State-led smart city policy changes and impacts on urban growth and management: a study of 118 Chinese smart cities

Abstract

The implementation of smart city policies is a time-consuming process. Although policy managers are constantly monitoring and improving policy implementation, exploring the phased impact of smart city policies on cities’ development is crucial for enhancing policy implementation in the subsequent phase. However, few studies have comprehensively analyzed the stage-specific implications of smart city policies on the sustainable urban development of China’s smart cities. Therefore, this study utilized multiple regression analysis to examine the correlation between 10 indicators and Smart City Scores by investigating changes in the urban development of 118 Chinese cities from 2013 to 2020. The results show that: (a) Smart city policies have impacted cities differently over the years. (b) Smart cities significantly improve per capita income, services, mobile communication, and urban density, thereby shedding light on the potential benefits of smart city policies. (c) State-led smart city policies significantly impact cities’ sustainable urban growth and development. This study highlights the crucial role of aligning the policies of the national and local governments. This alignment is necessary for formulating urban development plans geared toward the establishment of smart cities.

Keywords

• smart city
• urban growth
• policy evaluation
• ict infrastructure
• urban development