Debates about the future of urban development in many Western countries have been increasingly influenced by discussions of smart cities. Yet despite numerous examples of this ‘urban labelling’ phenomenon, we know surprisingly little about so‐called smart cities, particularly in terms of what the label ideologically reveals as well as hides. Due to its lack of definitional precision, not to mention an underlying self‐congratulatory tendency, the main thrust of this article is to provide a preliminary critical polemic against some of the more rhetorical aspects of smart cities. The primary focus is on the labelling process adopted by some designated smart cities, with a view to problematizing a range of elements that supposedly characterize this new urban form, as well as question some of the underlying assumptions/contradictions hidden within the concept. To aid this critique, the article explores to what extent labelled smart cities can be understood as a high‐tech variation of the ‘entrepreneurial city’...

Will the Real Smart City Please Stand Up?: Intelligent, progressive or entrepreneurial?

Driven by the profit motive of global high-technology companies, in collusion with the trend towards city governance being wedded to a competitive form of ‘urban entrepreneurialism’, has left little room for ordinary people to participate in the smart city. The article seeks to make a two-fold critical intervention into the dominance of this corporate smart city model. It does this by first looking at how we currently understand the smart city and critiques the growing trend towards corporate and entrepreneurial governance versions. A second form of intervention concerns considering smartness from different perspectives emanating from small-scale and fledgling examples of participatory and citizen-based types of smart initiatives.

/pdf/critical-interventions-into-the-corporate-smart-city-87nb8eqie2.pdf

Critical interventions into the corporate smart city

Digital inequality is one of the most critical issues in the knowledge economy. The private and public sectors have devoted tremendous resources to address such inequality, yet the results are inconclusive. Theoretically grounded empirical research is needed both to expand our understanding of digital inequality and to inform effective policy making and intervention. The context of our investigation is a city government project, known as the LaGrange Internet TV initiative, which allowed all city residents to access the Internet via their cable televisions at no additional cost. We examine the residents' post-implementation continued use intentions through a decomposed theory of planned behavior perspective, which is elaborated to include personal network exposure. Differences in the behavioral models between socio-economically advantaged and disadvantaged users who have direct usage experience are theorized and empirically tested. The results reveal distinct behavioral models and isolate the key factors that differentially impact the two groups. The advantaged group has a higher tendency to respond to personal network exposure. Enjoyment and confidence in using information and communication technologies, availability, and perceived behavioral control are more powerful in shaping continued ICT use intention for the disadvantaged. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

/pdf/understanding-digital-inequality-comparing-continued-use-a4rg0u96r5.pdf

Understanding digital inequality: comparing continued use behavioral models of the socio-economically advantaged and disadvantaged

The role of ICT and innovation in enhancing organizational performance: The catalysing effect of corporate entrepreneurship

Smart cities have been a global concern in recent years, involving comprehensive scientific research. To obtain a structural overview and assist researchers in making insights into the characteristics of smart cities research, bibliometric analysis was carried out in this paper. With the application of the bibliometric analysis software VOSviewer and CiteSpace, 4409 smart cities were identified by the core collection of the Web of Science in publications between 1998 and 2019 and used in the analysis of this paper. Concretely, this research visually demonstrates a comprehensive overview of the field relating to smart cities in terms of the production of regular publications, main domain of smart cities researchers, most influential countries (institutions, sources and authors), and interesting research directions in the smart city researches. We also present the research collaboration among countries (regions), organizations and authors based on a series of cooperation analyses. The bibliometric analysis of the existing work provided a valuable and seminal reference for researchers and practitioners in smart cities-related research communities.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/13/3606/pdf

Bibliometric Analysis on Smart Cities Research

V AN DER MEER A. and V AN WINDEN W. (2003) E-governance in cities: a comparison of urban information and communication technology policies, Reg. Studies 37 , 407-419. Throughout Europe, urban information and communication technology (ICT) policies are becoming more significant. Using examples from various cities, this paper describes and analyses the local manifestation and dynamics of the information society. In a conceptual framework, we make a distinction between three interdependent types of "footprints' of ICTs in urban areas: access, content, and infrastructure. For each of these dimensions, we describe and compare current urban ICT policies. We focus on the way local governments involve other urban actors in the design and implementation of ICT policies. Although cities feel the need to engage in new types of strategic partnerships, they are struggling to find appropriate partnership models. V AN DER MEER A. et V AN WINDEN W. (2003) Les systemes de gouvernement electroniques: une comparaison des po...

http://xcsc.xoc.uam.mx/apymes/webftp/documentos/biblioteca/Information%20and%20Communication%20Technology%20Policies.pdf

E-governance in Cities: A Comparison of Urban Information and Communication Technology Policies

This article is based on the results of the EU-funded research project "MUTEIS" (Macro-economic and Urban Trends in Europe's Information Society), that aims to provide deeper insights in the emerging digital economies in urban regions. The information and communication technology (ICT) sector is at the centre of interest to cities. In the 1990s, many of them invested heavily in developing and attracting this promising sector. Almost every city has developed and implemented ambitious policies to promote the local ICT sector. But not every city has benefited to the same extent from its rapid growth: there are substantial quantitative and qualitative differences between urban regions. This study reviews the development of ICT clusters across Europe, and assesses the role of local and national policies in this field. It highlights the diversity of cluster development paths in different local and national contexts.

The development of ICT clusters in European cities: towards a typology

The Case of Barcelona

This paper is based on an EU-funded research project called “MUTEIS” (Macroeconomic and Urban Trends in Europe’s Information Society) – a research project designed to get a better understanding of the different patterns of growth of urban regions and their ICT clusters across Europe. Over the 1990’s Europe as a whole seems to have been slow in its transition towards the new, digital economy. The smaller European economies of Finland, Ireland, Sweden and The Netherlands, however, witnessed a rapid uptake in ICT investments and in computer- and internet use over the second half of the 1990’s, accompanied by a remarkable growth and employment performance over those same years. This paper reveals how those countries have been better equipped to exploit some of the new digital growth opportunities, adapted existing “old” economic activities to the new e-business environment, and learnt more from the new opportunities to exploit those advantages across the European Union. Furthermore, the national policy makers appeared to be more aware of the increasingly limited degrees of freedom of their national policy actions, liberalising more rapidly their national telecommunications monopolies.

http://www-sre.wu-wien.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa03/cdrom/papers/73.pdf

ICT clusters in European cities during the 1990s: development patterns and policy Lessons

Since the late 1990s, city councils have become increasingly aware of the potential for information technologies (ICTs) to improve the management of cities and as an instrument for economic and social policy. This has resulted in a wave of urban ICT strategies and policies, such as the adoption of ICTs within the city administration itself, projects that facilitate access to ICTs by weaker social groups and policies to improve the urban electronic infrastructure. By comparing eight cities - Barcelona, Cape Town, Eindhoven, Johnnesburg, Manchester, Tampere, the Hague and Venice - this book examines a range of innovative urban e-governance strategies and develops a framework of analysis that permits a common approach. Throughout the book, a distinction is made between access policies (aimed at improving access to ICTs for all citizens), content policies (directed to improve the use of ICTs in the city administration and semi-public domains) and infrastructure policies (to improve the provision of broadband infrastructure). For each of the cities, e-strategies and policies are critically reviewed and compared. The book reveals that urban e-strategies have evolved from an internal and technology-centred orientation to a more outward-looking approach.

E-Governance in European and South African Cities: The Cases of Barcelona, Cape Town, Eindhoven, Johannesburg, Manchester, Tampere, The Hague and Venice

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