[Driving Effect of Digital Economy Development on Urban Carbon Emissions： From Spatial Spillover to Spatial Network]

The digital economy， as a new driving force leading the technological revolution， integrates informatization and greening， thus serving as a crucial lever for advancing the development of new productive forces. It offers new opportunities for China's green and low-carbon development and strengthens the network connections between regions through spatial effects， effectively reducing urban carbon emissions. Based on panel data at the level of 278 prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2019， an empirical analysis was performed to assess the impact and spatial mechanisms of China's digital economy development on urban carbon emissions. The results showed that the level of digital economy development drives urban carbon reduction， and this conclusion remained valid after a series of robustness tests. The development of the digital economy has a significant spatial spillover effect on urban carbon emissions. From a spatial network perspective， higher degrees of centrality and closeness in the network aid low-carbon development driven by the digital economy. Dense urban networks facilitate the enhancement of green innovation levels， further increasing the capacity for urban carbon reduction； thus， the eastern part of the country， cities in urban agglomerations， and non-resource cities can better advantage the dividends brought by the digital economy.