Digital economy and risk response: How the digital economy affects urban resilience

Digital economy is fundamentally changing the production, life, and governance of cities and reshaping benign interactions between urban systems. Consequently, it has profound implications for exploring resilient city building in the Chinese context. Using panel data of 274 cities in China from 2011 to 2020, this research explores the impact mechanisms and spatial effects of the digital economy on urban economic resilience. The results suggest that digital economy facilitates the building of urban economic resilience. The digital economy is effective in enhancing the economic resilience of smart cities and cities in eastern and central China. The economic resilience of urban agglomerations in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta is prominently affected by the digital economy, while the impact of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei is not obvious. The digital economy mainly enhances urban economic resilience by activating innovation dynamics, catalyzing industrial structure diversification, and accelerating human resource accumulation. Finally, the digital economy has a significant positive spillover effect on urban economic resilience. This research provides valuable guidance for cities to grasp the growth opportunities of the digital economy, scientifically coordinate the synergistic building of urban systems and improve the economic resilience of cities.