The Digital Lever: How Can Digital Intelligence Transformation Drive Urban Green Innovation?

The digital and intelligent transformation of urban development has sparked new reflections on green innovation in cities for the new era. China’s national big data comprehensive pilot zone policy provides a practical arena for exploring this issue. This study, based on panel data from 287 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2022, examines the mechanisms through which the national big data comprehensive pilot zone policy affects urban green innovation. The results show that the pilot zone policy significantly improves the level of urban green innovation, with the level of digital economic development and the intensity of environmental regulation being important mediating pathways, forming a dual path of technology-driven and institutional synergy. Based on the empirical analysis results, the study proposes a “digital lever” framework to explain the combined effects of policy foundations, digital empowerment, and environmental regulation.