Urban resilience, digital technologies, and the economic recovery of a city from the pandemic

Abstract

The COVID‐19 pandemic has devastated the world economy, which has made global economic recovery a considerable challenge. When a city experiences disasters, it needs to utilize innovative governance instruments, such as digital technologies, to foster economic recovery resilience. This article proposes a theoretical framework aimed at revealing the interconnection between digital technologies and economic recovery resilience, and it presents the case of Hangzhou, China, to illustrate this framework. This article finds that digital technologies can foster economic recovery resilience by sustaining a collaborative network during disasters. This article also reveals that government‐sponsored platforms, public‐private partnerships, and citizen coproduction are the underlying dynamics through which digital technologies build resilience. This article provides a nuanced understanding of how digital technologies might impact the theory and practice of economic recovery resilience in the digital era.