LAUSR

As China continues to introduce policies to promote the construction of smart cities, the governance capacity and living environment of many pilot regions have moved towards smart development and sustainability. In order to reveal the impact of improving regional smart development on the lives of the elderly, we explored the relationship between regional smart development and the risk of poverty in old age. The results show that at present, the development of smart cities continues to grow; the majority of elderly respondents’ poverty risk is general; the development of smart cities at the regional level is effective in reducing the poverty risk of the elderly in the region, with the degree of impact varying by region; and the impact of smart development at the regional level on the risk of poverty in old age varies with different levels of social support. Based on this, suggestions are made to vigorously develop the regional economy, improve the social security mechanism for the elderly, and accelerate the digitalization and humanization of infrastructure so as to better meet the needs of China’s elderly population in the context of high-quality smart development in the region and achieve sustainable development goals.