Greening the Urban Landscape: Smart City Initiatives and Pollution Reduction in China
With the rapid development of China’s economy, the issue of environmental pollution during urbanization has become increasingly prominent, posing a significant threat to residents’ health and quality of life. While existing studies have explored the economic impacts of smart city initiatives and the...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Systems |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/13/3/165 |
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| author | Quanhui Liu Paijie Wan |
| author_facet | Quanhui Liu Paijie Wan |
| author_sort | Quanhui Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With the rapid development of China’s economy, the issue of environmental pollution during urbanization has become increasingly prominent, posing a significant threat to residents’ health and quality of life. While existing studies have explored the economic impacts of smart city initiatives and their effects on carbon emissions, the relationship between smart city policies and urban pollution emissions remains underexplored. This study fills this gap by examining the impact of smart city pilot policies on urban pollutant emissions, using panel data from 280 Chinese cities (2007–2021) and a multi-period DID model. The findings demonstrate that smart city construction effectively reduces the level of pollutant emissions in cities, with this effect persisting even after conducting various robustness tests. Furthermore, our mechanism analysis reveals that upgrading industrial structure, enhancing green innovation capabilities, and improving energy efficiency are crucial means by which smart city construction mitigates urban pollution emissions. Additionally, we identify that the enhancement of urban digital infrastructure and the reinforcement of environmental regulations can enhance the pollution mitigation efficacy of smart city development. The suppressive impact of smart city construction on pollution emissions is more pronounced in non-resource-based cities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5f883afb29bc48b6bfde3f497b7ac2fd |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2079-8954 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Systems |
| spelling | doaj-art-5f883afb29bc48b6bfde3f497b7ac2fd2025-08-20T03:44:01ZengMDPI AGSystems2079-89542025-02-0113316510.3390/systems13030165Greening the Urban Landscape: Smart City Initiatives and Pollution Reduction in ChinaQuanhui Liu0Paijie Wan1Henley Business School, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6UD, UKSchool of Economics & Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, ChinaWith the rapid development of China’s economy, the issue of environmental pollution during urbanization has become increasingly prominent, posing a significant threat to residents’ health and quality of life. While existing studies have explored the economic impacts of smart city initiatives and their effects on carbon emissions, the relationship between smart city policies and urban pollution emissions remains underexplored. This study fills this gap by examining the impact of smart city pilot policies on urban pollutant emissions, using panel data from 280 Chinese cities (2007–2021) and a multi-period DID model. The findings demonstrate that smart city construction effectively reduces the level of pollutant emissions in cities, with this effect persisting even after conducting various robustness tests. Furthermore, our mechanism analysis reveals that upgrading industrial structure, enhancing green innovation capabilities, and improving energy efficiency are crucial means by which smart city construction mitigates urban pollution emissions. Additionally, we identify that the enhancement of urban digital infrastructure and the reinforcement of environmental regulations can enhance the pollution mitigation efficacy of smart city development. The suppressive impact of smart city construction on pollution emissions is more pronounced in non-resource-based cities.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/13/3/165smart citypollution controlenergy efficiencygreen innovationindustrial structure upgrading |
| spellingShingle | Quanhui Liu Paijie Wan Greening the Urban Landscape: Smart City Initiatives and Pollution Reduction in China Systems smart city pollution control energy efficiency green innovation industrial structure upgrading |
| title | Greening the Urban Landscape: Smart City Initiatives and Pollution Reduction in China |
| title_full | Greening the Urban Landscape: Smart City Initiatives and Pollution Reduction in China |
| title_fullStr | Greening the Urban Landscape: Smart City Initiatives and Pollution Reduction in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Greening the Urban Landscape: Smart City Initiatives and Pollution Reduction in China |
| title_short | Greening the Urban Landscape: Smart City Initiatives and Pollution Reduction in China |
| title_sort | greening the urban landscape smart city initiatives and pollution reduction in china |
| topic | smart city pollution control energy efficiency green innovation industrial structure upgrading |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/13/3/165 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT quanhuiliu greeningtheurbanlandscapesmartcityinitiativesandpollutionreductioninchina AT paijiewan greeningtheurbanlandscapesmartcityinitiativesandpollutionreductioninchina |