Abstract
Smart governance varies considerably across cities, allegedly due to the influence of the institutional setting. Nevertheless, the institutional factors influencing smart governance have yet to be systematically examined. This research proposes to remedy this by exploring the role of the institutional context in shaping the configuration of smart governance. For this purpose, this study, drawing on insights from institutional theory, zooms in on three cities with dissimilar institutional contexts — Curitiba (Brazil), Glasgow (UK), and Utrecht (the Netherlands). The findings suggest that institutional context does indeed affect how smart governance actualizes in cities. These empirical insights result in a heuristic framework for understanding smart governance in diverse urban environments. The framework exhibits a multi-layered influencing mechanism: institutions co-existing on multiple spatial scales interact and modify – reinforce or dissolve – each other's impact on smart governance. This study opens the door to a different approach to understanding smart governance and sheds new light on how this is interrelated with the institutional context.
Highlights
In the face of swiftly accruing urban challenges the use of technol ogy, linked to the smart city idea, has gained in popularity and appeal, both among local authorities and academics
The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between the urban context and smart governance, if and how the specific institutional settings in which cities are ingrained affect patterns of smart governance, such as the societal goals, the use of technologies and the ways in which citizens and other actors engage
To remedy this knowledge gap the present study has drawn on insights from institu tional theory and analysed smart governance initiatives in three cities from different countries, embedded in distinct institutional environ ments by asking: “How does the institutional context shape the actual configuration of smart governance in cities?”
Summary
In the face of swiftly accruing urban challenges the use of technol ogy, linked to the smart city idea, has gained in popularity and appeal, both among local authorities and academics. This paper, by investigating policy documents but actual practices, surpasses the conceptual perspectives prevalent in the literature (GilGarcia, Pardo, & Nam, 2015; Meijer & Bolívar, 2016; Scholl & Alawadhi, 2016; Wiig & Wyly, 2016) This multiple-case, comparative and crosscountry approach has the added value of more widely exploring the research question, illuminating differences and similarities between the cases, and analysing the data across situations (Eisenhardt, 1989; Gus tafsson, 2017), thereby enabling more general conclusions and theory development. The seventh, and final section concludes with a discussion of the results
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