Research on the Coupling and Coordination Relationship between Digital Economy and Green Development in Guangdong Province

Green development enabled by the digital economy is an important engine for economic growth. The article empirically investigates the spatial and temporal evolution of the coupling and coordination between the digital economy and green development by constructing an index system of the digital economy and green development, and by selecting the panel data of 21 prefectural cities in Guangdong Province in the period of 2012-2022. The study finds that, in terms of external spatial distribution, there is a large gap between the level of digital economy and green development in each city, and the development is not balanced; the gap between the two major coupling levels in each city is more obvious, presenting an uneven pattern of “center-edge”. In terms of intra-city development, the level of coupling and coordination between the digital economy and green development of each city from 2012 to 2022 shows an upward trend, reaching the level of primary coordination to good coordination, but the overall level is still not high, and there is still a certain gap from realizing high-quality coordination. Accordingly, in order to promote the interconnection of digital economy and green development, the article puts forward a series of policy recommendations to promote the deep integration of industrial digitization and greening among cities, adhering to the innovation-driven, and facilitating the coordinated development based on the differentiated resources of cities.