IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i16p6884-d1453919.html

Smart-City Policy in China: Opportunities for Innovation and Challenges to Sustainable Development

Author

Listed:
  • Song Yang

    (School of Mathematics and Statistics, Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang 550025, China
    Guizhou Key Laboratory of Big Data Statistical Analysis, Guiyang 550025, China)

  • Yinfeng Su

    (School of Mathematics and Statistics, Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang 550025, China)

  • Qin Yu

    (School of Accounting, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210000, China)

Abstract

Urban development relies on the promotion of innovation, while sustainable development is an inevitable requirement for green urban development. As the primary carrier of innovation and sustainable development, cities have seen the construction of smart cities become a hotspot topic of public concern against the backdrop of rapid advancements in information technology. Based on the Chinese smart-city pilot policies, this paper selects data from 278 prefecture-level cities between 2007 and 2020, employing difference-in-difference (DID), epsilon-based measures and global Malmquist–Luenberger index (EBM-GLM), and the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to analyze the direct impact, spatial effects, and regional differences of smart-city construction on urban innovation capacity and sustainable development. The research results indicate the following: (1) the implementation of smart-city policies significantly enhances the urban innovation capacity ( U C I ), but its impact on green total-factor productivity ( G T F P ) is unstable and even insignificant; (2) the U C I and G T F P of smart cities have spillover effects, and the implementation of policies may inhibit the improvement of U C I and G T F P in neighboring cities; (3) the impact of smart-city construction varies across different regions, with a more significant promotion effect on the innovation capacity of economically developed cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Song Yang & Yinfeng Su & Qin Yu, 2024. "Smart-City Policy in China: Opportunities for Innovation and Challenges to Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-32, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:6884-:d:1453919
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/6884/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/6884/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mora, Luca & Gerli, Paolo & Ardito, Lorenzo & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2023. "Smart city governance from an innovation management perspective: Theoretical framing, review of current practices, and future research agenda," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    2. Tan Yigitcanlar & Nayomi Kankanamge & Karen Vella, 2021. "How Are Smart City Concepts and Technologies Perceived and Utilized? A Systematic Geo-Twitter Analysis of Smart Cities in Australia," Journal of Urban Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1-2), pages 135-154, April.
    3. Guo, Qingbin & Wang, Yong & Dong, Xiaobin, 2022. "Effects of smart city construction on energy saving and CO2 emission reduction: Evidence from China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    4. Robert G. Hollands, 2008. "Will the real smart city please stand up?," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 303-320, December.
    5. Clement, Jessica & Ruysschaert, Benoit & Crutzen, Nathalie, 2023. "Smart city strategies – A driver for the localization of the sustainable development goals?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    6. Tone, Kaoru & Tsutsui, Miki, 2010. "An epsilon-based measure of efficiency in DEA - A third pole of technical efficiency," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 207(3), pages 1554-1563, December.
    7. Sally Caird, 2018. "City approaches to smart city evaluation and reporting: case studies in the United Kingdom," Urban Research & Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 159-179, April.
    8. James P. LeSage & R. Kelley Pace, 2008. "Spatial Econometric Modeling Of Origin‐Destination Flows," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5), pages 941-967, December.
    9. Thorsten Beck & Ross Levine & Alexey Levkov, 2010. "Big Bad Banks? The Winners and Losers from Bank Deregulation in the United States," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1637-1667, October.
    10. Juhyun Lee & Julia Babcock & Thai Son Pham & Thu Hien Bui & Myounggu Kang, 2023. "Smart city as a social transition towards inclusive development through technology: a tale of four smart cities," International Journal of Urban Sciences, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(S1), pages 75-100, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vitalii Kruhlov & Jaroslav Dvorak, 2025. "Social Inclusivity in the Smart City Governance: Overcoming the Digital Divide," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-20, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guo, Qingbin & Zhong, Jinrong, 2022. "The effect of urban innovation performance of smart city construction policies: Evaluate by using a multiple period difference-in-differences model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    2. Kaifeng Wang & Chunping Zhong & Lifeng Chen & Yunmin Zeng, 2023. "The spatial spillover effect of China’s pollutants emission trading pilot scheme on green efficiency: evidence from 285 China’s cities," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(8), pages 8137-8163, August.
    3. Ning Xu & He Zhang & Tixin Li & Xiao Ling & Qian Shen, 2022. "How Big Data Affect Urban Low-Carbon Transformation—A Quasi-Natural Experiment from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-16, December.
    4. Ibrahim Mutambik, 2023. "The Global Whitewashing of Smart Cities: Citizens’ Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-16, May.
    5. Yang, Zhen & Gao, Weijun & Han, Qing & Qi, Liyan, 2024. "Aggravating or alleviating? Smart city construction and urban inequality in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    6. Renata Biadacz & Marek Biadacz, 2021. "Implementation of “Smart” Solutions and An Attempt to Measure Them: A Case Study of Czestochowa, Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-28, September.
    7. Saige Wang & Chenchen Zhai & Yunxiao Zhang, 2024. "Evaluating the Impact of Urban Digital Infrastructure on Land Use Efficiency Based on 279 Cities in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-24, March.
    8. Xiaoling Wang & Yiting Han & Baofeng Shi & Mohammad Zoynul Abedin, 2025. "The impacts of green credit guidelines on total factor productivity of heavy-polluting enterprises: A quasi-natural experiment from China," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 347(1), pages 41-68, April.
    9. Zhong, Shen & Zhou, Zhicheng & Gao, Wei, 2025. "Impact of regional finance reform and innovation policies on green innovation in pilot cities: A quasi-natural experiment," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 888-911.
    10. Long Qian & Xiaolin Xu & Yunjie Zhou & Ying Sun & Duoliang Ma, 2023. "Carbon Emission Reduction Effects of the Smart City Pilot Policy in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-24, March.
    11. Lucio M. Peçanha & João J. Ferreira, 2025. "Sustainable strategies and circular economy ecosystems: A literature review and future research agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 1440-1459, January.
    12. Chen, Lifeng & Wang, Kaifeng, 2022. "The spatial spillover effect of low-carbon city pilot scheme on green efficiency in China's cities: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    13. Xingneng Xia & Ruoxi Yu & Sheng Zhang, 2023. "Evaluating the Impact of Smart City Policy on Carbon Emission Efficiency," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, June.
    14. Parul Gupta & Sumedha Chauhan & M. P. Jaiswal, 2019. "Classification of Smart City Research - a Descriptive Literature Review and Future Research Agenda," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 661-685, June.
    15. Desheng Yu & Lihua Yang & Yuping Xu, 2022. "The Impact of the Digital Economy on High-Quality Development: An Analysis Based on the National Big Data Comprehensive Test Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-20, November.
    16. Thiago Poleto & Thyago Celso Cavalcante Nepomuceno & Victor Diogho Heuer de Carvalho & Ligiane Cristina Braga de Oliveira Friaes & Rodrigo Cleiton Paiva de Oliveira & Ciro José Jardim Figueiredo, 2023. "Information Security Applications in Smart Cities: A Bibliometric Analysis of Emerging Research," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-36, December.
    17. Jun Gao & Ning Xu & Ju Zhou, 2023. "Innovative City Construction and Urban Environmental Performance: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-22, June.
    18. Zhu, Bei & Nakaishi, Tomoaki & Kagawa, Shigemi, 2024. "Neighbor's profit or Neighbor's beggar? Evidence from China's low carbon cities pilot scheme on green development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    19. Tara Vanli, 2024. "Can systemic governance of smart cities catalyse urban sustainability?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(9), pages 23327-23384, September.
    20. Nancy Micozzi & Tan Yigitcanlar, 2022. "Understanding Smart City Policy: Insights from the Strategy Documents of 52 Local Governments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-26, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:6884-:d:1453919. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.