Digital economy empowers urban green transformation for sustainable development
-
Aicong Liu
College of Economics and Management, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
-
Yiran Wang
College of Economics and Management, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
-
Xiaolu Lv
College of Economics and Management, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
-
Yin Shi
College of Economics and Management, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
Abstract
With the continuous acceleration of urbanization, the urban population continues to grow, and the problems of resource consumption and environmental pollution have become increasingly prominent. The development of cities is facing severe challenges. Against this backdrop, China is actively exploring and accelerating the transformation towards a digital and green economic development model. The aim is to promote a systematic transformation of urban operation methods through the deep integration of digital technology and the green development concept. The digital green economic model relies on cutting-edge technologies, which can not only enhance the efficiency of urban operation but also effectively reduce resource waste and carbon emissions. This model strives to build a new balance between economic growth and environmental protection, enabling cities to achieve high-quality development while truly improving the quality of life and happiness of residents. Although certain progress has been made in promoting the digital green economy, with the continuous improvement of digital infrastructure and the continuous expansion of the green industry scale, there are still multiple challenges in the actual implementation process, such as the digital divide, fiscal pressure, and imperfect environmental supervision. This paper selects data from 2008 to 2022 for research and uses Eviews software for multiple linear regression analysis and testing. The purpose is to explore the application of digital technology in urban management, promote the development of the green economy, analyze and improve the problems existing in the digital green economy, and thereby promote sustainable urban development.
Copyright (c) 2025 Aicong Liu, Yiran Wang, Xiaolu Lv, Yin Shi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors contributing to this journal agree to publish their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, allowing third parties to share their work (copy, distribute, transmit) and to adapt it for any purpose, even commercially, under the condition that the authors are given credit. With this license, authors hold the copyright.
References
[1]Cao KJ, Long SF. Spatio-temporal Differentiation and Spillover Effect of Green Development Efficiency of Urban Tourism Industry in China. Resources and Environment in the Yangtze Basin. 2024; 33(1): 1–13. Available online: https://www.geores.com.cn/cjzylyyhj/EN/10.11870/cjlyzyyhj202401001
[2]Li LJ. Research on the Influence of Digital Economy Development on the Green Transformation of Manufacturing Industry [PhD Thesis]. Jilin University; 2023. (in Chinese)
[3]Yin S, Zhao Y. Digital green value co-creation behavior, digital green network embedding and digital green innovation performance: Moderating effects of digital green network fragmentation. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 2024; 11(1): 228. doi: 10.1057/s41599-024-02691-5
[4]Wang C, Liu Y, Liu X, et al. How does the digital economy impact green manufacturing: A new perspective from the construction of a unified large market in China. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 2024; 11(1): 1705. doi: 10.1057/s41599-024-04258-w
[5]Zhang N, Yin J, Zhang N, et al. Artificial intelligence-driven photovoltaic building materials industry: Greenization and digitization innovation conversion of photovoltaic technology based on a novel interval fuzzy field theory decision-making model. Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems. 2024; 46(3): 6411–6437. doi: 10.3233/JIFS-234838
[6]Yi G, Gao J, Yuan W, et al. Digital Economy, R&D Resource Allocation, and Convergence of Regional Green Economy Efficiency. Sustainability. 2025; 17(2): 384. doi: 10.3390/su17020384
[7]Yin S, Gao Z, Mahmood T. Artificial intelligence-driven bioenergy system: Digital green innovation partner selection of bioenergy enterprises based on interval fuzzy field model. Kybernetes. 2025; 54(3): 1344–1372. doi: 10.1108/K-08-2023-1495
[8]Zhang J. Digital economy, green finance, and economic resilience. PLOS ONE. 2025; 20(2): e0314028. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0314028
[9]Wang J, Wu H, Xiao D, et al. Can the digital economy address the loss of green development efficiency due to resource mismatch? Evidence from China’s land transaction markets. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 2025; 68(2): 406–436. doi: 10.1080/09640568.2023.2258554
[10]Qiu Y, Liu W, Wu J. Digital economy and urban green innovation: from the perspective of environmental regulation. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 2025; 68(2): 267–289. doi: 10.1080/09640568.2023.2244668
[11]Yin S, Liu L, Mahmood T. New Trends in Sustainable Development for Industry 5.0: Digital Green Innovation Economy. Green and Low-Carbon Economy. 2023; 2(4): 269–276. doi: 10.47852/bonviewGLCE32021584
[12]Wang Y, Cui L, Zhou J. The impact of green finance and digital economy on regional carbon emission reduction. International Review of Economics & Finance. 2025; 97: 103748. doi: 10.1016/j.iref.2024.103748
[13]Lv X, Wang Y, Liu L, et al. Digital green innovation economy for Industry 5.0. Sustainable Economies. 2024; 2(1): 8. doi: 10.62617/se.v2i1.8
[14]Sun X, Tao J, Kuang X. A study of industrial structure, government attention, and coupling coordination of digital-green economy in China. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 2025; 68(5): 1009–1036. doi: 10.1080/09640568.2023.2276681
[15]Chen K, Zhao S, Jiang G, et al. The green innovation effect of the digital economy. International Review of Economics & Finance. 2025; 99: 103970. doi: 10.1016/j.iref.2025.103970
[16]Chen Z, Xing R. Digital economy, green innovation and high-quality economic development. International Review of Economics & Finance. 2025; 99: 104029. doi: 10.1016/j.iref.2025.104029
[17]Wang Y, Su Z, Cai X, et al. The dual carbon emission effects of digital economy: Evidence from China. Heliyon. 2025; 11(4): e42554. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e42554
[18]Li Y, Xu H, Li H, et al. Digital economy, environmental regulations, and green economic development. Finance Research Letters. 2025; 75: 106858. doi: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.106858
[19]Wang B, Wang J. China’s green digital era: How does digital economy enable green economic growth? Innovation and Green Development. 2025; 4(1): 100204. doi: 10.1016/j.igd.2025.100204
[20]Guo Z. Study on the Path of Promoting Green and Low-carbon Digital Economy. Journal of Economic Research. 2025; 2(1): 4–6.
[21]Jiang L, Zhang M, Hu S. Digital economy, green innovation and regional resource allocation efficiency: Evidence from 257 cities in China. Frontiers in Environmental Science. 2025; 13: 1529946. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1529946
[22]Xu Y, Wang R, Zhang S. Digital Economy, Green Innovation Efficiency, and New Quality Productive Forces: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Provincial Panel Data. Sustainability. 2025; 17(2): 633. doi: 10.3390/su17020633
[23]Wong X, Kang W, Kim J, et al. The Criticality of the Digital Economy in Environmental Sustainability: Fresh Insights from a Wavelet-Based Quantile-on-Quantile Approach. Sustainability. 2025; 17(2): 622. doi: 10.3390/su17020622
[24]Cui X, Li P. Digital economy, environmental expenditure, and green total factor productivity. Finance Research Letters. 2025; 73: 106624. doi: 10.1016/j.frl.2024.106624
[25]Tapscott D. The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence. McGraw-Hill; 1996. pp. 35–62.
[26]Dahlman C, Mealy S, Wermelinger M. Harnessing the Digital Economy for Developing Countries. OECD Development Centre; 2016. pp. 11–15. Available online: https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2016/12/harnessing-the-digital-economy-for-developing-countries_bd9a1f74/4adffb24-en.pdf
[27]Liu J, Wang X. Exploring the driving effect of the digital economy on rural labor force’s occupational transformation: Based on analysis of CFPS panel data. International Review of Financial Analysis. 2025; 101: 104010. doi: 10.1016/j.irfa.2025.104010
[28]Doğan B, Khalfaoui R, Bergougui B, et al. Unveiling the impact of the digital economy on the interplay of energy transition, environmental transformation, and renewable energy adoption. Research in International Business and Finance. 2025; 76: 102837. doi: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.102837
[29]Liu L, Huang Q, Kang Y, et al. Research on the Impact of Digital Economy on Green Technology Innovation of Chinese Enterprises. Academic Journal of Business & Management. 2025; 7(1). doi: 10.25236/AJBM.2025.070108
[30]Dogan B, Nketiah E, Ghosh S, et al. The impact of the green technology on the renewable energy innovation: Fresh pieces of evidence under the role of research & development and digital economy. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 2025; 210: 115193. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2024.115193
[31]Li X, You J, Qing Y. Digital economy, dynamic capabilities, and corporate green development. Finance Research Letters. 2025; 73: 106468. doi: 10.1016/j.frl.2024.106468
[32]Liu J, Fang Y, Ma Y, et al. Digital economy, industrial agglomeration, and green innovation efficiency: Empirical analysis based on Chinese data. Journal of Applied Economics. 2024; 27(1): 2289723. doi: 10.1080/15140326.2023.2289723
[33]Shabur MA. Analyzing the challenges and opportunities in developing a sustainable digital economy. Discover Applied Sciences. 2024; 6(12): 667. doi: 10.1007/s42452-024-06298-y
[34]Shu L. Regional differences and distribution dynamic evolution of rural digital economy development under the background of sustainable development. GeoJournal. 2025; 90(2): 53. doi: 10.1007/s10708-025-11302-y
[35]Che Y. Utilizing ESG frameworks to improve environmental performance in digital economy entrepreneurial firms: using digital technologies for green development. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal. 2025; 21(1): 63. doi: 10.1007/s11365-025-01073-w
[36]Yin S, Zhao Y. An agent-based evolutionary system model of the transformation from building material industry (BMI) to green intelligent BMI under supply chain management. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 2024; 11(1): 468. doi: 10.1057/s41599-024-02988-5
