Yaqian Chen

The agglomeration of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) industry is a key driver of the low-altitude economy. To understand how UAV industrial agglomeration emerges across cities with different socioeconomic foundations, this study investigates its dynamic configurational pathways. It develops an analytical framework that integrates the institutional environment, market conditions, and knowledge-based capabilities. Using panel data for 280 Chinese cities from 2017 to 2023, we apply panel data qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to identify configurational pathways toward UAV industrial agglomeration. Seven socioeconomic conditions are considered: science and technology expenditure, policy support, infrastructure, social consumption level, financial development, urban innovation capacity, and human capital. The results show that UAV industrial agglomeration arises from the joint effects of multiple conditions, not from any single factor. We identify six pathways that are grouped into three archetypes: institution–knowledge-driven, institution–market-driven, and multidimensional synergistic configurations. The dominant pathways shift over time and differ across city sizes. These findings provide macro-level evidence on the mechanisms underpinning UAV industrial agglomeration. They also offer implications for strengthening the UAV industrial ecosystem.

Enhancing urban innovation resilience is crucial for adapting to change and pursuing innovation-driven, high-quality development. The global trend of digital transformation has profound implications for urban innovation; however, the specific effects of digital transformation on urban innovation resilience remain insufficiently explored. This study utilizes panel data from 285 prefecture-level and above cities in China, spanning from 2007 to 2022. It treats the Broadband China Pilot (BCP) policy as a quasi-natural experiment of digital transformation and employs a time-varying Difference-in-Differences (DID) method to investigate the impact of digital transformation on urban innovation resilience. The results yield several important insights: (i) digital transformation enhances urban innovation resilience; (ii) the effect of digital transformation on urban innovation resilience is heterogeneous across regions and city sizes; (iii) digital transformation improves urban innovation resilience through the mediation effect of green total factor productivity (GTFP); (iv) urban industrial upgrading and urban innovation vitality play significant moderating roles in the relationship between digital transformation and urban innovation resilience. These findings contribute to a deeper theoretical understanding of the relationship between digital transformation and urban innovation resilience.

Urban forest policies have garnered increasing global attention for their critical role in providing key ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, air pollution control, microclimate regulation, and biodiversity enhancement, as well as their potential to drive green innovation and sustainable urban development. This study utilized panel data from 273 Chinese cities between 2000 and 2022, employing a quasi-natural experiment and a difference-in-differences (DID) model to systematically evaluate the impact of the National Forest City Policy (NFCP) on urban green innovation. The results indicate that NFCP significantly enhances urban green innovation, with these findings remaining robust across a series of validation tests. Mechanism analysis revealed that the policy fosters green innovation by increasing environmental attention, facilitating talent aggregation, and reducing carbon emissions. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis showed that the policy’s effects are more pronounced in small- and medium-sized cities, non-transportation hub cities, and economically developed regions. Based on these findings, this paper offers recommendations for optimizing policy implementation across different city types to further promote sustainable urban green economic development. This study broadens the research perspective on the relationship between urban policies and green innovation, providing more precise decision-making guidance for policymakers while also highlighting the important role urban forests play in enhancing ecosystem services and driving sustainable urban growth.