Assessing the performance of smart cities in China: A TOPSIS and DEA approach

• The overall performance of China’s smart cities is poor, with a low smart level • There is no obvious relationship between urban performance and efficiency • There are significant differences in cities, presenting a polarized situation • The adversarial hierarchy diagrams of 30 provinces are olive-shaped and pyramid-shaped As an effective measure to solve the “urban disease”, smart cities have attracted great attention worldwide. A comprehensive and accurate evaluation of China’s smart cities not only helps to promote China’s smart city projects but also has important significance for other countries. This study first constructed an evaluation system widely applicable to China’s smart cities by reviewing the literature and policies. Then, TOPSIS and DEA were used to evaluate the performance and efficiency of 290 cities in China, and then AISM was used to classify 30 provinces to evaluate the construction levels of smart cities in China. The study results demonstrated that the overall performance of Chinese smart cities is insufficient, and the level of knowledge is low. There is no obvious relationship between urban performance and efficiency. Along different dimensions, there are significant differences between cities, presenting a polarized situation. The AISM results indicate that the adversarial hierarchy diagrams of 30 provinces are olive-shaped structures and pyramid-shaped structures. The evaluation results supplement comprehensive analysis of the development of smart cities in China. To some extent, the introduction of the AISM method promotes the development of smart city evaluation methods and improves the smart city evaluation system.