Smart Cities, Smarter land Use? Unveiling the efficiency gains from China’s digital urban transformation
Urban smart transformation serves as a key driver of high-quality economic development in the digital economy era, playing a crucial role in advancing sustainable urban growth. This paper analyzes panel data from 282 prefecture-level cities in China over 12 years, employing the SBM-Undesirable model...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25000809 |
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| author | Zhenyu Zhuo Jiashuo Ye Yu Wang Hao Chen Bin Liang |
| author_facet | Zhenyu Zhuo Jiashuo Ye Yu Wang Hao Chen Bin Liang |
| author_sort | Zhenyu Zhuo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urban smart transformation serves as a key driver of high-quality economic development in the digital economy era, playing a crucial role in advancing sustainable urban growth. This paper analyzes panel data from 282 prefecture-level cities in China over 12 years, employing the SBM-Undesirable model to measure urban land use efficiency (ULUE). By treating the smart city construction policy as a quasi-natural experiment, this study uses a time-varying DID approach to assess the impact of urban smart transformation on ULUE and employs moderating and spatial effect models to explore underlying mechanisms. The findings reveal that: (1) Smart city construction significantly enhances ULUE, with increases of 16 %, 11.4 %, and 11.1 % of the three pilot batches; (2) Urban smart transformation improves ULUE through three mechanisms: fostering innovation investment, expanding internet user bases, and optimizing industrial land use efficiency; (3) Urban smart transformation has a more pronounced effect on ULUE in eastern and western cities, while the impact in central cities is not significant; (4) The long-term effects of smart city policy surpass short-term impacts and exhibit synergistic interactions with innovation policies; (5) Urban smart transformation has a spatial spillover effect, benefiting neighboring cities within an 80 km radius by significantly boosting ULUE. This paper employs rigorous empirical methods to analyze the causal relationship between urban smart transformation and ULUE, while also delving into the underlying mechanisms, time lag effects, and spatial spillovers. Furthermore, the study offers actionable policy recommendations. These insights provide valuable guidance for sustainable urban development strategies in developing countries. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-af94dfbc1a86447bb1c398d8babbc1fb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj-art-af94dfbc1a86447bb1c398d8babbc1fb2025-02-02T05:26:56ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2025-02-01171113151Smart Cities, Smarter land Use? Unveiling the efficiency gains from China’s digital urban transformationZhenyu Zhuo0Jiashuo Ye1Yu Wang2Hao Chen3Bin Liang4Business School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Joint International Research Laboratory of Catastrophe Simulation and Systemic Risk Governance, School of National Safety and Emergency Management, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai 519087, ChinaSchool of Economics and Management, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, ChinaBusiness School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaJoint International Research Laboratory of Catastrophe Simulation and Systemic Risk Governance, School of National Safety and Emergency Management, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai 519087, China; Corresponding authors.School of Economics and Management, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China; Corresponding authors.Urban smart transformation serves as a key driver of high-quality economic development in the digital economy era, playing a crucial role in advancing sustainable urban growth. This paper analyzes panel data from 282 prefecture-level cities in China over 12 years, employing the SBM-Undesirable model to measure urban land use efficiency (ULUE). By treating the smart city construction policy as a quasi-natural experiment, this study uses a time-varying DID approach to assess the impact of urban smart transformation on ULUE and employs moderating and spatial effect models to explore underlying mechanisms. The findings reveal that: (1) Smart city construction significantly enhances ULUE, with increases of 16 %, 11.4 %, and 11.1 % of the three pilot batches; (2) Urban smart transformation improves ULUE through three mechanisms: fostering innovation investment, expanding internet user bases, and optimizing industrial land use efficiency; (3) Urban smart transformation has a more pronounced effect on ULUE in eastern and western cities, while the impact in central cities is not significant; (4) The long-term effects of smart city policy surpass short-term impacts and exhibit synergistic interactions with innovation policies; (5) Urban smart transformation has a spatial spillover effect, benefiting neighboring cities within an 80 km radius by significantly boosting ULUE. This paper employs rigorous empirical methods to analyze the causal relationship between urban smart transformation and ULUE, while also delving into the underlying mechanisms, time lag effects, and spatial spillovers. Furthermore, the study offers actionable policy recommendations. These insights provide valuable guidance for sustainable urban development strategies in developing countries.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25000809Urban land use efficiencySmart city pilotsTime-varying DID modelSpatial spillover effect |
| spellingShingle | Zhenyu Zhuo Jiashuo Ye Yu Wang Hao Chen Bin Liang Smart Cities, Smarter land Use? Unveiling the efficiency gains from China’s digital urban transformation Ecological Indicators Urban land use efficiency Smart city pilots Time-varying DID model Spatial spillover effect |
| title | Smart Cities, Smarter land Use? Unveiling the efficiency gains from China’s digital urban transformation |
| title_full | Smart Cities, Smarter land Use? Unveiling the efficiency gains from China’s digital urban transformation |
| title_fullStr | Smart Cities, Smarter land Use? Unveiling the efficiency gains from China’s digital urban transformation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Smart Cities, Smarter land Use? Unveiling the efficiency gains from China’s digital urban transformation |
| title_short | Smart Cities, Smarter land Use? Unveiling the efficiency gains from China’s digital urban transformation |
| title_sort | smart cities smarter land use unveiling the efficiency gains from china s digital urban transformation |
| topic | Urban land use efficiency Smart city pilots Time-varying DID model Spatial spillover effect |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25000809 |
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