How Smart City Pilots Succeed—Based on the Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Fuzzy Sets of 35 Cities in China

In China, smart city pilots has become an important scheme to promote the modernization of the national governance system and capacity. Based on the TOE framework, this study takes 35 Chinese smart cities as sample cities and uses the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to explore the influencing factors of smart city pilot construction. The results show that: (1) No single factor can constitute the necessary conditions for the high and non-high construction efficiency of a smart city pilot. (2) There are five configurations leading to the high construction efficiency of a smart city pilot, which can be summarized into three driving modes: the organizational mode composed of organizations, the organization–environment mode composed of organizations and environment, and the technology–environment mode composed of technology and environment. There are three driving modes of non-high construction efficiency of a smart city pilot, which have an asymmetric relationship with the driving mode of high construction efficiency of a smart city pilot. (3) There is a potential substitution relationship among relevant factors in the aspects of technology, organization, and environment, which can effectively replace and promote the efficient construction of a smart city. The research results have implications for improving the effectiveness of smart city construction and promoting urban innovative development and sustainable development.