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Toward a Methodological Approach to Assess Public Value in Smart Cities

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Book cover Smarter as the New Urban Agenda

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

Abstract

This chapter proposes a novel framework aimed at measuring performances of smart cities. The methodological approach underlying the framework has its roots in an in-depth analysis of the smart city paradigm conducted from the perspective of urban governance. In this context, the notion of public value is seen as a backdrop for exploring the various ways in which a value for society can be created in a smart city. With this respect, a multidisciplinary synthesis of various strands of literature related to smart cities paves the way to the conceptualization of a framework meant to evaluate the “smartness” of a city through the lenses of economic, social, and environmental performances, in line with the “triple sustainability” principle. This vision is subsequently operationalized by means of a harmonized set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be grouped into two categories (called “core” and “ancillary”): whilst “core” indicators are identified with the intent to allow international comparability and to help policy makers in benchmarking their city on a global scale, and “ancillary” indicators are crafted considering the peculiarities of the city local context. Finally, the Italian city of Turin is used as a case study for testing the proposed assessment tool.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    www.ismb.it. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  2. 2.

    http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le21/le34/downloads/689/nobel/2005/docs/Abdulhakim_Malik.pdf. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  3. 3.

    http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/publikationen/publications_pof/pof_spring_2004.htm. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  4. 4.

    http://ibm.co/Ja1v83. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  5. 5.

    http://smartercities.nrdc.org/about. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  6. 6.

    http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  7. 7.

    http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/csd.html. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  8. 8.

    http://unhabitat.org/. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  9. 9.

    http://epi.yale.edu/. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  10. 10.

    http://www.cityindicators.org/. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  11. 11.

    http://www.cityindicators.org/Deliverables/eci_final_report_12-4-2007-1024955.pdf. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  12. 12.

    http://www.legambiente.it/sites/default/files/docs/rapporto_eu2013_web.pdf. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  13. 13.

    E.g., Turin city www.comune, torino.it; local transport company in Turin (GTT) http://www.comune.torino.it/gtt/. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  14. 14.

    E.g., Italian National Institute of Statistics ISTAT www.istat.it. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  15. 15.

    E.g., EUROSTAT http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/eurostat/home/. Accessed 11 June 2014.

  16. 16.

    The matrix encompasses a wide-ranging gamut of urban needs by drawing on relevant literature and on the analysis of a wealth of international policy documents.

  17. 17.

    Policy makers have the chance to appropriately fill-in the matrix in light of the contextual background of each city under the lens.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto Superiore Mario Boella, Via Pier Carlo Boggio, 61, 10138, Torino, Italy

    Dr. Michele Osella, Dr. Enrico Ferro & Ms. Elisa Pautasso

Authors
  1. Dr. Michele Osella
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  2. Dr. Enrico Ferro
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  3. Ms. Elisa Pautasso
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michele Osella .

Editor information

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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Osella, M., Ferro, E., Pautasso, E. (2016). Toward a Methodological Approach to Assess Public Value in Smart Cities. 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_7

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