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Being a ‘citizen’ in the smart city: Up and down the scaffold of smart citizen participation

Author

Listed:
  • Cardullo, Paolo

    (IN3)

  • Kitchin, Rob

    (National University of Ireland Maynooth)

Abstract

This paper critically appraises citizens’ participation in the smart city. Reacting to critiques that the smart city is overly technocratic and instrumental, companies and cities have reframed their initiatives as ‘citizen-centric’. However, what ‘citizen-centric’ means in practice is rarely articulated. We draw on and extend Sherry Arnstein’s seminal work on participation in planning and renewal programmes to create the ‘Scaffold of Smart Citizen Participation’ – a conceptual tool to unpack the diverse ways in which the smart city frames citizens. We then use this scaffold to measure smart citizen inclusion, participation, and empowerment in smart city initiatives in Dublin, Ireland. Our analysis illustrates how most ‘citizen-centric’ smart city initiatives are rooted in stewardship, civic paternalism, and a neoliberal conception of citizenship that prioritizes consumption choice and individual autonomy within a framework of state and corporate defined constraints that prioritize market-led solutions to urban issues, rather than being grounded in civil, social and political rights and the common good. We conclude that significant normative work is required to rethink ‘smart citizens’ and ‘smart citizenship’ and to remake smart cities if they are to truly become ‘citizen-centric’.

Suggested Citation

  • Cardullo, Paolo & Kitchin, Rob, 2017. "Being a ‘citizen’ in the smart city: Up and down the scaffold of smart citizen participation," SocArXiv v24jn, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:v24jn
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/v24jn
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Perng, Sung-Yueh & Kitchin, Rob & Donncha, Darach Mac, 2017. "Hackathons, entrepreneurship and the passionate making of smart cities," OSF Preprints nu3ec, Center for Open Science.
    2. Cardullo, Paolo & Kitchin, Rob, 2017. "Living Labs, vacancy, and gentrification," SocArXiv waq2e, Center for Open Science.
    3. Coletta, Claudio & Heaphy, Liam & Kitchin, Rob, 2017. "From the accidental to articulated smart city: The creation and work of ‘Smart Dublin’," SocArXiv 93ga5, Center for Open Science.
    4. Alberto Vanolo, 2014. "Smartmentality: The Smart City as Disciplinary Strategy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(5), pages 883-898, April.
    5. Martin Dodge & Rob Kitchin, 2013. "Crowdsourced Cartography: Mapping Experience and Knowledge," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(1), pages 19-36, January.
    6. HaeRan Shin & Se Hoon Park & Jung Won Sonn, 2015. "The emergence of a multiscalar growth regime and scalar tension: the politics of urban development in Songdo New City, South Korea," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 33(6), pages 1618-1638, December.
    7. Tritter, Jonathan Quetzal & McCallum, Alison, 2006. "The snakes and ladders of user involvement: Moving beyond Arnstein," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 156-168, April.
    8. Erik Swyngedouw, 2005. "Governance Innovation and the Citizen: The Janus Face of Governance-beyond-the-State," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 42(11), pages 1991-2006, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Coletta, Claudio & Heaphy, Liam & Kitchin, Rob, 2017. "From the accidental to articulated smart city: The creation and work of ‘Smart Dublin’," SocArXiv 93ga5, Center for Open Science.
    2. Engelbert, Jiska & van Zoonen, Liesbet & Hirzalla, Fadi, 2019. "Excluding citizens from the European smart city: The discourse practices of pursuing and granting smartness," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 347-353.
    3. Desdemoustier, Jonathan & Crutzen, Nathalie & Giffinger, Rudolf, 2019. "Municipalities' understanding of the Smart City concept: An exploratory analysis in Belgium," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 129-141.
    4. Stephan Hügel, 2017. "From the Garden City to the Smart City," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 2(3), pages 1-4.

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