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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
The Path to Green Cities: Digital Infrastructure
Construction and Urban Ecological Efficiency
1
School of Economics, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, China
2
Zhejiang Business College, Hangzhou, China
3
Institute for Rural Development, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China
Submission date: 2024-03-19
Final revision date: 2024-05-13
Acceptance date: 2024-06-12
Online publication date: 2024-09-23
Publication date: 2025-07-05
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(5):5303-5317
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
With the emergence of carbon neutrality and peak carbon emissions goals, coupled with the rapid
expansion of the digital economy, digital technologies have a significant impact on environmental
governance. This study, based on panel data from 247 Chinese cities spanning 2007 to 2021, employs
multi-period DID and SDM to examine the impact of digital infrastructure on urban ecological efficiency.
Findings indicate a positive relationship between digital infrastructure and urban ecological efficiency,
consistent across various robustness tests. Resource-based cities in both the eastern and western
regions, as well as those implementing pilot policies, benefit more from digital infrastructure. The study
identifies three main channels through which digital infrastructure affects ecological efficiency:
promoting green innovation, supporting information platforms, and upgrading industrial structures.
Additionally, it notes a negative spatial spillover effect on neighboring cities’ ecological efficiency. By
integrating digital infrastructure and urban ecological efficiency, this study offers insights into their
spatial dynamics, informing future research and policy implementation in this area.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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