SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF GREEN AND DIGITAL POLICIES ON URBAN ECOLOGICAL RESILIENCE: EVIDENCE FROM CHINA’S LOW-CARBON AND BROADBAND PILOT CITIES

Amid intensifying climate change, mounting resource and environmental constraints, and accelerating digital transformation, enhancing urban ecological resilience (UER) has become critical for sustainable development and governance.As China advances its dual strategies of Carbon Peak Carbon Neutrality and Digital China, it has established a synergistic policy framework represented by the dual pilots of Low Carbon City (LC) and Broadband China (BC), requiring assessment of their combined impacts on urban ecosystem stability and adaptability.Grounded in Social Ecological Technological Systems (SETS) theory, this study develops an analytical framework for UER.Using panel data from 280 prefecture level and above cities from 2011 to 2021, we combine Double Machine Learning (DML) with mediation effect models to examine how green and digital policy synergies (GD) shape UER.Results show that GD significantly enhances UER, with dual pilot cities outperforming single policy and non-pilot cities.The effects operate through green technological innovation, digital infrastructure capability, public ecological awareness, and factor allocation efficiency, with public ecological awareness the most salient channel.The GD effect is stronger in economically advanced regions, non-traditional industrial bases, and resource-based cities, highlighting the role of institutional capacity and structural conditions in policy performance.