Smart City Gnosys
Smart city article details
| Title | Understanding How Digital Infrastructure Construction Could Promote Sustainable Development |
|---|---|
| ID_Doc | 59456 |
| Authors | Ma Z.; Zhang P. |
| Year | 2024 |
| Published | Sustainable Cities and Society, 117 |
| DOI | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2024.105977 |
| Abstract | 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. © 2024 |
| Author Keywords | Carbon abatement; Digital infrastructure construction; Economic resilience; Smart City Pilot policy; Sustainable development |
Similar Articles
| Id | Similarity | Authors | Title | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
20873  | 0.918 | Chen Y.; Ji X.; Zhao G. | Does Digital Infrastructure Construction Impact Urban Carbon Emission Reduction? Evidence From China’S Smart City Construction | Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 31, 27 (2024) |
| 20031 | 0.909 | Chen Y.; Jiang C.; Peng L.; Zhao S.; Chen C. | Digital Infrastructure Construction And Urban Industrial Chain Resilience: Evidence From The “Broadband China” Strategy | Sustainable Cities and Society, 121 (2025) |
| 20529 | 0.906 | Wu D.; Xie Y.; Lyu S. | Disentangling The Complex Impacts Of Urban Digital Transformation And Environmental Pollution: Evidence From Smart City Pilots In China | Sustainable Cities and Society, 88 (2023) |
| 13311 | 0.904 | Peng W.; Li J.; Ren X. | Can Smart City Construction Be The Answer To Sustainable Development? Evidence From Chinese Corporates | Frontiers in Environmental Science, 12 (2024) |
| 4610 | 0.903 | Zhang Y.; Hong W. | A Significance Of Smart City Pilot Policies In China For Enhancing Carbon Emission Efficiency In Construction | Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 31, 26 (2024) |
| 10695 | 0.899 | Wang L.; Li F.; Li X.; Zhou S. | Assessing Smart Cities Policy On Urban Green Growth In China: The Mediating Effect Of Urban Resilience | Sustainable Cities and Society, 128 (2025) |
| 50600 | 0.897 | Ma Z.; Wu F. | Smart City, Digitalization And Co2 Emissions: Evidence From 353 Cities In China | Sustainability (Switzerland), 15, 1 (2023) |
| 56189 | 0.896 | Wang C.; Lu W.; Yin X.; Wang W.; Miao M. | The Path To Green Cities: Digital Infrastructure Construction And Urban Ecological Efficiency | Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, 34, 5 (2025) |
| 22018 | 0.895 | Zhuang Z.; Li S.; Li J. | Effect Of Smart City Construction On An Urban Transition To A Low-Carbon Economy: Evidence From China | Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 31, 42 (2024) |
| 49340 | 0.893 | Yu, CF; Yu, JY; Gao, D | Smart Cities And Greener Futures: Evidence From A Quasi-Natural Experiment In China'S Smart City Construction | SUSTAINABILITY, 16, 2 (2024) |