The role of digital infrastructure construction on green city transformation: Does government governance matters?

The dividends brought by national strategic construction such as digital infrastructure inject vitality into the green transformation of urban economy. This study empirically examines the impact of digital infrastructure on urban green transformation using panel data from 279 prefecture-level and above cities in China spanning 2006 to 2022, employing a multiple time point difference-in-differences approach. Results indicate a significant positive effect of digital infrastructure construction on urban economic green transformation. Digital infrastructure primarily promotes green transformation through pollution reduction, technology agglomeration, and structural optimization effects, with technological innovation and the integration of manufacturing and service industries being stable mechanisms. Environmental regulations, government strategic guidance, and institutional environments reinforce this effect. The promotion effect is more pronounced in the central region and exhibits a pro-poor characteristic, benefiting smaller, non-resource-based cities, and areas with higher information and communication technology application levels. In expansive analysis, the spillover effect of the “Broadband China” pilot policy may strengthen over time.