Can Digital Transformation Promote the Rapid Recovery of Cities from the COVID-19 Epidemic? An Empirical Analysis from Chinese Cities

Background: Digital transformation has become a key intervention strategy for the global response to the COVID-19 epidemic, and digital technology is helping cities recover from the COVID-19 epidemic. However, the effects of urban digital transformation on the recovery from the COVID-19 epidemic still lack mechanism analyses and empirical testing. This study aimed to explain the theoretical mechanism of urban digital transformation on the recovery from the COVID-19 epidemic and to test its effectiveness using an empirical analysis. Methods: This study, using a theoretical and literature-based analysis, summarizes the impact mechanisms of urban digital transformation on the recovery of cities from the COVID-19 epidemic. A total of 83 large- and medium-sized cities from China are included in the empirical research sample, covering most major cities in China. The ordinary least squares (OLS) method is adopted to estimate the effect of China’s urban digitalization level on population attraction in the second quarter of 2020. Results: The theoretical analysis found that urban digital transformation improves the ability of cities to recover from the COVID-19 epidemic by promoting social communication, collaborative governance, and resilience. The main findings of the empirical analysis show that the digital level of a city has a significant positive effect on urban population attraction (p < 0.001). Conclusions: A positive relationship was found between urban digital transformation and the rapid recovery of cities from the COVID-19 epidemic. Digital inventions for social communication, collaborative governance, and urban resilience are an effective way of fighting the COVID-19 emergency.