Is smart city a slogan? Evidence from China

ABSTRACT Many ideas of urban experiments have been used in sloganeering to stimulate short-term economic growth in China. A question arises: Is the smart city a slogan? This study estimated the relationship between smart city pilot projects and regional economic growth by using the difference-in-differences (DID) model and explored smart cities’ myths through 19 unstructured interviews. The following conclusions were drawn. First, smart city pilot projects positively affected regional economic growth, but with time-lag effects. Second, market and infrastructure effects co-shaped regional economic growth. Third, benefiting from a newly created market, a few cities with foundations for smart industries have developed rapidly. Over time, an increasing number of smart cities would benefit from the projects by the constructed smart infrastructure. Although scholars have long criticized previous urban experiments in China as a slogan only for land revenue generation, this study suggests that smart cities could be a new model for regional economic development through market and infrastructure effects.