Effect of Perceived Value of Smart Governance on City Demographic Sustainability: Youth Retention in Busan

This study explored how smart governance can foster city demographic sustainability by shaping youth retention intention in developed cities. In the case of Busan, South Korea, a structural model was constructed and tested to link the dimensions of perceived value of smart governance (PV)—including Accessibility and Efficiency of Public Services (PV-A), Transparency and Information Accessibility of Governance (PV-T), Participation and Responsiveness (PV-P), Career Development and Innovation Support (PV-C), and Contribution to Urban Quality of Life (PV-Q)—with perceived demographic sustainability (PDS) and youth retention intention (YRI). On the basis of 939 valid questionnaires, confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation model were used to test the measurement validity, model fitting, and mediating effects. Consequently, all the dimensions of smart governance had a positive effect on youth retention intention (YRI), with all path coefficients statistically significant at p < 0.001, and perceived demographic sustainability (PDS) partially mediated the effects of each dimension on youth retention intention (YRI), with indirect effects significant at p < 0.05. Among the dimensions, PV-T had the strongest effect, with a standardized coefficient of β = 0.283 at p < 0.001, followed by PV-P (β = 0.185, p < 0.001) and PV-Q (β = 0.167, p < 0.001), while PV-A and PV-C showed comparatively weaker but still statistically significant effects. In view of governance orientation and cognitive mechanism, this study provides empirical support for demographic sustainability design in smart cities.