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Smarter as the New Urban Agenda pp 49–71Cite as

Characterizing the Role of Governments in Smart Cities: A Literature Review

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Part of the book series: Public Administration and Information Technology ((PAIT,volume 11))

Abstract

The growth of smart cities is forcing governments to think the need to advance in the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for the improvement of the citizenry’s participation in decision-making processes, the increasing efficiency of public services, and the improvement of transparency and accountability. In this regard, governments in smart cities are called to play a key role in promoting and managing these cities. Based on prior research, this chapter seeks to analyze the role of governments in smart cities, trying to identify different patterns of management styles in these cities. Also, differences between theoretical and empirical studies about the role of governments in smart cities are identified proposing new research themes for the future.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In this chapter, smart cities are analyzed but not other terms such as “intelligent city,” “virtual city,” “innovative city,” “knowledge city,” or “creative city,” since these terms have some overlap and focus on other discourses such as attracting urban professionals and creating an urban cyberspace. It is also argued that the smart city concept is in fact a more user-centered evolution of the other city concepts which seem to be more technological deterministic in nature (Schuurman et al. 2012). Therefore, as this chapter aims to explore the different models of smart city governance specifically, it limited our search to that term.

Abbreviations

ICTs:

Information and communication technologies

PPP:

Public–private partnerships

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Acknowledgments

This research was carried out with financial support from the Regional Government of Andalusia (Spain), Department of Innovation, Science and Enterprise (Research project number P11-SEJ-7700).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Accounting and Finance, Faculty of Business Studies, University of Granada, C/ Campus Universitario de Cartuja, s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain

    Prof. Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar

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  1. Prof. Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar
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Correspondence to Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas (CIDE), Mexico, D.F. C.P., Mexico

    J. Ramon Gil-Garcia

  2. Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany State University of New York, Albany, New York, USA

    Theresa A. Pardo

  3. Myongji University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Taewoo Nam

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Rodríguez Bolívar, M. (2016). Characterizing the Role of Governments in Smart Cities: A Literature Review. In: Gil-Garcia, J., Pardo, T., Nam, T. (eds) Smarter as the New Urban Agenda. Public Administration and Information Technology, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17620-8_3

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