Has the Digital Economy Changed the Urban Network Structure in China?—Based on the Analysis of China’s Top 500 New Economy Enterprises in 2020

Abstract

The rapid development of the new generation of information technology makes digital enterprises and the digital economy important forces in promoting the sustainable growth of the world economy. Under the influence of the digital economy, the original urban network may undergo drastic changes. There have been studies that have arrived at conflicting conclusions. This paper primarily illustrates whether or not the digital economy has changed the urban network structure. China’s digital economy is developing rapidly, becoming a new engine for the high-quality development of the Chinese economy. Therefore, this paper demonstrates the impact of China’s digital economy on the urban network structure by using data from China’s Top 500 New Economy Enterprises in 2020 and the headquarter–subsidiary ownership method. The results show that (1) China’s urban network has changed significantly. Compared with APS enterprises and listed companies, the urban network of the digital economy has become more polarized, and Beijing has become the absolute control center. (2) Chinese cities have been reshuffled in the era of the digital economy. Beijing, Hangzhou, and Chengdu, with their industrial foundations in the digital economy, have performed better within the network. Simultaneously, some heavily industrialized cities, such as Wuhan, Shenyang, and Chongqing, have been declining due to the difficulties associated with transformation. (3) Although the digital economy has reshaped China’s urban network structure to a certain extent, the original urban pattern still plays a dominant role in the new system. The network spatial pattern of dense east and sparse west still exists, and provincial capitals and subprovincial cities still play a more significant role in the network than ordinary cities. (4) Network diffusion is typically a hierarchical diffusion between core nodes. Geographical proximity has a low constraint on network diffusion, and subsidiaries expand outward through hierarchical diffusion.