Research On The Impact Of Smart City Construction On Urban Carbon Emission

The "big city disease" caused by over-urbanisation is a major cause of the greenhouse effect,and new urbanisation is an important step towards solving the urban crisis and the greenhouse effect.China’s commitment to ecological civilisation in recent years,and the introduction of the "double carbon"(carbon peak and carbon neutral)target demonstrates the importance the country attaches to environmental protection and energy conservation and emission reduction.At the same time,China’s new industrialisation is continuing,which poses a major challenge to achieving the "double carbon" target.How to protect the environment while developing the economy and finding ways to reduce carbon emissions are the main focus of the government’s environmental policies.Smart cities,based on big data,artificial intelligence and cloud computing,are an important way to build new cities that are more energy efficient.However,whether smart city construction can reduce carbon emissions has not received sufficient attention from academics,and there is no doubt that an in-depth study of this issue has important theoretical and policy guidance implications.Based on this,this paper uses panel data on Chinese cities and uses the smart city pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment for new urbanisation construction,and evaluates the impact of smart city construction on urban carbon emissions using the multi-period differencein-difference method(DID),and uses parallel trend tests,placebo tests,and propensity score matching difference-in-difference method(PSM-DID)to deeply verify as well as analyse the impact of smart city construction on urban carbon emissions in The study also explores the heterogeneity of the effects of smart city construction,and finally investigates the mechanism of the effects of smart cities on carbon emissions.This study provides new ideas for China to promote the construction of ecological civilization,formulate scientific and targeted pilot policies for smart cities,improve the problem of urban carbon emissions and alleviate urban diseases.Through this paper,it is found that:(1)relative to non-pilot cities,the construction of smart cities has led to a significant decrease in carbon emission intensity in pilot areas,which indicates that the construction of new urbanisation represented by smart city construction has promoted carbon emission reduction,and the estimation results based on parallel trend test,placebo test and PSM-DID method have also obtained the same conclusion.(2)Based on the time trend analysis,it is found that the carbon emission reduction effect of smart city construction will only take effect in the 3rd year of policy implementation and beyond,and its carbon emission reduction dividend has long-term sustainability.(3)There is a clear heterogeneity in the impact of smart city construction on carbon emission reduction.Specifically,in the east and central regions,large and mediumsized cities,the two control zones,non-old industrial bases and nonresource-based cities,the effect of smart city construction on curbing carbon emissions is stronger.(4)Mechanism analysis shows that smart city construction can promote urban carbon emission reduction through three channels: enhancing technological innovation capacity,strengthening the absorption of foreign investment,and accelerating industrial structure upgrading.This paper provides important experience and inspiration for further improving the construction of smart cities and promoting green and low-carbon urban transformation.In view of the above findings,this paper recommends the following policy measures: Firstly,promote the construction of smart cities with high quality and promote the pilot scope in an orderly manner.Secondly,normalize the construction of smart cities and explore innovative technical means.Third,promote the construction of smart cities in a differentiated manner and implement policies according to local conditions.Fourth,promote the construction of smart cities through multiple channels and focus on dredging the transmission path.