Tianlun Zhang’s research while affiliated with Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and other places

New quality productive forces serve as a catalyst for high-quality development and act as a critical driver of Chinese-style modernization. This study evaluated the degree of new quality productive force in China’s five major urban agglomerations between 2013 and 2022 using the entropy approach. Additionally, it utilized kernel density estimation, the Dagum Gini coefficient, and Markov chain analysis to explore the spatial and temporal dynamics of these forces and their evolutionary trends. The findings revealed the following: (1) Overall, the new quality productive forces in China’s five major urban agglomerations have exhibited a steady upward trend, although the overall level remains relatively low. Among these regions, the Pearl River Delta ranks the highest, followed by the Yangtze River Delta, Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, Chengdu–Chongqing, and the Urban Cluster in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River. Nevertheless, significant potential for improvement persists. (2) The traditional Markov probability transfer matrix suggests that the new quality productive forces in these urban agglomerations are relatively stable, with evidence of “club convergence”. Meanwhile, the spatial Markov transfer probability matrix indicates that transfer probabilities are influenced by neighborhood contexts. (3) Over time, the new quality productive forces in Chinese urban agglomerations show a tendency to concentrate at higher levels, reflecting gradual improvement. The developmental state and evolutionary patterns of new quality productive forces in Chinese urban agglomerations are thoroughly evaluated in this paper, along with advice for accelerating their growth to promote Chinese-style modernization.

This study uses four dimensions, namely social resilience, economic resilience, infrastructure resilience, and ecological resilience, to construct an index system for urban resilience. The subject data came from the panel data of 282 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2020. We selected a multiperiod double-difference model to study the effects of smart city pilot policies on macro-urban resilience. By conducting parallel-trend tests and selecting appropriate robustness tests, this study drew the following relevant conclusion: smart city pilot policies can have a positive effect on the urban resilience level. These policies exert their influence by facilitating industrial structure upgrading, which plays a partial mediating role. Considering different city area distributions and city scales, smart city pilot policies can have significant heterogeneity in their enhancement of urban resilience. The effect is pronounced in the “east > central > west” states and is more likely to have a significant impact on small- and medium-sized cities. Therefore, promoting the scope of smart city pilots, strengthening the intermediary role of industrial structure upgrading, and implementing differentiated policies for different regions and city sizes are important for sustainable urban development.

As an emerging economic form, the digital economy is a crucial force in promoting high-quality economic development, resolving regional development incoherence, and improving the level of urban resilience. In this paper, the urban resilience indicator system is composed of four dimensions: social resilience, economic resilience, infrastructure resilience, and ecological resilience. Meanwhile, the digital economy indicator system is composed of five dimensions: Internet penetration rate, number of Internet-related employees, Internet-related output, number of mobile Internet users, and digital financial inclusion development. The development level was measured using the entropy value method and principal component analysis. On this basis, the impact of the digital economy on the urban resilience of 185 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2019 was analyzed using a benchmark regression model, spatial econometric model, and mediating effect model. This study shows the following: (1) The development of the digital economy has a positive impact on improving urban resilience. (2) The digital economy affects urban resilience with positive spatial spillover effects, and the temporal heterogeneity and heterogeneity of external openness levels are significant, while the regional heterogeneity is not significant. (3) The digital economy can improve urban resilience through the intermediary role of technological innovation. In the future, we should strengthen digital construction, deeply integrate the relationship between the digital economy, technological innovation, and urban resilience, give full play to the engine role of the digital economy, and further promote the enhancement of sustainable urban development.