Smart City, Digitalization and CO 2 Emissions: Evidence from 353 Cities in China

Zhongxin Ma and Fenglan Wu ()
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Zhongxin Ma: School of Economics and Management, Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai 201701, China
Fenglan Wu: College of Economics, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-21

Abstract: The development of digital technology provides new governance methods for achieving the goal of “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality”. Since 2013, the pilot construction of smart cities in China has strengthened the government’s digital governance capabilities and significantly influenced the reduction in carbon emissions. This paper provides empirical evidence for the driving effect of digitization on carbon emission reduction based on panel data from 353 cities in China. The results show that digital governance based on smart city construction pilots has significantly reduced regional carbon emissions, and the implementation of smart city construction pilots has reduced regional carbon emissions by an average of 6.6%, and this effect is sustainable over the long term. The increase in the level of digitalization has significantly promoted carbon emission reduction. From the perspective of the impact path, regional green patent innovation has played a significant partial intermediary effect in the process of digitization-driven carbon emission reduction. From a micro-mechanism standpoint, digitization plays a significant role in promoting the green innovation of high-polluting listed companies.

Keywords: smart city; carbon peaking; carbon neutrality; digitalization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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