The Role of Citizen Engagement on Developing Smart Cities Under an Organizing Asymmetry Approach

Abstract

Urban areas worldwide are increasingly finding their way into the Smart Cities model. As an initiative that aims to enhance the quality of citizens’ lives through the implementation of clever solutions, the success of Smart Cities relies on the involvement of academia, the public and private sectors, as well as society itself. Therefore, the quadruple-helix approach is considered relevant when discussing Smart Cities approaches. However, the society participation becomes a key challenge for these initiatives. The role of this actor, and its representativeness, still requires new studies to shed light on the potential of its contributions. The citizen represents an actor that, at the same time, can contribute to developing Smart Cities and being impacted by city changes. In this early-stage research paper, the society is approached as the citizen engagement. The authors argue that the shortage of citizen engagement and decision-making representativeness are influenced by organization asymmetry. The concept of organization asymmetry concerns the disparity in organizational struc- tures among the actors within the quadruple helix approach. Notably, three of the key actors, namely universities, government, and businesses, are represented by formal and well-structured organizations, while the societal component of the model lacks an equivalent level of organization, consequently resulting in a loss of representative- ness. This characterization aligns with the established concept of information asym- metry. Thus, we advocate for an approach that incorporates citizens as a pivotal actor within Smart City development plans, to promote meaningful and inclusive citizen involvement. This short paper aims to discuss the role of citizen engagement in the development of Smart Cities, providing a theoretical basis for describing the construct of organizing asymmetry.