Measuring Digital-Intelligent Technology in China’s Five Major Urban Agglomerations: Spatiotemporal Evolution, Regional Disparities, and Spatial Clustering

Digital-intelligent technology (DIT) is increasingly important for urban transformation, yet its development remains spatially uneven. This study evaluates DIT levels in 93 cities across China’s five major urban agglomerations from 2014 to 2023. An index covering digital-intelligent infrastructure, innovation capacity, and integrated applications is constructed using the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method. Theil index decomposition, kernel density estimation, σ-convergence and conditional β-convergence tests, and spatial autocorrelation analysis are then applied. The mean DIT index increased from 0.108 in 2014 to 0.259 in 2023, with improvements across all three dimensions. The Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta remained the leading urban agglomerations, while Chengdu–Chongqing and the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River showed signs of catching up. The overall Theil index declined from 0.240 to 0.094, although within-agglomeration differences remained the principal source of inequality. The convergence tests indicated narrowing relative disparities and faster growth in index scores among cities with lower initial DIT levels. Positive spatial autocorrelation persisted, with High–High clusters concentrated mainly in the two leading coastal agglomerations and Low–Low clusters found primarily in parts of the inland agglomerations. Sensitivity analyses supported the robustness of the main patterns. The findings highlight the importance of intercity coordination and of strengthening innovation and application capacities in less-developed cities.