals three principal pathways through which the policy affects energy consumption: (1) digital economic development, which promotes optimal resource allocation and enhanced energy intensity; (2) technological innovation, driving advances in green technologies and supporting sustainable industrial upgrades; and (3) economic agglomeration, which leverages economies of scale and industrial clustering to bolster energy efficiency. The conclusions underscore the necessity of expanding digital economy pilot zones, strengthening investments in digital infrastructure, and fostering greater technological innovation to sustain improvements in energy efficiency and environmental performance. Full article

Global digitalization drives policy-led transformation in the construction industry, yet its effectiveness hinges on localized implementation. However, research on China’s regional digital policies remains insufficient, particularly in systematic evaluation mechanisms. Focusing on Wuhan, this study proposes a progressive “3M” (macro–meso–micro) policy evaluation framework to analyze local policy efficacy under national strategies. Macro-level PESTEL analysis identifies weak legal frameworks as a critical gap. Meso-level PMC index modeling establishes a hierarchical optimization pathway prioritizing incentive measures, followed by policy timeliness, assessment mechanisms, policy focus, and policy nature. Micro-level Spearman’s correlation analysis further pinpoints five implementation drivers: pilot projects, long-term planning, detailed measures, talent cultivation, and regulatory reinforcement. The results indicate that Wuhan’s policies require targeted improvements: (1) synergizing pilot innovation with legal safeguards, (2) integrating green principles into long-term planning, (3) refining technical standards and policy alignment, (4) enhancing multidisciplinary talent development through industry–academia collaboration, and (5) establishing IoT-enabled dynamic monitoring platforms. This hierarchical evaluation system provides empirical evidence for optimizing China’s construction policies while offering a transferable governance framework for global cities navigating digital transitions. Future research should extend the temporal and spatial coverage while incorporating adaptive evaluation tools to address policy dynamism. Full article

China has already joined the ranks of innovative nations. Accelerating technological innovation to lead a green transformation in land use is an urgent requirement for promoting ecological civilization and, in turn, driving high-quality economic development. This study examines urban data spanning from 2006 to 2021, focusing on cities classified at the prefecture level or above. Employing the Chinese Innovative City Pilot Policy (ICPP) as a quasi-natural experiment, this study utilizes a super-efficiency Slack-Based Measure (SBM) model that incorporates undesirable outputs to assess Green Land Use Efficiency (GLUE). Additionally, a multi-period Difference-in-Differences (DID) model, combined with a mediation effect model, is employed to evaluate the influence of innovation-driven policies on GLUE. The findings are as follows: (1) Although GLUE showed variability throughout the study period, it generally trended upwards, with significant improvements noted in the eastern regions and coastal city clusters. (2) Innovation-driven policies have effectively enhanced urban GLUE, a conclusion supported by extensive robustness tests. (3) The heterogeneity investigation indicates that the ICPP’s impact on GLUE is more significant in cities with advantageous geographic locations, increased environmental awareness, and strong market potential. (4) A mechanism analysis demonstrates that the ICPP positively influences GLUE by reducing urban sprawl and promoting the concentration of digital service industries. Based on these results, this study proposes policy recommendations aimed at refining innovation-driven approaches to improve urban GLUE. These recommendations are pivotal in promoting a green, low-carbon transformation in China’s economic and social development. Full article

Digital consumption, driven by the widespread application of information technology, has led to more efficient resource allocation and industrial structure optimization. This promotes green transformation and has a positive impact on carbon productivity. This research examined 275 cities across China, employing a difference-in-differences approach alongside the national information consumption pilot policy to carry out a quasi-natural experiment. The study found that the information consumption pilot policy enhances carbon productivity at the 1% significance level. After controlling for other variables, the regions affected by the information consumption policy saw an increase in carbon productivity that was 0.233 higher than in the regions that were not affected. This growth reflects the positive impact of the information consumption pilot policy or measures on carbon productivity. Meanwhile, the increase in technological resources and the transformation of the industrial framework encouraged by the policy indirectly promote the development of carbon productivity. The information consumption pilot policy promotes technological innovation and increases resource density, leading to more efficient technology application and resource allocation. It also drives industrial structure optimization, particularly accelerating the development of low-carbon industries, thereby effectively enhancing carbon productivity. This study provides theoretical and empirical references for the promotion of carbon productivity through digital consumption. Full article

The rise of information and communication technologies (ICT) has facilitated flexible working arrangements, giving rise to new workspaces like co-working spaces (CWSs). While existing research has focused on the distribution of CWSs within city, this study explores their location patterns and relationships with regional policies in China. Using data from 2015 to 2022, it employs a quasi-natural experiment at the prefecture level, primarily examining the impact of the National Innovation Demonstration Zone (NIDZ) policy. This pilot policy primarily aims to reform the science and technology innovation mechanism in the pilot cities. Notably, the research innovatively applies the multiple Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to compare CWS distribution pre- and post-policy implementation across diverse cities. The findings include the general promotion of CWS growth in NIDZs, yet with a policy focus leading to regional imbalances. Moreover, the positive effect of establishing demonstration zones on CWS growth is relatively smaller in economically developed cities. These insights shed light on the evolving dynamics and patterns of innovative activities, emphasizing the influence of regional policies on the spatial distribution of CWSs. Full article

Against the backdrop of the structural transition in China’s economic landscape, the implementation of digital economy policies—particularly through the Broadband China Demonstration Cities initiatives—has significantly enhanced urban ecological resilience. Based on panel data from 280 prefecture-level cities in China over the period 2013–2022, this study employs the national big data comprehensive pilot zone as a quasi-natural experiment and utilizes the dual machine learning method to examine how pilot zone construction influences urban ecological resilience. This analysis provides theoretical support for fostering green urban development. The results are summarized as follows. (1) The construction of national big data comprehensive pilot zones significantly enhances urban ecological resilience. The conclusion is robust to various tests, including the removal of outliers, changes in sample splitting ratios, and alterations in machine learning algorithms. (2) The construction of national big data comprehensive pilot zones indirectly improves urban ecological resilience through pathways of green innovation and energy efficiency. (3) This study assesses the heterogeneity of policy effects based on the generalized random forest (GRF) model to identify the sources of heterogeneity in policy effects, and conducts a comprehensive heterogeneity analysis from the three dimensions of resource endowments, geographical location characteristics, and the attributes of environmental protection zones. These findings enrich the analysis of the consequences of national big data comprehensive pilot zone policies and offer a theoretical basis and policy reference for how constructing big data pilot zones can better serve urban ecological development. Full article

China’s rapid urbanization has spurred significant economic growth, but it has also given rise to challenges such as urban sprawl, ecological degradation, and inefficient land use—issues that impede progress toward green and sustainable development. Land is the spatial foundation for green development, and promoting its green utilization is essential for advancing the high-quality development of urban spaces. As a concrete implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy, the National Innovative City Pilot Policy (NICPP) serves as a crucial driver in fostering high-quality development. In this context, the NICPP and green land use can be seen as two complementary components of achieving high-quality development. This study uses panel data from 266 cities across China and applies a difference-in-differences (DID) model to evaluate the effect of the NICPP on urban land green use efficiency (ULGUE), exploring the underlying mechanisms through the lenses of industrial structure and technological innovation. The results indicate that the NICPP significantly and robustly enhances ULGUE. The effect varies geographically and by city type, with the most pronounced benefits observed in eastern cities, non-resource-based cities, and non-old industrial base cities. Additionally, the NICPP contributes to improved comprehensive output benefits during land use activities and reduced pollutant emissions by optimizing industrial structures and enhancing technological innovation capacity, thereby promoting ULGUE. Therefore, in the future, the focus should be on integrating innovation with strategic policies. These findings carry profound implications for urban development in China and provide important lessons for promoting sustainable urban growth on a global scale. Full article

Digitization plays a vital role in fostering economic and social development. This study empirically investigates the impact of digitization on urban industrial structures, technological innovation, public service levels, and social–ecological resilience. Various approaches, including the two-tier stochastic, spatial econometric, and panel threshold models, have been employed to analyze panel data from 287 cities from 2008 to 2023. These data are examined through a quasi-natural experiment analyzing the evolution of urban social–ecological resilience following China’s promotion of the national comprehensive pilot zone for big data. The findings are as follows. (1) The positive effects of digitization on urban social and ecological resilience substantially outweigh the negative effects, with an overall increasing trend in the positive net effect, albeit with significant regional differences. (2) Digitalization exhibits a significant spatial spillover effect, enhancing local social–ecological resilience while inhibiting improvements in neighboring cities. (3) Technological innovation and public service levels positively affect social–ecological resilience, whereas industrial structure upgrading has a negative indirect effect. Both industrial structure upgrading and public service levels demonstrate nonlinear effects under the threshold constraints of the intermediary mechanism. (4) In terms of policy mechanisms, regional differences in the urban industrial structure, innovation capacity, and public service levels must be considered. This approach is essential for promoting the organic integration of digitization across regions, mitigating the polarization effect, and enhancing the diffusion effect. Full article

Big data is a pivotal factor in propelling the digital economy forward and emerges as a novel driver in realizing the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. This study focuses on a quasi-natural experiment, namely national big data comprehensive pilot zones (NBD-CPZs), and employs a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model to identify the influence of big data on carbon emissions. The findings of this study are as follows. Overall, big data significantly reduces carbon emissions within the pilot zones. Mechanism analysis shows that big data reduces urban carbon emissions by promoting green innovation, optimizing energy structure, mitigating capital mismatch and improving public awareness of environmental protection. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the carbon reduction effect of big data are more pronounced in cities with high levels of digital economy, non-resource-based cities, cities with strong intellectual property rights protection and the Guizhou Province. Spatial effect analysis indicates that within a radius of 400–500 km, the NBD-CPZ increases urban carbon emissions, signifying a significant siphoning effect; within a radius of 500–900 km, the NBD-CPZ reduces urban carbon emissions, signifying a significant spillover effect, and beyond a distance of 900 km, the spatial effect of the NBD-CPZ is not significant. Based on the above conclusions, this study puts forward several policy recommendations to effectively exert the carbon emission reduction effect of big data. Full article

Since 2019, eighteen major ministries and commissions, including the National Development and Reform Commission, have launched trials for a “zero-waste city”. Shenzhen, Baotou, Tongling, and 16 other cities and regions have entered the practical operation stage, and the significance of the economic effect of the policy pilot needs to be tested through empirical evaluation. This study systematically gathers time series data from 281 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2022 and constructs an innovative experimental framework for the construction of a zero-waste city. It implements a series of rigorous robustness testing procedures using the difference-in-differences (DID) method to scientifically and objectively measure the actual effects of waste-free city construction strategies in promoting the city’s social development along a high-quality development path. This study provides deep insights into the zero-waste city construction strategy as a strong driving force. Our results indicate that the high-quality development stage has a positive impact on the city as a whole that cannot be ignored. At the same time, in-depth analysis shows that this strategy exhibits strong regional differences in the process of promoting high-quality urban development. For the two core regions of eastern and central China, the implementation of zero-waste city policies has significantly accelerated the pace of high-quality development, and further analysis reveals that, compared with the developed eastern region, the implementation of this policy in the central region has achieved superior results in terms of high-quality development. Third, the benefits of waste-free city policies are related to the economic bases of cities, the number of green patents granted, national policies, geographical location, and other factors. Full article

The smart city pilot plan plays a pivotal role in the modernization of urban development within Digital China. To accelerate economic growth and establish a nation driven by innovation, it is crucial to examine the impact of smart city pilot programs on urban innovation. This research evaluates the effects of these policies using a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model. The findings indicate a significant enhancement in innovation levels within cities that participated in China’s smart city pilot program. These results remain robust even after rigorous validity tests. Mechanism testing reveals that the development of smart city pilot cities primarily boosts urban innovation through industrial upgrading and increased informatization. Additionally, heterogeneity tests show that the influence of smart city policies on urban innovation varies according to the geographical characteristics of different cities. Based on these insights, this study provides recommendations to further strengthen urban innovation by optimizing smart city policies. These include crafting differentiated smart city strategies, promoting the digital transformation of cities, and increasing economic support for smart city initiatives. Full article

The advancement of the big data industry is playing a pivotal role in urban land management refinement. Recently, China initiated a big data strategy, establishing national big data comprehensive pilot zones (NBDCPZs) across diverse regions. These initiatives present substantial opportunities for enhancing the urban land green use efficiency (ULGUE). Consequently, in this study, we utilized the super-efficiency slack-based measure (SBM) model with undesirable outputs to assess the ULGUEs across 281 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2021. Subsequently, leveraging the NBDCPZ establishment as a quasi-natural experiment, we employed the difference-in-differences (DID) method to empirically explore the impact of the NBDCPZ policy on the ULGUE for the first time. The findings revealed the following: (1) The implementation of the NBDCPZ policy significantly enhances the ULGUE; (2) the effects are mediated through mechanisms such as fostering technological innovation, mitigating resource misallocation, and promoting industrial agglomeration; (3) the heterogeneity analysis emphasizes the increased policy effectiveness in cities characterized by fewer natural resources, lower economic growth pressures, stable development stages, and moderate digital infrastructure and human capital levels; and (4) further analysis demonstrates the significant positive spillover effects of the NBDCPZ policy on the ULGUEs of neighboring non-pilot cities, with a diminishing impact as the proximity between pilot and non-pilot cities decreases. Overall, this study contributes to the literature on the relationship between the digital economy and land utilization, offering valuable insights for achieving sustainable urban development. Full article

China is facing development challenges, such as the red line of arable land, resource shortage, and tightening ecological and environmental constraints. In this context, improving land green utilization efficiency (LGUE) is not only an important undertaking to optimize the spatial layout of the country and improve resource carrying capacity but also an inevitable choice for the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. China’s energy-consuming right trading (ECRT) is an important energy transition demonstration policy; however, its effect on LGUE has yet to be scientifically evaluated in academic research. Using panel data of 260 prefecture-level cities in China from 2009 to 2021, this study first uses a difference-in-difference model to test the effect of ECRT on LGUE, analyze its transmission mechanism, and further examine the impact of urban characteristic heterogeneity on policy effects from multiple perspectives. Results show the following: (1) The pilot policy of ECRT significantly improves urban LGUE, as confirmed by robustness tests. (2) The ECRT pilot policy enhances urban technological innovation, promotes the upgrading of industrial structure, and thereby improves LGUE. (3) The ECRT has a more significant enhancement effect on the central and western cities, large-scale cities, and resource-based cities. (4) Government environmental protection assessment can have a positive moderating effect, that is, further amplifying the effect of ECRT on improving urban LGUE. In conclusion, we should solidly promote the construction of a unified national ECRT market, formulate policy implementation plans tailored to local conditions, and steadily improve LGUE. To a certain extent, this paper reveals the inherent logic of how ECRT affects LGUE, which provides opportunities for cities to improve LGUE through ECRT, and provides reference for promoting the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. Full article