NUDGE: IMPROVING DECISIONS ABOUT HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein Penguin Books, 2009, 312 pp, ISBN 978-0-14-311526-7This book is best described formally as a general explanation of and advocacy for libertarian paternalism, a term coined by the authors in earlier publications. Informally, it is about how leaders, systems, organizations, and governments can nudge people to do the things the nudgers want and need done for the betterment of the nudgees, or of society. It is paternalism in the sense that "it is legitimate for choice architects to try to influence people's behavior in order to make their lives longer, healthier, and better", (p. 5) It is libertarian in that "people should be free to do what they like - and to opt out of undesirable arrangements if they want to do so", (p. 5) The built-in possibility of opting out or making a different choice preserves freedom of choice even though people's behavior has been influenced by the nature of the presentation of the information or by the structure of the decisionmaking system. I had never heard of libertarian paternalism before reading this book, and I now find it fascinating.Written for a general audience, this book contains mostly social and behavioral science theory and models, but there is considerable discussion of structure and process that has roots in mathematical and quantitative modeling. One of the main applications of this social system is economic choice in investing, selecting and purchasing products and services, systems of taxes, banking (mortgages, borrowing, savings), and retirement systems. Other quantitative social choice systems discussed include environmental effects, health care plans, gambling, and organ donations. Softer issues that are also subject to a nudge-based approach are marriage, education, eating, drinking, smoking, influence, spread of information, and politics. There is something in this book for everyone.The basis for this libertarian paternalism concept is in the social theory called "science of choice", the study of the design and implementation of influence systems on various kinds of people. The terms Econs and Humans, are used to refer to people with either considerable or little rational decision-making talent, respectively. The various libertarian paternalism concepts and systems presented are tested and compared in light of these two types of people. Two foundational issues that this book has in common with another book, Network of Echoes: Imitation, Innovation and Invisible Leaders, that was also reviewed for this issue of the Journal are that 1 ) there are two modes of thinking (or components of the brain) - an automatic (intuitive) process and a reflective (rational) process and 2) the need for conformity and the desire for imitation are powerful forces in human behavior. …

Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Understanding 'smart cities': Intertwining development drivers with desired outcomes in a multidimensional framework

The governance of smart cities: A systematic literature review

Digital Democracy. Discourse and decision making in the information age

Smart cities: Utopia or neoliberal ideology?

In recent years, ``smart cities'' have rapidly increased in discourses as well as in their real number, and raise various issues. While citizen engagement is a key element of most definitions of smart cities, information and communication technologies (ICTs) would also have great potential for facilitating public participation. However, scholars have highlighted that little research has focused on actual practices of citizen involvement in smart cities so far. In this respect, the authors analyse public participation in Japanese ``Smart Communities'', paying attention to both official discourses and actual practices. Smart Communities were selected in 2010 by the Japanese government which defines them as ``smart city'' projects and imposed criteria such as focus on energy issues, participation and lifestyle innovation. Drawing on analysis of official documents as well as on interviews with each of the four Smart Communities' stakeholders, the paper explains that very little input is expected from Japanese citizens. Instead, ICTs are used by municipalities and electric utilities to steer project participants and to change their behaviour. The objective of Smart Communities would not be to involve citizens in city governance, but rather to make them participate in the co-production of public services, mainly energy production and distribution.

How are citizens involved in smart cities? Analysing citizen participation in Japanese ``Smart Communities''

"Smart Cities" are assumed to be based on smart technology, smart people or smart collaboration, assigning citizens significant roles. Despite increasing "citizen participation" in the discourse, there is very little debate on their socio-political implications. While some argue that ICT will enhance democratic debate and empower citizens [45, 18, 8], others concern about the development of Smart Cities "without critical discussions and 'politics'" [55, 5, 53] and notice the lack of attention for the politics of technical choices. This applies in particular to Smart Cities, since they require citizens to change behaviour according to quantitative targets and technological features. Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) launched its Smart City project in 2010. The government set specific criteria in order to ensure the "participation of all the stakeholders" (among which the citizens) and the "lifestyle innovation" [22]. The paper analyses information provided by semi-structured interviews to stakeholders of Japanese Smart Cities; the tools of citizen involvement proved effective in promoting cooperation and achieving significant outcomes in terms of energy consumption reductions, this involvement has not allowed any political debate about core issues such as Smart City, sustainability, and policies. METI and Japanese Smart Cities risk the potential for social innovation [7]. Research on behaviour change and sustainability also suggests that such situation is likely to hinder more significant shift towards sustainable lifestyles [56, 50]. Drawing on analysis of official documents as well as on interviews with each of the four Smart Communities' stakeholders, the paper explains that very little input is expected from Japanese citizens. Instead, ICTs are used by municipalities and electric utilities to steer project participants and to change their behaviour. The objective of Smart Communities would not be to involve citizens in city governance, but rather to make them participate in the co-production of public services, mainly energy production and distribution.

Citizen Co-designed and Co-produced Smart City: Japanese Smart City Projects

Citizen co-designed and co-produced smart city: Japanese Smart city projects for "quality of life" and "resilience"

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How are citizens involved in smart cities? Analysing citizen participation in Japanese ``Smart Communities''

Citizen Co-designed and Co-produced Smart City: Japanese Smart City Projects

Citizen co-designed and co-produced smart city: Japanese Smart city projects for "quality of life" and "resilience"