Information Application of the Regional Development: Strategic Couplings in Global Production Networks in Jiangsu, China

Smart City Governance Evaluation in the Era of Internet of Things: An Empirical Analysis of Jiangsu, China

With the rapid development of smart cities all over the world, the evaluation of the smart city has become a new research hotspot in the academic circles. Nevertheless, there still exist a series of common problems in current smart city evaluation, including the cognitive deprivation, lack of experience in planning, low coordination level, etc. Therefore, it is critical to establish a new hierarchy for smart city evaluation indicators, especially in the 5G era. Based on literature review, expert consensus, and the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, this study developed an innovative smart city evaluation framework. In the framework, an index comprising three dimensions, i.e., smart economy, smart society, and smart environmental protection, as well as several attributes for these dimensions for smart city evaluation were established. Then, taking Jiangsu Province, the fastest-growing province in China, as the research area, the development level of smart city for the cities in Jiangsu was calculated. The results have verified the effectiveness of the framework, which can provide suggestions for sustainable urbanization, and help urban decision-makers to promote the efficient development of smart cities.

Spatial Pattern and Influencing Factors of Outward Foreign Direct Investment Enterprises in the Yangtze River Economic Belt of China

This paper studies outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) enterprises in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Using geographical information system (GIS) spatial analysis and SPSS correlation analysis methods, it analyzes the change in the spatial distribution of OFDI enterprises in 2010, 2014, and 2018. It explores the influencing factors that have an impact on this change. The results show the following: (1) The geographical distribution of OFDI enterprises in the Yangtze River Economic Belt is uneven. In the downstream region, OFDI enterprises have significant advantages in both quantity and quality over those in the mid- and up-stream regions. In recent years, a multi-core spatial pattern has gradually emerged. (2) The factors influencing the spatial distribution of OFDI enterprises have been gradually changing from one dominant factor, i.e., technological innovation capability, to four core factors, namely, urbanization level, economic development level, technological innovation capability, and degree of economic openness. The research results serve as an important reference for future policy adjustment in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. First, the Yangtze River Economic Belt should adjust industrial policies; comprehensively increase the level of OFDI; accelerate the upgrading and transformation of regional industries; and, at the same time, inject vitality into the development of the world economy. Moreover, the downstream region should fully play a leading role in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, especially in encouraging OFDI enterprises to establish global production networks. Meanwhile, enterprises in the upstream region are encouraged to establish regional production networks to accelerate the development of inland open highlands.