Smart cities and urban resilience: evaluating the impact on emergency response in China

Against the backdrop of rapid global urbanization, cities are facing increasingly complex challenges. How to enhance the ability of urban systems to respond to various shocks and challenges has attracted widespread attention from scholars and policymakers. As an important means of addressing urban challenges, Smart City Construction (SMC) can improve urban management and services through information technology, big data, and other technological means, potentially enhancing the quality of urban emergency development. This article uses the Difference-in-Difference method to empirically study the impact of SMC on the development of urban emergency quality. The construction of smart cities has promoted the development of urban emergency quality. Mechanism analysis shows that urban resilience (UR) is an important mechanism of action. The results still hold true after a series of robustness tests, such as PSM, were used in this article. The results of heterogeneity analysis indicate that the impact of SMC on the development of urban emergency quality varies depending on the location and size of the city. This study provides policy recommendations for the development of urban emergency quality and the construction of smart cities.