IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i13p5735-d1684672.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Inclusivity in the Smart City Governance: Overcoming the Digital Divide

Author

Listed:
  • Vitalii Kruhlov

    (Department of Sociology and Public Administration, National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”, 61002 Kharkiv, Ukraine)

  • Jaroslav Dvorak

    (Department of Public Administration and Political Sciences, Klaipeda University, 92294 Klaipeda, Lithuania)

Abstract

The current research examines the issue of social inclusivity in the context of digitalization of smart city governance and explores ways to overcome the digital divide, which impedes equal access to online services for vulnerable population groups (elderly people, people with disabilities, low-income individuals, and residents of remote areas). Based on a literature review, the study outlines three generations of the digital divide: access, digital skills, and the ability to derive socio-economic benefits. A methodology is proposed that combines cluster analysis of 27 European cities using 11 integrated indicators, aimed at identifying typical development profiles while accounting for infrastructure, air quality, and levels of digital literacy. The results revealed four clusters: “Digital Leaders with Environmental Awareness”, “Mid-Level Cities with Development Potential”, “Opportunities with Environmental Challenges”, and “Advanced Digital Hubs with High Quality of Life”. The study confirms the hypothesis regarding the effectiveness of a comprehensive approach that integrates infrastructure investment, educational programs, and inclusive planning. The article’s conclusions emphasize the need to apply universal design principles, subsidize internet access, and regularly monitor digital inclusion indices to achieve SDGs 11 and 16.

Suggested Citation

  • Vitalii Kruhlov & Jaroslav Dvorak, 2025. "Social Inclusivity in the Smart City Governance: Overcoming the Digital Divide," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-20, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5735-:d:1684672
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5735/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5735/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5735-:d:1684672. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.