The impact of the digital economy on low-emission sustainable urban development

Temporarily accepted

As a new economic form, the digital economy plays an important role in promoting urban sustainable low-carbon development (LCSD). Based on the panel data of 270 cities in China from 2011 to 2021, this study uses principal component analysis and the global entropy weight method to calculate the development level of the digital economy and LCSD, and empirically discusses all the correlated effects and mechanisms. The research shows that the digital economy has significantly promoted urban LCSD and has become an important source for promoting green low-carbon development. The digital economy can indirectly promote LCSD by accelerating the upgrading of industrial structures and promoting technological innovation; in addition, this promotion can show significant threshold characteristics with these factors. When the upgrading of industrial structures and technological innovation reach a certain threshold, the digital economy can further enhance urban LCSD. The promotion of the digital economy is positively influenced by the level of commercialization and environmental regulation, and it also has distinct regional characteristics. In the critical period of economic development and transformation, the government must continuously promote the development of the digital economy, fully pay the dividends of the LCSD, and implement a diversified digital development strategy to promote low-carbon economic development in line with local conditions.