Urban transportation data are crucial for smart city development, enhancing traffic management’s intelligence, accuracy, and efficiency. This paper conducts a comprehensive investigation encompassing policy analysis, a literature review, concept definition, and quantitative analysis using CiteSpace from both domestic and international perspectives. Urban transportation data comprise multiple dimensions, such as infrastructure status, real-time monitoring, policy planning, and environmental assessment, which originate from various sources and stakeholders. Highly influential authors and active institutions, particularly in the USA, China, Canada, and England, contribute significantly to extensive and collaborative research. Key areas include intelligent transportation, traffic flow prediction, data fusion, and deep learning. Domestic research focuses on practical applications, while international studies delve into interdisciplinary research areas. With advancements in intelligent systems and big data technology, research has evolved from basic data collection to sophisticated methodologies, such as deep learning and spatiotemporal analysis, driving substantial progress. This paper concludes by recommending enhanced data integration, improved privacy and security, fostering big data and AI applications, facilitating policy formulation, and exploring innovative transportation modes, thereby underscoring the importance of urban transportation data in shaping the future of smart cities. The findings provide theoretical and practical guidance for the future intelligence, efficiency, and sustainability of urban transportation systems.

The National Civilized City Program is an important governance championship for cities in China. Taking the National Civilized City Program as a quasi-natural experiment, based on the data of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2009 to 2021, the multi-period double-difference method is used to investigate the impact, mechanism of action and heterogeneity of the National Civilized City Program on corporate ESG performance. It is found that the National Civilized City Program can significantly enhance corporate ESG performance, and this conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. The National Civilized City Program improves corporate ESG performance through two channels: strengthening environmental regulation and promoting the fulfillment of corporate responsibility towards employees. There is significant heterogeneity in terms of geography, firm ownership and pollution attributes in the impact of the National Civilized City Program on firms’ ESG performance.

The Artificial Intelligence Pilot Zone Policy is an important strategic initiative for building artificial intelligence (AI) innovation hubs. It provides new opportunities to enhance manufacturing firm resilience and promote the sustainable development of the manufacturing sector. The creation of the National New-Generation Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Development Pilot Zones (AI Pilot Zones) is viewed in this study as a quasi-natural experiment. Using data from Chinese A-share-listed manufacturing firms from 2015 to 2023, we employ a staggered DID model to evaluate the impact of the policy on manufacturing firm resilience. We find that the AI Pilot Zone policy increases manufacturing firm resilience by an average of 0.0282 units. The analysis of potential mechanisms shows that the policy significantly promotes digital talent agglomeration, stimulates urban innovation vitality, and improves firm-level supply chain efficiency. These findings are consistent with the theoretical expectations and provide supportive evidence that these factors may constitute potential mechanisms associated with the policy’s effect on manufacturing firm resilience. The heterogeneity analysis reveals a pronounced “weakness-compensating” effect. At the regional level, the resilience-enhancing effect is stronger for manufacturing firms located in areas with relatively weak digital infrastructure. At the industry level, the effect is more pronounced among firms in low-technology manufacturing industries. At the firm level, the effect is stronger for firms with lower levels of human capital, weaker innovation capacity, and lagging digital transformation. Overall, this study provides micro-level evidence on the resilience effects of the AI Pilot Zone policy and offers policy implications for integrating AI more effectively with the real economy.