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This paper discusses the impact of smart city on technological innovation and the underlying mechanism. Based on county-level panel data in China from 2005 to 2020, we use the 'smart city' construction as a quasi-natural experiment to identify its impact on technological innovation. Our findings show that: (1) Smart city construction significantly promotes technological innovation. (2) Smart cities indirectly promote technological innovation through technology resource allocation, industry agglomeration effects, and entrepreneurial spirit. (3) Due to 'digital divide', the innovation effects of smart cities are more pronounced in eastern regions and cities with high levels of digital infrastructure and information technology talent endowment. (4) The 'smart city' pilots generate spatial spillover effects, which enhance the technological innovation level of neighbouring cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most countries are facing the problem of how to improve the urban ecological environment for living and production through reasonable urban governance mode. Recently, smart cities have become a worldwide urban governance policy to solve the problem. By focusing on carbon emissions, this study uses a smart city pilot to systematically evaluate its impact on carbon emissions and explore the underlying mechanism. According to the difference-in-difference model, we find that smart cities significantly reduce carbon emissions. The main mechanisms are technological innovation and industrial structure upgrading. Our study provides empirical evidence for how developing countries achieve carbon emission reduction through smart cities and policy implications for transforming urban governance to achieve sustainable development. • Use "smart city pilot" to evaluate its impact on carbon emissions. • "Smart cities" significantly reduce total and per capita carbon emissions. • The main mechanisms are technological innovation and industrial structure upgrading. • The reduction effects vary by region, population size, economic scale, and information infrastructure construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]