A Validated Model for Citizen Engagement and Smartness of Cities

Abstract

The development of the concept of Smart Sustainable Cities (SSCs) and the alteration of its definition increased the fuzziness of the notion of urban “smartness” and its evaluation. A thorough analysis of the literature shows that being “Smart” means different things to different people. In selected cases, a city claims smartness upon the implementation of selected smart solutions. In other cases, cities claim smartness for developing a sound infrastructure leading the way to an enabling environment for SSCs. In other cases, cities claim to be smart simply based on their use of advanced technologies. The examples are numerous and the claims for smartness by cities are countless especially that being associated with the labels “Smart” and “sustainable” is a sign of development. Given this discrepancy in the interpretation of the concept of smartness, it becomes crucial to identify its core attributes and capture them when assessing the performance of SSCs. Accordingly, this paper proposes a model that addresses this issue and sheds lights on a seldom disregarded aspect that is the engagement of citizens. This paper identifies the engagement of citizens as a critical condition for the successful implementation of SSCs and a central aspect of their smartness. It proposes a model based on the Capability Approach and the human scale development approach framing the essential attributes of smartness of cities. It shows that smartness is not limited to the smart solutions implemented to serve the needs of the city. It is a culmination of the solutions implemented added to the capability of citizens to engage in the decision-making process of these solutions, thereby enabling them to live the lives they desire. Moreover, this paper presents parts of a validation exercise capturing the insights of experts in the field from various countries around the World in an attempt to confirm the importance and novelty of the building blocks of the proposed model focused on assessing the smartness of a SSC.