Smart city development and urban sustainability: A study on green-land use efficiency in China’s urban agglomerations

As smart cities continue to develop rapidly, improving the green efficiency of urban land use has become essential for fostering long-term urban sustainability. This study employs empirical analysis to explore the impact of smart city development on urban green land-use efficiency. It adopts a super-efficiency slack-based measure model to evaluate the green efficiency of urban land use and applies a difference-in-differences approach to assess the effects of smart city development. The analysis is based on data from 50 prefecture-level cities across three major urban regions in China, covering the period from 2009 to 2023. The results indicate that smart city advancements significantly increase urban green land-use efficiency. The findings also highlight heterogeneity in policy effects, with cities characterized by advanced infrastructure, higher human capital, and substantial capital investment showing more pronounced improvements. The study provides valuable insights into how smart city development influences land-use efficiency and offers empirical evidence to guide the design of more effective, context-specific strategies for optimizing resource management and fostering sustainable urban development.