Smart Cities in China: Comparative Analysis within Cluster Development

The current rate of urbanization in developed and emerging countries requires reshaping the systems of urban management, resource optimization, sustainable development. The introduction of the concept of smart cities, which involves the use of technologies, the most advanced integrated systems to standardize and optimize decision making, foster economic development, is currently the most cutting-edge strategy. One of the countries most affected by this phenomenon is China. The goal of the study is to examine the development trends of 5 Chinese clusters within the context of the relations between smart city components. Emissions from the data sample were gathered and examined after the PCA analysis. Most often, the first-tier cities in three clusters —Jing-Jin-Ji, Yangze River Delta, Greater Bay Area — are the sources of the observed emissions. The study's findings show that these cities are the cores of the clusters, and their development has been nearly consistent across the studied regions.