Does smart city construction promote urban green development? Evidence from a double machine learning model.

The issue of whether smart city construction (SCC) can promote urban green development (UGD) is controversial. To address this problem, first, a UGD evaluation index system with four dimensions, namely, green production, green living, green growth, and green ecology, is developed in this study to measure the UGD level. Second, the causal relationship between SCC and UGD is examined by using a double machine learning model. Last, the influence mechanism of SCC on UGD is investigated in terms of industrial upgrading, resource allocation, information support, and technological innovation. Panel data from 282 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2021 are used in this study, and several valuable conclusions are drawn. First, the UGD level of the Chinese cities shows an upward trend. Second, SCC can substantially promote UGD and has a positive effect on the green production, green living, and green growth of the Chinese cities. Third, SCC can promote the UGD of the Chinese cities through industrial upgrading, resource allocation, information support, and technological innovation. Last, the effect of SCC on UGD in the Chinese cities displays regional heterogeneity.