Smart City Pilot Programs and the Advancement of the Digital Economy: Empirical Insights from China

Abstract In recent years, China has experienced rapid urbanization and technological advancement, with particular emphasis on the development of smart cities. A smart city integrates advanced technologies to enhance overall efficiency, improve the quality of urban services, and foster economic development. As part of this broader trend, various Chinese cities have initiated smart city pilot programs to explore the potential benefits of integrating digital technologies into urban management. Against this backdrop, this article seeks to assess the impact of smart city pilots on the development of the digital economy in China. Based on panel data from 285 Chinese cities at the prefecture level or above between 2011 and 2019, this article employs a difference-in-differences method to evaluate the impact of smart city pilots on the development of the digital economy. The research findings indicate that on average, smart city pilots significantly enhance the level of digital economy development by 0.756%. Smart city pilots can affect the development of the digital economy through mechanisms such as digital consumption, information collection, and human capital. These conclusions provide significant policy references for accelerating the construction of smart cities and promoting the development of the digital economy in China in the new era.