Research on the Innovation Capability Driving Paths and Effects of Smart Cities in the Yangtze River Delta Region—A Dynamic QCA Analysis Based on the Innovation Ecosystem Framework

Research on the Innovation Capability Driving Paths and Effects of Smart Cities in the Yangtze River Delta Region—A Dynamic QCA Analysis Based on the Innovation Ecosystem Framework | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Research on the Innovation Capability Driving Paths and Effects of Smart Cities in the Yangtze River Delta Region—A Dynamic QCA Analysis Based on the Innovation Ecosystem Framework Zhou Wei, Bai Rong, Wang Mingke This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7325221/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In the era of digital and intelligent transformation, studying the innovation capacity of smart cities is of great value for promoting the high-quality development of modern cities. Based on the framework for optimizing and expanding the innovation ecosystem and the Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) method, a configuration analysis was conducted on 28 smart city innovation capability driving paths in the Yangtze River Delta region of China, and with the help of regression analysis, the driving effects of different paths were compared. The study found that first, there is no single necessary condition to drive the innovation capacity of smart cities; Second, there are four high innovation-driven paths for smart cities in the Yangtze River Delta region: "smart innovation resources" driven M1, "smart innovation environment" driven M2, "smart innovation subject + innovation environment" driven M3, "smart innovation subject" driven M4a and M4b, among which the M4a path has the strongest driving effect. In the future, we should build an innovation hub platform for smart cities, promote the integrated development model of "talent chain + capital chain", build a new infrastructure of smart technology and a fair competition business environment system, and enhance the innovation capacity of smart cities. Social science/Development studies Business and commerce/Economics Social science/Economics Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences Scientific community and society/Geography Social science/Geography Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files JournaldataofEnglishperiodicals.xls Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 28 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 17 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 06 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 02 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 06 Oct, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 29 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 29 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7325221","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":602526779,"identity":"7970f1eb-c177-4743-b265-2de97518a1e7","order_by":0,"name":"Zhou Wei","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xinjiang University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhou","middleName":"","lastName":"Wei","suffix":""},{"id":602526787,"identity":"5bdae605-4755-47ff-bced-a44ec8906757","order_by":1,"name":"Bai Rong","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACNv72gw8+VNTI2Z/vf/ggoaKGsBY+iTPJhjPOHDNmuHGG2eDBmWOEtcgxJJgJ87YwJzIcyGGTfNjCTITDGA6kMfM2sCUwNpw9VpHYwMbA396dgF8Lc+Oxh3N3yOQxM/el3UjcIcMgcebsBkK2pBu8PcNWDGSY3Ug8w8ZgIJFLSEuCmQRvG3NiD5BRkNjGTJwWSZCWGQw5ZgzEaYEFsoHEsWSJhDPHeAj6Rb4fGpUG/M0HP/4AMvjbe/FrwQA8pCkfBaNgFIyCUYAVAAAoKU3PoJ/ZswAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Xinjiang University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Bai","middleName":"","lastName":"Rong","suffix":""},{"id":602526796,"identity":"906e5f4e-d3d6-4e40-ad43-df93b9569eee","order_by":2,"name":"Wang Mingke","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xinjiang University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wang","middleName":"","lastName":"Mingke","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-08 08:38:20","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7325221/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7325221/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104405625,"identity":"6d6b6368-da8b-4735-810f-71952f5da550","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-11 12:23:28","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":571857,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ResearchontheInnovationCapabilityDrivingPathsandEffectsofSmartCitiesintheYangtzeRiverDeltaRegionADynamicQCAAnalysisBasedontheInnovationEcosystemFramework.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7325221/v1_covered_25c18628-8def-44c2-b9ed-4bdb74319a4e.pdf"},{"id":104364548,"identity":"34d9b32f-81cd-4fe8-b14d-6455be0dada0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-11 02:42:57","extension":"xls","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":51200,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"JournaldataofEnglishperiodicals.xls","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7325221/v1/5cad63c87546239dc7fff469.xls"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Research on the Innovation Capability Driving Paths and Effects of Smart Cities in the Yangtze River Delta Region—A Dynamic QCA Analysis Based on the Innovation Ecosystem Framework","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7325221/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7325221/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"In the era of digital and intelligent transformation, studying the innovation capacity of smart cities is of great value for promoting the high-quality development of modern cities. 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