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The citizen and the smart city : a global comparison of institutional logics

Bunnell, Tim ; Spicer, Zachary ; Miller, Byron ; Abbruzzese, Teresa ; Cardullo, Paolo ; Chae, Sangwon ; Chang, I.-Chun Catherine ; Charnock, Greig ; Chung, Ming-Kuang and Heo, Kwon , et al. (2025) In Urban Geography
Abstract
Critical urbanists’ placement of smart city initiatives in Western Europe or North merica mostly on “low” rungs of participatory ladders or scaffolds does not mean that smart urban development connotes democracy-eroding neoliberalization everywhere. This article offers a more globally variegated and dynamic understanding of the relationship between citizens and smart cities. We apply an institutional logics frame to the citizen-smart city nexus in seven cities spanning three world regions, in each case considering the interplay of citizen-centric logics with techno-innovation-oriented and bureaucratic/managerial logics. Appreciation of contextually specific institutional orders helps to explain why similar initiatives and intentions yield... (More)
Critical urbanists’ placement of smart city initiatives in Western Europe or North merica mostly on “low” rungs of participatory ladders or scaffolds does not mean that smart urban development connotes democracy-eroding neoliberalization everywhere. This article offers a more globally variegated and dynamic understanding of the relationship between citizens and smart cities. We apply an institutional logics frame to the citizen-smart city nexus in seven cities spanning three world regions, in each case considering the interplay of citizen-centric logics with techno-innovation-oriented and bureaucratic/managerial logics. Appreciation of contextually specific institutional orders helps to explain why similar initiatives and intentions yield different outcomes across time and space, but the interplay of competing logics also enables a reworking of prevailing orders and possibilities for change. Bringing multiple cases and associated dynamics into comparative conversation reveals similarities and differences that would not have been expected from a priori classifications based on geographical region or mode of governance, affording cross-case conceptualization of civil servant “proxy citizenship” and “palimpsests” of social scripts. The article provides empirical, methodological and conceptual resources not only for understanding how prevailing institutional logics variously enable or foreclose citizen action in smart city development, but also for building contextually-attuned propositional agendas for change. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
in
Urban Geography
pages
26 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
ISSN
0272-3638
DOI
10.1080/02723638.2025.2551135
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a89092a4-3abb-4736-a55a-44a220961042
date added to LUP
2025-09-01 13:24:53
date last changed
2025-09-16 13:06:00
@article{a89092a4-3abb-4736-a55a-44a220961042,
  abstract     = {{Critical urbanists’ placement of smart city initiatives in Western Europe or North merica mostly on “low” rungs of participatory ladders or scaffolds does not mean that smart urban development connotes democracy-eroding neoliberalization everywhere. This article offers a more globally variegated and dynamic understanding of the relationship between citizens and smart cities. We apply an institutional logics frame to the citizen-smart city nexus in seven cities spanning three world regions, in each case considering the interplay of citizen-centric logics with techno-innovation-oriented and bureaucratic/managerial logics. Appreciation of contextually specific institutional orders helps to explain why similar initiatives and intentions yield different outcomes across time and space, but the interplay of competing logics also enables a reworking of prevailing orders and possibilities for change. Bringing multiple cases and associated dynamics into comparative conversation reveals similarities and differences that would not have been expected from a priori classifications based on geographical region or mode of governance, affording cross-case conceptualization of civil servant “proxy citizenship” and “palimpsests” of social scripts. The article provides empirical, methodological and conceptual resources not only for understanding how prevailing institutional logics variously enable or foreclose citizen action in smart city development, but also for building contextually-attuned propositional agendas for change.}},
  author       = {{Bunnell, Tim and Spicer, Zachary and Miller, Byron and Abbruzzese, Teresa and Cardullo, Paolo and Chae, Sangwon and Chang, I.-Chun Catherine and Charnock, Greig and Chung, Ming-Kuang and Heo, Kwon and Jou, Sue-Ching and Karvonen, Andrew and Kordas, Olga and Kong, Lily and Ribera-Fumaz, Ramon and Shin, HaeRan and Woods, Orlando}},
  issn         = {{0272-3638}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Urban Geography}},
  title        = {{The citizen and the smart city : a global comparison of institutional logics}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2025.2551135}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/02723638.2025.2551135}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}