Abstract This paper is based on a quasi-natural experiment of the smart city pilot in 2012 and uses panel data from 141 districts and counties in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration from 2007 to 2019. It adopts a spatial panel Dubin difference-in-differences model to examine the impact of smart city construction on energy consumption and environmental pollution, and verifies the mechanism whereby smart city construction impacts energy conservation and emission reduction. The empirical results are as follows. (1) Smart city construction significantly promotes energy conservation and emission reduction; the energy conservation effect is greater than the emission reduction effect; and energy consumption plays an important role in the emission reduction effect of smart city construction. (2) The energy conservation and emission reduction effects of a smart city have four underlying mechanisms: technological innovation, industrial structure upgrading, consumption-mode innovation, and smart transportation transformation. However, these four potential mechanisms have different levels of contributions. (3) Smart city construction has a positive impact on local energy conservation and emission reduction, but the magnitude of this impact diminishes with increasing spatial distance. (4) The energy conservation and emission reduction effects of smart city construction on neighboring areas increase over time, and the marginal effect of energy conservation is significantly greater than the marginal effect of emission reduction on neighboring areas. (5) Smart city pilot policies have greater energy conservation and emission reduction effects in areas with strong information infrastructure and high levels of human capital than in areas with weak information infrastructure and low levels of human capital.
The key contributions of this paper are as follows. (1) Smart city, energy consumption, and environmental pollution are incorporated into a single analytical framework, and the important role of energy consumption in the emission reduction effect of smart city construction is examined. (2) The spatial spillover effect of smart city construction on energy conservation and emission reduction is considered, as are the marginal effects and spatial boundaries of smart city pilot policies. This yields empirical evidence to support the spatial management of smart city construction. (3) The channels whereby smart city construction impact energy conservation and emission reduction are analyzed and verified. Clarifying the relevant impact mechanism is an important basis for further improving the smart city pilot policy. (4) The heterogeneous effects of information technology infrastructure and human capital levels on the energy conservation and emission reduction effects of smart city construction are investigated to provide empirical evidence to support the implementation of differentiated policies. (5) Empirical data at the district and county levels are used, thereby filling a major gap in the literature that results from the use of data of prefecture-level cities and provinces without examining intra-regional heterogeneity.
The findings of this study have important policy implications. First, the findings show that the scope of smart city pilot projects should continue to be expanded, and a mechanism for synergy and cross-regional collaboration between smart city construction and energy and environmental governance should be formed. Priority should be given to the neighboring cities of pilot cities to promote the pilots from near to far. In the process of smart city construction, it is necessary to strengthen the constraints of energy conservation and emission reduction targets, coordinate the smart network space of urban agglomerations, formulate medium-and long-term smart city development plans for urban agglomerations, and strengthen the synergy between smart city planning and energy and environmental planning.
Second, a channel should be opened to allow smart cities to promote energy conservation and emission reduction, and to promote the connection between smart city construction pilot policies and regional innovation policies, industrial policies, consumption policies, and transportation policies. Smart technologies should be integrated into the entire process of energy and environmental governance to promote the green upgrading of regional industrial structure, guide and expand green digital consumption, and facilitate the transformation of regional consumption. Moreover, intelligent transportation technology should be actively developed, and digital and intelligent support for traffic management should be strengthened.
Third, differentiated smart-city construction strategies should be implemented, and the role of information infrastructure and human capital in smart city construction should be strengthened. In addition, investment in urban information infrastructure and education should be increased, with a focus on selecting cities with a good information and human capital base to carry out smart city pilot projects. Moreover, digital information industrialization should be comprehensively catalyzed, and energy and ecological support for informatization and digital transformation should be improved.
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Published: 03 August 2023
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