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Keywords

smart city pilot; Urban high-quality development; driving effect; heterogeneity analysis; multiphase DID model

Abstract

The construction of smart cities is conducive to enhancing the comprehensive competitiveness of cities. By using advanced information technology and data analysis tools, it is possible to optimize the allocation of various urban resources, improve urban management efficiency, promote industrial upgrading and transformation, greatly improve the quality of life of residents, achieve the goal of sustainable economic development, and promote high quality development. To explore the impact path of smart city construction on promoting high-quality urban development, a performance indicator system for high-quality urban development was constructed from four levels: economic growth, innovation efficiency, ecological environment, and social progress, using 277 prefecture level cities in China from 2005 to 2020 as samples. The national smart city pilot policy was used as a quasi natural experiment, and the empirical method adopted a multi-period DID model to analyze the connotation and object of the smart city pilot policy. Based on the policy connotation, a performance indicator system for high-quality urban development was constructed from the four levels of economic growth, innovation efficiency, ecological environment, and social progress. The government analyze the impact of smart city construction on high-quality urban development from three perspectives: enterprises and residents. Based on the geographical location of the city, the development of scientific and educational strength, and the size of the city, examine the differential effects of smart city pilot policies on improving the policy driving effect of high-quality urban development. Through this, the paper examines the impact and transmission path of smart city pilot policies on high-quality urban development. Research has found that the construction of smart cities can significantly improve the performance of high-quality urban development, and through a series of robustness tests such as parallel trend tests and placebo tests, the conclusion still holds true. With the advancement of smart city construction, there has been a significant improvement in the high-quality development performance of the three major regional cities, key science and education cities, and large-scale cities. From a regional perspective, the policy effects of smart cities on eastern and western cities are more significant than those on central cities. In terms of the level of science and education, the role of smart city construction in promoting high-quality urban development is mainly reflected in key science and education cities, while its impact on ordinary science and education cities is not significant. From the perspective of urban scale, the pilot of smart cities has a more prominent role in promoting high-quality development of large-scale cities, and has no significant impact on small and medium-sized cities. Mechanism testing shows that smart cities are mainly driven by government governance, corporate innovation, and resident consumption. With the improvement of government operational efficiency, the enhancement of corporate innovation capabilities, and the diversification of resident consumption patterns, high-quality urban development is promoted. To comprehensively coordinate the construction of smart cities, fully leverage the basic resources and innovation engine role of data, reshape the technological architecture of smart cities as a whole, systematically transform urban management processes, promote deep integration of industry and city, comprehensively enhance the competitiveness of cities in all aspects, and provide empirical basis for empowering the modernization of urban operation models according to local conditions.

DOI

10.16315/j.stm.2024.04.002

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