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In the digital economy (DIG) era, enhancing urban eco-well-being performance (EWP), which integrates economic, social, and ecological dimensions, has become essential for sustainable development. While digitalization is known to drive urban sustainability, its specific effects on EWP remain underexplored. This research investigates how the advancement of the DIG affects urban eco-welfare within China with panel data from 273 cities across the country (2010–2023). In this study, national big data pilot regions are employed as a quasiexperiment, and we measure EWP via the Super-SBM model and assess policy effects through a multiperiod differencing method. The results reveal that DIG development significantly enhances EWP, with the findings being robust to multiple tests. The results of the heterogeneity analysis reveal stronger effects in southern, western, nonresource, and old industrial cities, with time-lag effects observed across different development stages. Mechanism analysis identifies industrial upgrading, technological innovation, and scale effects as key drivers. Furthermore, spatial econometric analysis reveals a negative spillover effect of DIG on neighbouring cities’ EWP. This study contributes new empirical evidence on the effects of DIG on urban eco-welfare and offers practical insights for aligning digital economy strategies with urban sustainability goals.HighlightsDigital economy’s impact on eco-well-being in 273 Chinese cities is identified.The digital economy significantly enhances eco-well-being performance.Drivers include industrial upgrading, technological innovation, and scale effects.Effects vary by region and spill over to neighbours.
Zhang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.