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Towards a Working Model of e-Participation in Smart Cities: What the Research Suggests

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E-Participation in Smart Cities: Technologies and Models of Governance for Citizen Engagement

Part of the book series: Public Administration and Information Technology ((PAIT,volume 34))

Abstract

Recent e-government research has focused on the concept of smart cities, which can be broadly defined as cities that significantly incorporate new technologies into their governance. More specific definitions of smart cities exist, but there does not seem to be broad consensus on consistent smart city elements. However, our research does reveal some reoccurring themes in research on smart city definitions. Additionally, it is clear from extant research that e-participation is not considered to be a consistent element of the smart city. When e-participation does exist in smart cities, it is usually not very robust and tends to focus on service delivery rather than public consultation and policy making. This is unfortunate, give that there are some municipal policy areas that electronically facilitated public participation in government has found success. We identify some of these areas to demonstrate the advantages of e-participation in smart cities. We also offer some elements that are conducive to enacting and sustaining robust e-participatory practices in smart cities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Coproduction refers to voluntary cooperation between government and citizens in the generation, creation, and management of government services. Coproduction calls upon the resources, skills, and knowledge of citizen-volunteers to create, maintain, or improve what government does.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Robert A. Cropf

  2. Department of Political Science, University of Missouri - Columbia, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Mark Benton

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  1. Robert A. Cropf
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  2. Mark Benton
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Correspondence to Robert A. Cropf .

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Cropf, R.A., Benton, M. (2019). Towards a Working Model of e-Participation in Smart Cities: What the Research Suggests. In: E-Participation in Smart Cities: Technologies and Models of Governance for Citizen Engagement. Public Administration and Information Technology, vol 34. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89474-4_6

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