IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v8y2016i3p207-d64537.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Where’s Wally? In Search of Citizen Perspectives on the Smart City

Author

Listed:
  • Vanessa Thomas

    (HighWire Centre for Doctoral Training, Lancaster University, Bailrigg LA1 4YW, UK
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Ding Wang

    (HighWire Centre for Doctoral Training, Lancaster University, Bailrigg LA1 4YW, UK
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Louise Mullagh

    (HighWire Centre for Doctoral Training, Lancaster University, Bailrigg LA1 4YW, UK
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Nick Dunn

    (ImaginationLancaster, LICA/Lancaster University, Bailrigg LA1 4YW, UK)

Abstract

This paper builds upon an earlier conference publication by the authors, offering contributions based on a systematic literature review and qualitative study. The paper begins by drawing attention to the paucity of “citizen”—more appropriately, “situated”—perspectives on what a smart city should and could be. The paper then addresses that absence by detailing a research project that explored how people in London, Manchester, and Glasgow responded to the smart city concept. Participants were asked questions regarding their prior familiarity with the phrase “smart city”, their thoughts relating to what it means for a city to be smart, and what a “true” smart city might mean to them. The paper analyses and offers a synthesis of the responses collected throughout the research with the dominant rhetoric about smart cities, as identified through a recent systematic literature review, thereby providing a critical assessment of the values underlying the smart city. It aims to explore and present some of the expectations that citizens hold for their cities’ politicians, policy makers, planners, academics, and technology companies. We believe that these perspectives from citizens can be used to inform responsible development, spatially and socially inclusive technologies, and ultimately more resilient cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Vanessa Thomas & Ding Wang & Louise Mullagh & Nick Dunn, 2016. "Where’s Wally? In Search of Citizen Perspectives on the Smart City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-13, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:3:p:207-:d:64537
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/3/207/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/3/207/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert G. Hollands, 2008. "Will the real smart city please stand up?," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 303-320, December.
    2. Caragliu, A. & Del Bo, C. & Nijkamp, P., 2009. "Smart cities in Europe," Serie Research Memoranda 0048, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    3. Gemma Galdon-Clavell, 2013. "(Not so) smart cities?: The drivers, impact and risks of surveillance-enabled smart environments," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 40(6), pages 717-723, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Brown, K. & Larionova, V. A. & Lally, V., 2018. "Lifelong learning as a tool for the development of smart cities: technology enhanced learning as an enabler," R-Economy, Ural Federal University, Graduate School of Economics and Management, vol. 4(4), pages 133-143.
    2. Agnieszka Szczepańska & Rafał Kaźmierczak & Monika Myszkowska, 2023. "Smart City Solutions from a Societal Perspective—A Case Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-27, March.
    3. Ebru Tekin Bilbil, 2017. "The Operationalizing Aspects of Smart Cities: the Case of Turkey’s Smart Strategies," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(3), pages 1032-1048, September.
    4. Julsrud, Dr. Tom Erik & Krogstad, Dr. Julie Runde, 2020. "Is there enough trust for the smart city? exploring acceptance for use of mobile phone data in oslo and tallinn," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    5. Lim, Chiehyeon & Cho, Gi-Hyoug & Kim, Jeongseob, 2021. "Understanding the linkages of smart-city technologies and applications: Key lessons from a text mining approach and a call for future research," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    6. Camboim, Guilherme Freitas & Zawislak, Paulo Antônio & Pufal, Nathália Amarante, 2019. "Driving elements to make cities smarter: Evidences from European projects," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 154-167.
    7. Isara Khanjanasthiti & Kayalvizhi Sundarraj Chandrasekar & Bhishna Bajracharya, 2021. "Making the Gold Coast a Smart City—An Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-18, September.
    8. Seema Mundoli & Hita Unnikrishnan & Harini Nagendra, 2017. "The “Sustainable” in smart cities: ignoring the importance of urban ecosystems," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 44(2), pages 103-120, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ebru Tekin Bilbil, 2017. "The Operationalizing Aspects of Smart Cities: the Case of Turkey’s Smart Strategies," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(3), pages 1032-1048, September.
    2. Tuba Bakıcı & Esteve Almirall & Jonathan Wareham, 2013. "A Smart City Initiative: the Case of Barcelona," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 4(2), pages 135-148, June.
    3. De Santis, Roberta & Fasano, Alessandra & Mignolli, Nadia & Villa, Anna, 2014. "Smart city: fact and fiction," MPRA Paper 54536, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Enrico di Bella & Matteo Corsi & Lucia Leporatti, 2015. "A Multi-indicator Approach for Smart Security Policy Making," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 653-675, July.
    5. Kamila Borsekova & Katarina Petrikova & Anna Vanova, 2015. "Building of smart cities in specific conditions of transitional economies," ERSA conference papers ersa15p1030, European Regional Science Association.
    6. Diogo Correia & Leonor Teixeira & João Lourenço Marques, 2021. "Reviewing the State-of-the-Art of Smart Cities in Portugal: Evidence Based on Content Analysis of a Portuguese Magazine," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-30, October.
    7. Walravens, Nils, 2015. "Qualitative indicators for smart city business models: The case of mobile services and applications," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 218-240.
    8. Walravens, Nils, 2014. "A critical exploration of the Brussels app economy and mobile city services scene," 25th European Regional ITS Conference, Brussels 2014 101383, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    9. Lim Seng BOON & Jalaluddin Abdul MALEK & Mohd Yusof HUSSAIN & Zurinah TAHIR, 2020. "Understanding the trends and characteristics of smart urbanism across continents," Smart Cities and Regional Development (SCRD) Journal, Smart-EDU Hub, Faculty of Public Administration, National University of Political Studies & Public Administration, vol. 4(1), pages 23-35, March.
    10. J. Ramon Gil-Garcia & Tzuhao Chen & Mila Gasco-Hernandez, 2023. "Smart City Results and Sustainability: Current Progress and Emergent Opportunities for Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-17, May.
    11. Roberta De Santis & Alessandra Fasano & Nadia Mignolli & Anna Villa, 2015. "A primer on city "smartness" measurement," RIVISTA DI ECONOMIA E STATISTICA DEL TERRITORIO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(2), pages 34-51.
    12. Kyunam Kim & Jung-Kyu Jung & Jae Young Choi, 2016. "Impact of the Smart City Industry on the Korean National Economy: Input-Output Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-19, July.
    13. María Verónica Alderete, 2020. "Exploring the Smart City Indexes and the Role of Macro Factors for Measuring Cities Smartness," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 567-589, January.
    14. Elvira Ismagilova & Laurie Hughes & Nripendra P. Rana & Yogesh K. Dwivedi, 2022. "Security, Privacy and Risks Within Smart Cities: Literature Review and Development of a Smart City Interaction Framework," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 393-414, April.
    15. Amel Attour & Alain Rallet, 2014. "Le rôle des territoires dans le développement des systèmes trans-sectoriels d'innovation locaux : le cas des smart cities," Innovations, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(1), pages 253-279.
    16. Mora, Luca & Deakin, Mark & Reid, Alasdair, 2019. "Combining co-citation clustering and text-based analysis to reveal the main development paths of smart cities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 56-69.
    17. Desdemoustier, Jonathan & Crutzen, Nathalie & Giffinger, Rudolf, 2019. "Municipalities' understanding of the Smart City concept: An exploratory analysis in Belgium," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 129-141.
    18. Dorel N Manitiu & Giulio Pedrini, 2015. "Smart and sustainable cities in the European Union. An ex ante assessment of environmental, social, and cultural domains," SEEDS Working Papers 1315, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Jul 2015.
    19. Grimaldi, Didier & Fernandez, Vicenc & Carrasco, Carlos, 2019. "Heuristic for the localization of new shops based on business and social criteria," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 249-257.
    20. Lee, Jung Hoon & Hancock, Marguerite Gong & Hu, Mei-Chih, 2014. "Towards an effective framework for building smart cities: Lessons from Seoul and San Francisco," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 80-99.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:3:p:207-:d:64537. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.