Research progress and prospects of digital infrastructure from a geographical perspective in China and abroad
The new waves of information technology revolution give rise to digital infrastructure exemplified by 5G base stations,big data centers,and industrial internet,constituting strategic components of the modem infrastructure system.Proliferated studies on digital infrastructure range from diverse disciplines and perspect-ives.Given the unclear principal line of research progress in geographical studies on digital infrastructure,along with ambiguous disciplinary contribution and future research avenues,this paper therefore seeks to re-view and compare research progress on digital infrastructure from a geographical perspective in China and abroad,and to draw upon key research agendas for academic attention.In general,overseas studies have an early start,with rapid research progress and diversified themes,and have been consistently intensified and widened.By contrast,domestic studies exhibit a late start but have increased explosively since 2019 mainly by scholars in the field of economics and management.Based on a critical perspective and demand side,overseas studies pay much attention to the digital gap,socio-spatial inequality,and digital transformation of disadvant-aged regions.Domestic studies,which place more emphasis on a functional perspective and supply side,focus on how digital infrastructure empowers regional digital economic development and connectivity within and among regions.In short,the new waves of digital technology revolution,justice and equity requirements in the information society,and national strategic demands facilitate the rise and development of digital infrastructure studies in geography.Although overseas and domestic studies share similar themes,but they exhibit different priorities.Knowledge production and theoretical construction of digital infrastructure in China by geographers are still in its infancy.Looking forward,this paper suggests that:1)geographical studies on digital infrastruc-ture in China should balance the supply and demand sides,in order to strengthen the interaction and systematiz-ation of research achievements;2)digital infrastructure needs to be better incorporated into related theoretical frameworks in geography,deepening disciplinary knowledge production and theoretical contribution;3)com-prehensiveness of geography should be sufficiently employed as an advantaged way to lead multi-disciplinary studies on digital infrastructure.
digital infrastructurenew-type infrastructuredigital gapdigital economysmart city
万方数据
维普
