Constructing a multi-level urban development evaluation framework and coupling coordination analysis: From the perspectives of smart city-urbanization-Low-carbon city

The high-quality multi-tiered urban development model represents a globally shared concern. Investigating the comprehensive development levels and synergistic relationships among smart cities, urbanization, and low-carbon cities holds significant importance for achieving urban sustainability. This study establishes a theoretical framework for understanding the coordinated interactions among urban smart cities, urbanization, and low-carbon cities, while constructing a smart city-urbanization-low-carbon city (SUL) system characterized by multi-dimensional interactions. Utilizing first-tier Chinese cities as research samples, this investigation employs the entropy weight method, Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) model, and coupling coordination degree model to examine the comprehensive development level of the SUL system, while analyzing the coupling coordination characteristics and coordination levels among subsystems. The findings reveal: (1) Although preliminary achievements have been made in the comprehensive development of urban SUL systems, significant developmental disparities persist among cities, with megacities represented by Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Chongqing maintaining substantial competitive advantages. (2) Among subsystem development levels, the construction gap in low-carbon city subsystems is markedly smaller compared to urbanization and smart city subsystems. Developmental performance follows the hierarchy of urbanization > low-carbon cities > smart cities, indicating substantial potential remains in smart city and low-carbon city development. (3) Within the SUL system, cities generally demonstrate favorable coupling coordination levels, with most urban areas maintaining coordinated development states. Balancing the coordination between urbanization and low-carbon cities emerges as the critical factor for achieving multi-level coordinated system development.