Smart Cities and Social Innovation: A Global Perspective
Keywords:
smart cities, social innovation, urban governance, co-creation, citizen participation, inclusive digital infrastructure
Abstract
This article examines how smart cities integrate social innovation into their urban strategies at a global level. Using a qualitative methodology based on a systematic review of public policies and thematic analysis of secondary sources, three models of integration were identified: technocratic, hybrid, and socially-driven. In addition, key enabling factors —such as multi-actor ecosystems, citizen participation, and institutional innovation capacity— were outlined, along with structural barriers that limit the effectiveness of social innovation in intelligent urban contexts. Findings reveal that a truly smart city is not defined solely by its technological infrastructure but by its ability to generate social value through participation, equity, and co-creation. The article concludes with differentiated recommendations for government, academic, civil society, and technology stakeholders, aimed at enhancing the legitimacy and impact of smart strategies from an inclusive and sustainable perspective.Downloads
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References
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Angelidou, M. (2014). Smart city policies: A spatial approach. Cities, 41, S3–S11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2014.06.007
Bason, C. (2010). Leading public sector innovation: Co-creating for a better society. Policy Press.
Batty, M., Axhausen, K. W., Giannotti, F., et al. (2012). Smart cities of the future. The European Physical Journal Special Topics, 214, 481–518. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2012-01703-3
Calzada, I. (2016). (Un)Plugging Smart Cities with Urban Transformations: Towards Multistakeholder City-Regional Complex Urbanity?. Sustainability, 8(9), 922. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8090922
Carayannis, E. G., Barth, T. D., & Campbell, D. F. J. (2014). Smart cities as innovation ecosystems sustained by entrepreneurial universities, technology transfer and open innovation. The Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 5(2), 137–150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-014-0188-0
Cardullo, P., & Kitchin, R. (2019). Being a ‘citizen’ in the smart city: Up and down the scaffold of smart citizen participation in Dublin, Ireland. GeoJournal, 84, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-018-9845-8
Crivello, S. (2015). Urban policy and social innovation: Theory, practice, and policy lessons. Urban Studies Research, 2015, Article ID 479053. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/479053
Gil-Garcia, J. R., Pardo, T. A., & Nam, T. (2019). Smarter as the New Urban Agenda: A Comprehensive View of Smart Cities. Springer.
Kitchin, R., Coletta, C., & Heaphy, L. (2015). The data-driven city. In S. Marvin, A. Luque-Ayala, & C. McFarlane (Eds.), Smart urbanism: Utopian vision or false dawn? (pp. 20–33). Routledge.
Komninos, N. (2011). Intelligent cities: Variable geometries of spatial intelligence. Intelligent Buildings International, 3(3), 172–188.
Lember, V., Kattel, R., & Tõnurist, P. (2019). Technological capacity in the public sector: The case of Estonia. Governance, 32(1), 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12363
Meijer, A., & Bolívar, M. P. R. (2016). Governing the smart city: A review of the literature on smart urban governance. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 82(2), 392–408. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852314564308
Moulaert, F., MacCallum, D., Mehmood, A., & Hamdouch, A. (Eds.). (2013). The international handbook on social innovation: Collective action, social learning and transdisciplinary research. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Mulgan, G., Tucker, S., Ali, R., & Sanders, B. (2007). Social innovation: What it is, why it matters and how it can be accelerated. The Young Foundation.
Murray, R., Caulier-Grice, J., & Mulgan, G. (2010). The open book of social innovation. Nesta.
Nam, T., & Pardo, T. A. (2011). Conceptualizing smart city with dimensions of technology, people, and institutions. In Proceedings of the 12th Annual International Digital Government Research Conference (pp. 282–291).
Pfeffer, K., Verrest, H., & Baud, I. (2021). Smart cities and the bottom-up approach: A response to top-down smart city narratives. Environment and Urbanization ASIA, 12(1), 78–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/0975425321994769
Scott, M., Barnett, J., & Smith, A. (2022). Evaluating innovation for social transformation in cities. Urban Studies, 59(3), 532–549. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980211001456
Vanolo, A. (2014). Smartmentality: The smart city as disciplinary strategy. Urban Studies, 51(5), 883–898. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098013494427
Visvizi, A., Lytras, M. D., & Damiani, E. (2018). Policy-making for smart cities: Innovation and social inclusive economic growth for sustainability. Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, 9(2), 146–158. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTPM-07-2018-0075
Yigitcanlar, T., Kamruzzaman, M., Buys, L., Ioppolo, G., & Sabatini-Marques, J. (2018). Understanding “smart cities”: Intertwining development drivers with desired outcomes in a multidimensional framework. Cities, 81, 145–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.04.003
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Published
2024-09-15
How to Cite
Crissien, J. C. (2024). Smart Cities and Social Innovation: A Global Perspective. IJMSOR: International Journal of Management Science & Operation Research, 9(1), 52-62. Retrieved from https://ijmsoridi.com/index.php/ijmsor/article/view/147
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