IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2024i1p30-d1551990.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Mechanism and Effects of the Digital Economy on Urban Resilience: An Empirical Test Based on 110 Cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Author

Listed:
  • Yuqing Zhang

    (School of Geography Science, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China)

  • Zhimo Sun

    (School of Geography Science, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China)

  • Xiaolong Chen

    (School of Geography Science, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China)

Abstract

Cities encounter increasing risks and challenges under new development patterns, and digital economy (DE) can drive cities’ improved resilience to natural and social uncertainties. Based on data collected on the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2011 to 2021, the development situation of the regional DE and urban resilience (UR) was measured, and the impact mechanisms of the DE on UR were analysed theoretically and empirically using a benchmark regression model. The findings are as follows: The benchmark test revealed that the DE development contributed significantly to UR in the region. The mediating effect test revealed that the DE improved UR through two pathways: industrial structure upgradation and energy restructuring. The moderating effect test suggested that environmental pollutant emissions had a negative moderating effect between the impact mechanisms of the DE, industrial structure, and energy structure and between the effects of industrial structure, energy structure, and UR, whereas CO 2 emissions had a positive moderating effect between the impact mechanisms of DE and industrial structure. Heterogeneity analysis indicated that the DE contributed positively to the UR except in the upstream region, where the coefficient of the DE was insignificant. Overall, this study highlights the crucial role of the DE in improving UR and elucidates the theoretical impact mechanisms of environmental pollution control and carbon reduction measures on UR.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuqing Zhang & Zhimo Sun & Xiaolong Chen, 2024. "The Mechanism and Effects of the Digital Economy on Urban Resilience: An Empirical Test Based on 110 Cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-27, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2024:i:1:p:30-:d:1551990
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/1/30/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/1/30/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amir AghaKouchak & Laurie S. Huning & Felicia Chiang & Mojtaba Sadegh & Farshid Vahedifard & Omid Mazdiyasni & Hamed Moftakhari & Iman Mallakpour, 2018. "How do natural hazards cascade to cause disasters?," Nature, Nature, vol. 561(7724), pages 458-460, September.
    2. Guandong Song & Sheng Zhong & Liuguang Song, 2022. "Spatial Pattern Evolution Characteristics and Influencing Factors in County Economic Resilience in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-20, July.
    3. Congqi Wang & Rui Zhang & Haslindar Ibrahim & Pengzhen Liu, 2023. "Can the Digital Economy Enable Carbon Emission Reduction: Analysis of Mechanisms and China’s Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-20, June.
    4. Thomas Wilbanks & Jayant Sathaye, 2007. "Integrating mitigation and adaptation as responses to climate change: a synthesis," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 12(5), pages 957-962, June.
    5. Guo, Bingnan & Wang, Yu & Zhang, Hao & Liang, Chunyan & Feng, Yu & Hu, Feng, 2023. "Impact of the digital economy on high-quality urban economic development: Evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    6. Fangxin Yi & Jun Jie Woo & Qiang Zhang, 2022. "Community Resilience and COVID-19: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Resilience Attributes in 16 Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Yang Liu & Yanlin Yang & Huihui Li & Kaiyang Zhong, 2022. "Digital Economy Development, Industrial Structure Upgrading and Green Total Factor Productivity: Empirical Evidence from China’s Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-23, February.
    8. Chen, Xiaolong & Di, Qianbin & Liang, Chenlu, 2024. "The mechanism and path of pollution reduction and carbon reduction affecting high quality economic development - taking the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration as an example," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 376(PB).
    9. Huiping Wang & Qi Ge, 2023. "Spatial association network of economic resilience and its influencing factors: evidence from 31 Chinese provinces," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Peixing Zhang & Tianlu Jin & Min Zhang & Aijun Zhu, 2025. "Spatial correlation networks characteristics and influence mechanisms of the resilience of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration: a complex network perspective," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Jianming Kang & Meiling Wu & Liu Liu, 2025. "Enhancing the Resilience of Resource-Based Cities: A Dual Analysis of the Driving Mechanisms and Spatial Effects of the Digital Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-28, October.
    3. Hongbo Lei & Caihong Tang & Yunfei Long, 2024. "Study on the impact of digital economy on industrial collaborative agglomeration: Evidence from manufacturing and productive service industries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(8), pages 1-20, August.
    4. Mei Yang & Mengyun Jiao & Jinyu Zhang, 2022. "Research on Urban Resilience and Influencing Factors of Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-19, August.
    5. Yajun Ma & Zhengyong Yu & Wei Liu & Qiang Ren, 2025. "Exploring the coupling coordination relationship and obstacle factors of rural revitalization, new-type urbanization, and digital economy in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(1), pages 1-30, January.
    6. Lingzhang Kong & Jinye Li, 2022. "Digital Economy Development and Green Economic Efficiency: Evidence from Province-Level Empirical Data in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-26, December.
    7. Fan Yang & Jianghong Zhen & Xiaolong Chen, 2025. "The Spatial Association Network Structure and Influencing Factors of Pollution Reduction and Carbon Emission Reduction Synergy Efficiency in the Yellow River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-22, February.
    8. Fu, Hongpeng & Guan, Jianxing & Wang, Runzi & Kong, Liangji & Dai, Qinqin, 2024. "How does digitalization affect the urban-rural disparity at different disparity levels: A Bayesian Quantile Regression approach," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Wang, Bo & Wang, Jianda, 2025. "China’s green digital era: How does digital economy enable green economic growth?," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 4(1).
    10. Fu, Shuke & Ge, Yingchen & Hao, Yu & Peng, Jiachao & Tian, Jiali, 2024. "Energy supply chain efficiency in the digital era: Evidence from China's listed companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    11. Lu Zhang & Guodong Lin & Xiao Lyu & Wenjie Su, 2024. "Suppression or promotion: research on the impact of industrial structure upgrading on urban economic resilience," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    12. Lin Zhou & Jianshuang Fan & Liang Ding & Zhiqian Xu & Junshen Zhang, 2024. "Can policy advantages be transformed into industrial advantages? Evidences from digital economy industry development in Zhejiang Province, China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(3), pages 1-25, March.
    13. Ren, Xiaohang & Zeng, Gudian & Zhao, Yang, 2023. "Digital finance and corporate ESG performance: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    14. Wang, Zhan & Ma, Dan & Tang, Jiaqi, 2024. "Asymmetric fiscal policies and digital economy development: An empirical analysis based on the global digital value chain perspective," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    15. J. Rice & R. Moss & P. Runci & K. Anderson & E. Malone, 2012. "Incorporating stakeholder decision support needs into an integrated regional Earth system model," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 17(7), pages 805-819, October.
    16. Pei Zhao & Junhua Guo & Yang Wang, 2023. "How Does the Digital Economy Affect Green Development?—Evidence from 284 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-24, July.
    17. Elmar Kriegler & Brian-C O'Neill & Stéphane Hallegatte & Tom Kram & Richard-H Moss & Robert Lempert & Thomas J Wilbanks, 2010. "Socio-economic Scenario Development for Climate Change Analysis," CIRED Working Papers hal-00866437, HAL.
    18. Chen, Zhiguo & Gao, Wei & Zafar, Quratulain & Dördüncü, Hazar, 2023. "Natural resources extraction and geopolitical risk: Examining oil resources extraction in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    19. Lixin Zhou & Caiping Qu & Li Zhi, 2024. "Research on the Impact of Digital Infrastructure on Urban Breakthrough Green Innovation: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-22, November.
    20. Randell, Heather & Jiang, Chengsheng & Liang, Xin-Zhong & Murtugudde, Raghu & Sapkota, Amir, 2021. "Food insecurity and compound environmental shocks in Nepal: Implications for a changing climate," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).

    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:17:y:2024:i:1:p:30-:d:1551990. 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 (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.