New urbanization, technology spillover and digital economy development

新型城镇化、技术溢出与数字经济发展

Abstract

This paper investigates the intrinsic links between new urbanization, technology spillover and digital economy development, and reveals how spatial restructuring driven by people-centered urbanization reshapes regional innovation and industrial upgrading. Drawing on panel data of prefecture-level cities and applying spatial econometric models, we first examine the direct impact of new urbanization on the scale and quality of the digital economy. The results show that improvements in population agglomeration, public services and green infrastructure significantly promote digital产业 expansion and structural optimization. Further analysis confirms that technology spillover is a key transmission mechanism: new urbanization enhances the intensity of innovation interactions, facilitates the flow of knowledge and data across regions, and strengthens both intra-urban and inter-urban spillover effects, thereby amplifying the growth of the digital economy. Heterogeneity tests indicate that this promoting effect is more pronounced in megacities, city clusters and regions with higher human capital and digital infrastructure. The study enriches the theoretical understanding of how new urbanization supports high-quality digital development, and provides policy implications for coordinating urban planning, innovation policy and digital infrastructure deployment to build an inclusive, efficient and sustainable digital economy.