Fostering Inclusive Green Growth in Chinese Cities: Investigating the Role of Artificial Intelligence

In the new round of global technological revolution and industrial transformation, artificial intelligence (AI) provides an opportunity to foster urban inclusive green growth (IGG). On the basis of scientifically measuring the IGG level and AI development level of Chinese cities from 2010 to 2022, this paper systematically explores the impact and internal mechanism of AI on IGG. This study finds that AI development significantly promotes urban IGG, and this conclusion still holds after a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. The effect of AI on IGG will exhibit heterogeneity because of differences in urban characteristics such as government financial support, information infrastructure development, and innovation and entrepreneurship vitality. Mechanism test reveals that AI development fosters urban IGG through digital technology innovation and industrial structure optimization. Furthermore, AI development has a positive spatial spillover effect on IGG in neighboring cities. This study provides valuable theoretical insights and policy ideas for planning in emerging economies to promote high-quality economic development and ecological civilization through the application of AI technology.