Smart city construction and intelligent development of urban industries: Empirical evidence from China

Smart city construction and intelligent development of urban industries: Empirical evidence from China | 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 Smart city construction and intelligent development of urban industries: Empirical evidence from China Yang Feihu, Huang Xing, Li Yating This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3858707/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Smart cities, as a product of the deep integration of digital technology and urban development, are not only a vital part of achieving the vision of a strong network nation and digital China but also a key practical approach to driving the intelligent transformation of cities and empowering them with digital technology. This paper, based on panel data from 207 Chinese cities from 2008 to 2019, employs the difference-in-differences method to explore the impact of smart city construction on the level of industrial intelligence in cities. It further analyzes the heterogeneity and mechanisms of this impact. The main conclusions drawn from the study are as follows: First, compared to non-pilot cities, the construction of smart cities significantly enhances the level of industrial intelligence in pilot cities. This conclusion holds true even after a series of robustness tests. Second, the positive impact of smart city construction on the level of industrial intelligence is primarily concentrated in eastern cities, cities with a high level of digital economy development, and cities with strong innovation capabilities. The impact is less significant or negligible in central and western cities, cities with a lower level of digital economy development, and cities with weaker innovation capabilities. Third, the construction of smart cities promotes the development of industrial intelligence in cities by enhancing urban innovation capabilities and improving the development level of new infrastructure. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Socioeconomic scenarios Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Sustainability Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted 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-3858707","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":269934415,"identity":"5cf9473f-70d0-40b0-b4fa-cf50379e211d","order_by":0,"name":"Yang Feihu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yang","middleName":"","lastName":"Feihu","suffix":""},{"id":269934416,"identity":"67e7aac5-30dd-4385-88aa-870303ec7012","order_by":1,"name":"Huang Xing","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACNvnzHx98MLCR42dmPvggoaKGsBY+CQZjwxkVacaS7W3JBg/OHCOsRU6CwUya58zhRIMzZ9QkH7YwE+Ew6YY0yZltaQkGN3LYKhIb2Bj427sT8GuROXDY4mObTZ7kjdxjNxJ3yDBInDm7Ab8WhsTGm0Bbivlu5KXdSDzDxmAgkUtISzKDNG/b4cSGGzlmBYltzERokUhjAnt/wpkzZgzEaeE5wwwPZImEM8d4CPpFvr2HER6VH39U1Mjxt/fi14IBeEhTPgpGwSgYBaMAKwAAji9OopZZT18AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Huang","middleName":"","lastName":"Xing","suffix":""},{"id":269934417,"identity":"7926edc0-5053-4a1f-bb75-314e60e31ba8","order_by":2,"name":"Li Yating","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Li","middleName":"","lastName":"Yating","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-01-13 02:29:08","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3858707/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3858707/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":50362869,"identity":"9c7c57c6-4cbd-4aae-8a5e-ba11764eaaab","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-30 10:43:41","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":10287,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eParallel Trends Test and Dynamic Changes. 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