Urban Local Government Research Articles

Developing a model for measuring the spatial disability level of cities within the framework of barrier-free pedestrian accessibility: the case of Kırklareli City centre

The problem of disability is directly related to the physical barriers encountered in urban spaces. Pedestrian accessibility performance is a notable urban quality indicator. Universal design principles and barrier-free design standards are important in making urban spaces usable for everyone. However, projects in this context generally cover specific areas of cities. Bringing an entire city into compliance with barrier-free design standards requires high cost and time. Therefore, determining the spatial disability level of the urban texture and planning project stages constitute a critical process for local governments. This study proposes a model to measure the pedestrian accessibility performance of medium-sized cities with relatively walkable distances within the framework of spatial barriers and to identify priority intervention points. In this context, Kırklareli city centre was selected as a case study area. According to the model developed with the support of GIS, the “ideal accessibility network” is determined for the citizens, and the performance level is calculated by identifying the spatial barriers on this network. The model was developed using components that can be applied to any city and tested in a sample urban environment. This conceptual model contributes to urban science and local government policy by providing a monitoring mechanism for spatial disability that can be constantly tracked by citizens, and by supplying an information base for projects to be developed by local governments. It is hoped that this study will popularise pedestrian-oriented spatial design and control in cities where walkability is postponed due to the focus on wheeled vehicle mobility and where spatial barriers are felt only by disabled individuals.

Instant infrared: Estimating urban surface temperatures from street view imagery

As the impact of climate change on cities intensifies, the analysis and modeling of the urban microclimate are becoming increasingly important. A key parameter to this end is the estimation of urban surface temperatures. Traditional approaches for such estimates, that use urban micrometeorology models, are based on simulations that require heavy computations and complex inputs — including urban geometry, radiative parameters, and meteorological conditions. As a result, they cannot be applied extensively in all cities, where some of the input parameters might be missing and computational power might not be available. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach founded upon a deep learning framework, requiring markedly simplified inputs: street view imagery and meteorological conditions. We use our model to estimate building facade surface temperatures in the city of London (Ontario, Canada) and compare results both with simulated values obtained from an established simulation software TUF-3D and ground truth data collected through an onsite campaign with a FLIR thermal imager. Results substantiate the superiority of our proposed approach over TUF-3D, concurrently emphasizing its advantages in terms of input simplicity and computational resource efficiency. As street view imagery is becoming ubiquitous across the world – for instance, through platforms such as Google Street View – our approach lays the foundation for a new paradigm of fast, cost-effective, and highly scalable models, empowering urban designers and local authorities to better understand a changing urban climate.

The subjugation to contingency: Popper, postructuralism, and fear of the plan

ABSTRACT The critique of planning in the 1960s and 70s legitimized the subsequent emaciation of governmental planning, which marked a shift from comprehensive, rational planning and government-created masterplans to looser forms of urban governance through regulations, codes and ‘flexible’ frameworks, produced by urban designers, planners, developers and local authorities. This paper interrogates the idea of contingency, a key ingredient in discrediting ‘the plan’. It argues that the proposition to ‘embrace contingency’, which permeated work of scholars ranging from Popper to Laclau, has had a detrimental impact on planning theory and practice. It has condoned the uncertainty and havoc caused by the free-market within the built environment. It continues to de-legitimize attempts to reintroduce ‘tight’ planning, which describes what ought to be done, and hence steers our cities towards evermore libertarian and neoliberal (non-) governance. This theory paper’s argument concisely studies the idea of contingency in general terms, proceeding to analyse key literature in urban design and planning that delegitimized ‘the plan’ in the 1960s and 70s through accusations of utopianism, and finally looks at more recent contributions that, as this paper demonstrates, continue to follow the contingency-dependent, anti-plan path identified decades ago, often explicitly criticizing neoliberalism while implicitly supporting it.

Common good in the urban context – insights from theoretical frameworks

The objective of the study is to analyse the role of the concept of common good in the contemporary field of urban studies. Through an interdisciplinary literature review, the basic explanation of the concept or common good is presented with a focus on common good in the urban environment. This work examines how urban commons became significant in scientific and public debates, translatable into tangible projects. The research results prove the academic and policy discussions focus on urban commons both in theoretical and engaged implementation of experiments in local urban governance. The notion of common good in the urban context, applied in territorial governance practices as commons, has an expanded international geographical reach, popularised within theoretical and more empirical approaches. The findings reveal a correlation between the discourse on urban commons and the proliferation of thematic debates and models; grassroots projects, demonstrating varied impacts by local social, cultural and policy contexts. In conclusion to the study of consecutive contemporary theories, the need to provide accurate elaboration on an urban commoning framework can be stated. This is a gap to bridge for enabling practical sustainable applications.

THE PERSISTENCE OF PEENYA: Examining Industrial Space in Global Bangalore

AbstractSince 1991, Bangalore has seen spectacular redevelopment through the political hegemony of real estate, IT and parastatals in local urban governance. The global city literature has demonstrated how gentrification and real estate redevelopment have been at the heart of such neoliberal urban transformation. Yet, the literature's roots in notions of ‘post‐industrial’ cities obscure a view of how industry remains a key part of contemporary global cities. The persistence of the Peenya Industrial Area, one of South Asia's largest industrial areas today, reflects the negotiated, partial, contested and uneven character of the neoliberal urban project. Peenya demonstrates how obdurate inherited urban industrial geographies continue to shape the dynamics of world city‐making. Established in the heyday of Bangalore's postcolonial public sector industrialization, Peenya employs over 180,000 workers in 8,236 manufacturing firms, even today. How does such vast industrial space persist within the core of a global city? I draw on interviews and qualitative field research to argue that Peenya's resilience is rooted in the complexity of private land aggregation and state‐sponsored industrial relocation within an interwoven geography of tiny, legally fluid land holdings with variegated tenure regimes as well as the challenge of re‐signifying space in a region with obdurate industrial imaginaries.

Factors Affecting Citizen Satisfaction of Urban Local Government Service in Bangladesh: The Case of Pabna Municipality

Factors Affecting Citizen Satisfaction of Urban Local Government Service in Bangladesh: The Case of Pabna Municipality

Innovation Requirements for Good Governance of Local Government in Urban Government of Vietnam

Local governance is a quite popular term, however urban local governance is one of the new governance terms in Vietnam. Currently, in the world's urbanization trend associated with building e-government, digital transformation, building smart cities, etc., the issue of good management and administration of urban governments is increasing. is a requirement. Within the scope of this article, the author introduces the most common features of urban government, the distinction between urban government and rural government; At the same time, it points out the requirements for building an urban government that meets lean requirements and operates effectively and efficiently in Vietnam.

URBAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ITS ROLE IN LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF ADAMA CITY, ETHIOPIA

Evidence confirms that for local economic development (LED) to be successful and improve the lives of local communities, sub-national governments and for that matter local governments are supposed to play an active role in the process. To this end, the purpose of this study is to investigate the contribution of urban local government in the promotion of LED in Adama City, Ethiopia. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to achieve the objective of the study. Qualitative data was collected through document analysis and key informant interviews (KII). On the other hand, quantitative data was collected using a survey questionnaire developed based on five-point Likert-scales to measure the perceptions of various respondents on the contribution of urban local government in promoting LED and factor attributes for its poor contribution. While survey questionnaires were randomly distributed to target respondents, interview participants were included in the study using purposive and convenience sampling techniques. The findings of the study highlight gaps in the overall contribution of the Adama City government towards LED, which is measured in terms of the provision of infrastructure, regulating and capacitating socio-economic entities in the city, creating favourable environments for networking and businesses to flourish, facilitating credit facilities and others. The limited institutional capacity of the city government itself and the inadequate existence of favourable legal and policy environments are factors that contribute to the poor contribution of the city government to LED.

Demographic transition in aging neighborhoods: a GIS-based analysis from Germany's countryside

The ongoing demographic transition within aging single-family house neighborhoods in Germany poses a significant challenge for municipalities. The scarcity of data and information related to demographic composition and location quality complicates research efforts and the development of adaptive strategies for these residential areas. This issue is particularly pronounced in rural regions where resources for capturing and analyzing demographic trends are limited. To address this gap, we propose a methodology based on geographic information systems. In this approach, municipal population registers serve as a central data source for extracting insights about the residents. We present the findings primarily in the form of maps, as they are intended to be easily comprehensible for urban planners and local government staff. Additionally, we outline the initial steps in establishing a small-scale monitoring system that incorporates demographic indicators as well as reachability estimates. A case study from northern Bavaria is used as an illustration.

Cost-Effectiveness of Decentralized Solid Waste Management Method as Compared to the Centralized Method Implemented Through Urban Local Government in Tirunelveli City, Tamil Nadu, India

Objective: To compare the cost-effectiveness of a newly introduced decentralized method with the existing centralized solid waste management (SWM) method in 2019 in Tirunelveli City, Tamil Nadu, India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken to compare the costs for the two SWM methods using the bottom-up approach. We ascertained cost centers for the collection, transportation, and processing of solid waste for the two methods. We reviewed the records and collected data to estimate the costs and outputs (waste processed per capita) of the two SWM methods using data abstraction forms for each identified cost center. We calculated the cost and outcome of both methods and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Results: The total cost for the decentralized method was ₹121 million (USD 1.72 million), and that of the centralized method was ₹222 million (USD 3.15 million). The cost per capita of SWM in one year was lesser for the decentralized (₹526) as compared to the centralized method (₹612). The cost per metric tonne (MT) of SWM in decentralized and centralized methods was ₹5595 and ₹4683, respectively. The ICER lies in the right lower quadrant (ICER: 1.2375), indicating that the decentralized method was cost-effective. Conclusion: Solid waste processing by the decentralized method is cost-effective as compared to the centralized processing method in terms of waste processed per capita. We recommend the civic bodies to adopt the decentralized method with sufficient allocation of resources for efficient SWM. Furthermore, this will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also have a positive impact on climate change mitigation.

Methodology for Identifying Optimal Pedestrian Paths in an Urban Environment: A Case Study of a School Environment in A Coruña, Spain

Improving urban mobility, especially pedestrian mobility, is a current challenge in virtually every city worldwide. To calculate the least-cost paths and safer, more efficient routes, it is necessary to understand the geometry of streets and their various elements accurately. In this study, we propose a semi-automatic methodology to assess the capacity of urban spaces to enable adequate pedestrian mobility. We employ various data sources, but primarily point clouds obtained through a mobile laser scanner (MLS), which provide a wealth of highly detailed information about the geometry of street elements. Our method allows us to characterize preferred pedestrian-traffic zones by segmenting crosswalks, delineating sidewalks, and identifying obstacles and impediments to walking in urban routes. Subsequently, we generate different displacement cost surfaces and identify the least-cost origin–destination paths. All these factors enable a detailed pedestrian mobility analysis, yielding results on a raster with a ground sampling distance (GSD) of 10 cm/pix. The method is validated through its application in a case study analyzing pedestrian mobility around an educational center in a purely urban area of A Coruña (Galicia, Spain). The segmentation model successfully identified all pedestrian crossings in the study area without false positives. Additionally, obstacle segmentation effectively identified urban elements and parked vehicles, providing crucial information to generate precise friction surfaces reflecting real environmental conditions. Furthermore, the generation of cumulative displacement cost surfaces allowed for identifying optimal routes for pedestrian movement, considering the presence of obstacles and the availability of traversable spaces. These surfaces provided a detailed representation of pedestrian mobility, highlighting significant variations in travel times, especially in areas with high obstacle density, where differences of up to 15% were observed. These results underscore the importance of considering obstacles’ existence and location when planning pedestrian routes, which can significantly influence travel times and route selection. We consider the capability to generate accurate cumulative cost surfaces to be a significant advantage, as it enables urban planners and local authorities to make informed decisions regarding the improvement of pedestrian infrastructure.

Service quality, satisfaction, and intention to use Pourasava Digital Center in Bangladesh: The moderating effect of citizen participation.

This study describes how, as part of the administrative reform of Bangladesh, most of the urban local governments have set up some public service center like Pourasava Digital Center (PDC), where ICT (Information and Communication Technology) has been commonly applied to make e-services more convenient, efficient and transparent. The current study measures the Service Quality Satisfaction and Continuous Use Intention to use Pourasava Digital Center (PDC) in Bangladesh by adopting citizen participation as a moderator. Theoretically, this study has used the DeLone & McLean Information Systems (D&M IS) Success Model and Zhang's two-dimensional satisfaction model. However, most of the existing studies in Bangladesh are qualitative, and the relationship between service quality and citizen satisfaction has not been tested. A survey was conducted based on a structured questionnaire method and data collected from 332 respondents from 05 PDC and applying structural equation modelling in AMOS software while analyzing the data. The empirical results showed that the data fit the model. The finding of this study is that information quality affects specific satisfaction but not accumulative satisfaction, and specific satisfaction might not lead to accumulative satisfaction. One of the worthy findings of this study is that citizen satisfaction is highly dependent on system quality and service quality rather than information quality. The continuous use intention of the citizen is not based on specific satisfaction but significantly depends on accumulative satisfaction. To ensure the improvement of PDC's service quality, all dimensions related to the quality of service should be modified, and the administrative system and citizens should be encouraged to participate in all aspects of services.

Assessing Challenges to Solid Waste Management in Urban Local Authorities in Uganda: A Case Study of Arua Municipality

Purpose: Waste generation is associated with and comes with human activities and as such, waste management is an issue which should be shared by every individual, community, organisation or Country worldwide. Depending on climate, life style and behavioural differences, level of industrialisation, available waste management programmers and economic incentives, the problem of waste generation and its management continues to be a major environmental problem in urban centres worldwide. This Paper attempts to assess the Challenges to Solid Waste Management in Urban Local Authorities in Uganda with specific reference to Arua Municipality in North Western Uganda. A Case study design was used. Materials and Methods: A sample of 391 respondents was selected out of a Target population of 7,881 which included; Heads of Households, Business Operators, Elected leaders, Heads of Departments and Solid waste Collectors. The Methods for data collection adopted were Questionnaires, Interviews, Observation and Documentary Review. The Researcher used Regression Technique for data analysis. Findings: The study findings showed that, urban population growth had an inverse relationship with solid waste management while funding had a positive significant effect on solid waste management. The study further found out that, urban population behaviour had a negative relationship with solid waste management. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: From these findings the researcher concluded that lack of waste segregation; inadequate facilities and equipment, lack of legislation and bye-laws, and ineffective enforcement are among the major challenges to solid waste management in Arua Municipality. Based on the above findings, the researcher recommends the following; Solid waste segregation (separation), enforcement, legislations and bye-laws, provision of adequate solid waste management facilities and equipment and training/Capacity building programmes on solid waste management. The study findings will help policy makers in formulating sustainable solid waste management policies and designing appropriate methods of managing solid waste in urban Local Authorities. The study findings will help raise awareness on issues pertaining to solid waste management at community level. This awareness will help build initiatives to reduce the solid waste management problem in Arua Municipality. The study will further contribute to the body of knowledge on the studies already conducted on solid waste management in developing countries.

Collaborations and Networks Within Communities for Improved Utilization of Primary Healthcare Centers: On the Road to Universal Health Coverage.

Community involvement depends on the level of linked and targeted activities for health by community members. This study examines the collaborations employed within communities to ensure sustainable access and improved use of healthcare in the community. This study was conducted in rural and urban local government areas in Anambra, Kano, and Akwa-Ibom, Nigeria. About 90 in-depth interviews and 12 focus group discussions were conducted with community stakeholders and service users. The findings were transcribed and coded via thematic analysis, guided by the Expanded Health Systems framework. Various horizontal collaborations in communities foster increased use of PHC services; promoting community health. Major horizontal collaborations in these communities were community-led, primary health facility-led, and Individual-led collaborations. Their actions revolved around advocacy, building and renovating PHC centers, equipping facilities, and sensitization to educate community members on the need to utilize services at PHC centers. Strategic involvements and collaborations of local actors within communities give rise to improvements in the utilization of primary healthcare centres, reportedly resulting in improved access to PHC healthcare services for community members.

The Role of Social Media in Promoting Citizen Participation in Zimbabwe's Urban Local Authorities

Social media is now widely used across the globe having the potential to enhance citizen participation in governance processes. Such platforms include Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp amongst others, to be interrogated in this study. The study sought to examine how these social media platforms can be used to enhance citizen participation in Zimbabwe’s urban local authorities using Bulawayo and Harare City Councils as case studies. The two local authorities have a huge footprint on social media. Theoretically, the study was informed by Arnstein’s ladder of participation to explore the use of social media in enhancing citizen participation. The researchers purposively and conveniently selected participants that included the residents, councillors and management. The researchers also reviewed and synthesised comments made on different social media accounts of the two cases. Data were analysed thematically where themes were established to deduce meaning guided by the research questions. Findings show that social media presents a huge potential if embraced to enhance citizen participation for it has a wider audience and also its ability to include young, people which is the larger population, using social media. Challenges associated with the use of social media were also established including the high cost of data in Zimbabwe. Also, these platforms do not go beyond the tokenism stage of the Arnstein ladder of Participation making them less effective. Lastly, recommendations are given on how to strengthen the use of social media in promoting citizen participation.

State of E-Governance at Urban Local Government in Bangladesh: A Paradigm of Rajshahi City Corporation

The purport of this study is to depict the present scenario of e-governance at urban local government in Bangladesh. Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), as a leading municipality in initiating and applying e-governance, has introduced almost ten e-services. After a deep exploration on RCC, it reveals that EBRIS and SARMS both the e-governance projections of RCC are successfully implemented presently. E-tender, e-nothi, e-death registration and web portals are also fairly implemented. And e-revenue and e-application are on the way to implementation. Contrarily, e-waste management, sms-based information service and smart rajshahi app are not implemented yet. The most realistic findings of this research are the unimproved ICT infrastructure, lack of proper IT training of the e-service providers, lack of cooperativeness of e-service receivers, lack of e-literacy of e-service receivers, intervention of third party and demanding bribe for providing e-services, harassment by e-service providers, lack of efficiency of e-service providers and lack of awareness of e-service receivers about e-governance. As an empirical research, it uses both the qualitative and quantitative methods. This study is an endeavor to present an overall current status of e-governance in RCC.

Sexual and reproductive health information needs; an inquiry from the lens of in-school adolescents in Ebonyi State, Southeast Nigeria

BackgroundIt is important to understand the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of adolescents from the adolescents themselves to address their needs properly. Hence, this paper provides new knowledge on the information needs on SRH among adolescent boys and girls in selected secondary schools in Ebonyi state, southeast Nigeria.MethodA comparative assessment was conducted among adolescent boys and girls in public secondary schools that received a specific school-based SRH intervention (group A) and those that did not receive the intervention (group B). These schools were spread across six urban and rural local government areas in Ebonyi state, southeast Nigeria. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 514 adolescents aged 13 to 18 on their stated needs for SRH information and services. Categorical variables were compared using the Chi-square test, and predictors were determined using logistic regression analysis. The statistical significance was determined at p < 0.05.ResultMajority of the adolescents (82% of intervention group and 92% of non-intervention group) identified puberty and pubertal changes as perceived SRH information need for adolescents (χ2 = 7.94; p-value = 0.01). Adolescents who received SRH intervention have 3.13 (p < 0.001) times the odds of perceiving the need for adolescents to be provided with SRH information than adolescents who did not receive SRH intervention. The odds of perceiving the need for adolescents to be provided with SRH information for adolescents who reside in urban communities are 0.31 (p < 0.001) times the odds for adolescents who resides in rural communities. That is, the perception odds are higher adolescents who reside in rural communities. Multivariate regression of specific SRH information showed the location of residence as a strong predictor of adolescents’ perceived need for information on ‘puberty and pubertal changes’ (OR = 0.30; p = 0.001), ‘safe sex and sexual relations’ (OR = 0.33; p < 0.001) and ‘prevention of pregnancy and use of contraceptives’ (OR = 0.28; p < 0.001). Adolescents in senior secondary school have 2.21 (p = 0.002) times the odds of perceiving the need for adolescents to be provided with specific SRH information than adolescents who are in junior secondary school.ConclusionAdolescents’ age, location of residence, and study group were found to be strong predictors of SRH information needs. This suggests the need for in-school adolescents to be provided with substantial and continuous SRH information for healthy living and making informed SRH choices. In developing SRH interventions that will achieve optimal effectiveness in the lives of adolescents in school, different demographic factors should be considered for context-specific and appropriate strategies.

Application of E-Services in the Urban Local Government in Bangladesh: A Study on Rajshahi City Corporation

Public sector information and communication technology (ICT) has a long history of using mainframe operations in the 1970s and microcomputing in the 1990s. It is recognized by the Government of Bangladesh that ICT has a development impact, as it enhances access to information, the quality of public service delivery and strengthens good governance practices. Since the ending of 2019, the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic has revived the importance of e-governance. In the initial stage of this climacteric period when people were socially distanced, restricted in quarantine, and not interacting face-to-face with each other created a whale of a ponderosas of e-governance in Bangladesh. Without any doubt, e-governance is the prime catalyst for urban development. Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) is one of the oldest and leading municipalities in e-governance adaptation in Bangladesh. RCC, jointly with the local government division under the ministry of local government, has introduced e-governance through initiating an electronic birth registration information system (EBRIS) in 2001. This is one of the best paradigms for adapting e-governance at the urban local government level in Bangladesh. As a part of e-governance, RCC has launched Smart Auto-Rickshaw Management System (SARMS) to reduce traffic congestion on city roads. The study, based on primary sources of information, seeks to assess the role of SARMS in reducing traffic congestion on city streets as part of e-governance. In order to properly implement e-governance in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), researchers have come up with two recommendations for e-service providers following two broad sections. A rich ICT infrastructure is a prerequisite for providing e-services to the recipients. This study is based on empirical research. This first section of this paper is equipped with the details of the respondents, overall opinions of the respondents on e-governance are covered by second section, the third section is depictured the status of e-services in RCC. However, the last section is enclosed by the specific opinions of the respondents on EBRIS and SARMS.

Individual-level Predictors of Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness: Urban-Rural Comparison.

Maternal mortality is a major public health problem. Birth preparedness and complication readiness (BP/CR) constitute a veritable strategy for reducing maternal mortality, yet adoption is low with wide urban-rural discrepancies. The objectives of this study were to compare the practice of BP/CR amongst women in rural and urban areas of Rivers State, Nigeria, and determine the individual-level predictors. A facility-based cross-sectional comparative study using a multistage sampling method was employed in the selection of 924 (462 urban and 462 rural) women who gave birth within the last 12 months in urban and rural local government areas. Outcome measures were birth preparedness (defined as undergoing antenatal care (ANC) with a skilled birth provider, voluntary counselling and testing for HIV and saving money for childbirth at an agreed place of delivery with a skilled birth attendant) and complication readiness (defined as being knowledgeable about danger signs, identifying decision-maker, a nearest functional institution in case of emergency, emergency means of transport and funds and a suitable blood donor). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed at P < 0.05. The proportion of women who were birth prepared was significantly higher amongst women in urban areas (85.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 82.7%-89.1%) versus rural counterparts (56.7%; 95% CI: 52.2%-61.2%), whereas the proportion of complication readiness was significantly higher in rural (31.8%; 95% CI: 27.6%-36.1%) than urban (18.2%; 95% CI: 15.2%-47.8%) groups. Predictors were possession of secondary educational level or higher (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 4.9; 95% CI: 1.5-15.5), being employed (AOR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.5-15.0) and ANC attendance (AOR: 29.2; 95% CI: 8.8-96.9) in urban, whereas amongst the rural, it was ANC attendance (AOR: 20.0; 95% CI: 9.1-43.7). In urban areas, more women were birth prepared while fewer women were complication ready compared to the women in rural areas, with predictors such as education, employment and ANC attendance in urban areas and only ANC attendance in rural areas. Measures to promote ANC uptake, maternal education and empowerment could promote BP/CR.

Digital Platforms as (Dis)Enablers of Urban Co-Production: Evidence From Bengaluru, India

This article examines how digital platforms focused on citizen engagement affect urban transformation based on multiple case studies from Bengaluru, India. The research question is: What type of initiatives and designs of digital citizen platforms enable co-production? Co-production is defined as the use of assets and resources between the public sector and citizens to produce better outcomes and improve the efficiency of urban services. The study uses qualitative and quantitative approaches. Evaluative metrics of citizen engagement in digital platforms are done at two levels: platform metrics and initiative metrics. Each platform is evaluated under several variables that indicate the type of ownership, period of operation, aims and types of initiatives, and impact and levels of engagement. Then, the digital platforms are mapped for the extent of digital co-production that matches the type of digital interaction with a form of citizen–government relationship. The findings indicate that the orientation of digital co-production, where it exists, seems to be around the dimensions of co-testing and co-evaluation rather than co-design and co-financing. Furthermore, the digital platforms under study primarily view citizens as users rather than collaborators, limiting the scope of digital co-production. The involvement of urban local governments and private partners in a single platform strengthens the degree of citizen engagement, including the scope for co-production. Finally, there is a strong offline counterpart to citizen engagement through digital platforms where true co-production exists.