Enhancing the Resilience of Resource-Based Cities: A Dual Analysis of the Driving Mechanisms and Spatial Effects of the Digital Economy

The sustainable transformation of resource-based cities (RBCs) is a critical global challenge. The digital economy is emerging as a potential catalyst for this transition, but the precise mechanisms and spatial dynamics underlying its influence on urban resilience remain underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating how the digital economy impacts RBC’s resilience, with a focus on both internal mechanisms and cross-regional spatial effects. Fixed effects, mediation, exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and spatial Durbin model (SDM) are used to examine the complex relationships observed in this context. The results reveal the following: (1) While the digital economy in Chinese RBCs demonstrated a stable upward trajectory, urban resilience, although it exhibited a general increase, remained fragile. (2) The digital economy significantly enhanced urban resilience (coefficient = 0.117, p < 0.05), in which context the most pronounced effects pertained to the social and economic resilience subsystems. (3) Green technological innovation (GTI) served as the core intermediary pathway (a × b = 0.017, p < 0.01). Industrial structure rationalization also served as a mediator. (4) The digital economy and urban resilience exhibited positive spatial autocorrelation (significant direct effects 0.032, p < 0.05), and the advancement of the digital economy in a focal city can enhance both the urban resilience of that city itself and that of neighboring cities indirectly.