The spatiotemporal evolution and spatial effect of digitalization on urban land intensive use in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Dan Shen, Yuanxiao Hong and Lindong Ma ()
Additional contact information
Dan Shen: Zhejiang Sci-Tech University
Yuanxiao Hong: Xingzhi College, Zhejiang Normal University
Lindong Ma: Xingzhi College, Zhejiang Normal University

Palgrave Communications, 2025, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Abstract Land is essential for urban development. Increasing land use intensity can help with land shortage, and digitalization has become a new driving force for the development of society. This study uses panel data from 110 cities from 2011 to 2020 in the Yangtze River Economic Belt to empirically verify the impact of digitalization on urban land intensive use (ULIU). Based on analyzing the spatiotemporal evolution of urban digitalization and ULIU, the paper uses four spatial weight matrices and the spatial Durbin model to reveal the impact of urban digitalization on ULIU and discover spatial heterogeneity. We arrive at the following key conclusions: (1) Urban digitalization development is characterized by spatial heterogeneity; The pattern of development shifts from “multi-point” erratic distribution to “cluster” accumulation, and the degree of development in each city differs significantly. The Yangtze River’s downstream cities have become critical high-level digital agglomeration zones. (2) The difference in ULIU level between upstream and downstream of the Yangtze River Economic Belt is more prominent, and the dynamic transfer between tiers is relatively smooth. The correlation between neighboring cities is significant, and the urban spatial agglomeration feature is noticeable (the High-High areas are mainly concentrated in Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang). (3) Digitalization can significantly improve ULIU. The adjacency and geospatial effects are pronounced. Spatial heterogeneity is prominent, and cities in the eastern region and within urban agglomerations are subject to a more vital role of digitalization in enhancing ULIU. Finally, based on the findings, this paper proposes to boost ULIU in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-025-05135-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-05135-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/palcomms/about

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05135-w

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Palgrave Communications from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().