<p>With the acceleration of the global industrial transformation, innovation communities have gradually become a popular trend in urban development in China. The economic benefits of such communities are evident, but their environmental impacts are often overlooked. To explore the specific impact of innovation communities on the urban environment and serve the strategic goal of sustainable development, in this study, on the basis of data from 108 Chinese cities, a projection pursuit model is used to assess the development level of the innovation community, and a Tobit model is employed to examine their effect on carbon emissions efficiency (CEE). This study also verifies the following moderating mechanisms: improvement in innovation ability, resource integration and the upgrading of industrial structure. In addition, K-means clustering is used to identify the different development stages of the innovation community, and the spatial Durbin model is used to examine their spatial spillover effects. The results show that the innovation community can significantly increase CEE, and this impact is heterogeneous across different urban scales, urban types and development stages. In addition to the linear relationship, inverted U-shaped and saddle-shaped nonlinear relationships also exist between central cities and mature communities. Spatial analysis further indicates that the innovation community has significant spatial spillover effects on carbon emissions. This study provides a theoretical basis and assessment tools for policy-makers to promote carbon neutrality and sustainable development.</p>