Introduction: Urban governance is a cornerstone of contemporary cities, shaping their path toward sustainability, resilience, and inclusivity. Its effectiveness depends on responsiveness to technological and socio-spatial transformations that increasingly influence institutional arrangements, spatial organization, and everyday urban practices. The rapid growth of urbanization, coupled with limited citizen participation, underscores the need for smart technologies—such as AI, big data, and IoT—to enhance management and redefine citizens’ roles in decision-making. These innovations enable real-time, predictive, and participatory governance, requiring frameworks that are technologically adaptive, contextually grounded, and socially inclusive. Consequently, a comprehensive study integrating technical developments and public perspectives is essential to guide cities through the complexities of the digital age.
The Purpose of the Research: The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of emerging technologies on urban governance and the role of individuals within this urban context. To achieve this, the research is applied in nature and follows a qualitative approach with an inductive reasoning framework, examining how citizens play a more active role in shaping urban policies through the interplay between technological advancements and governance structures.
Methodology: A qualitative study with a systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2021 protocol to explore the effects of smart technologies on urban governance. Sources were collected from databases (theoretical literature) and social networks (YouTube for public opinions) to capture both scholarly and public perspectives. After screening, content analysis was performed using ATLAS.ti 9 with coding reliability confirmed through Krippendorff’s alpha (0.821), and the quality of sources was evaluated with the CASP checklist. Bibliometric analysis was also conducted using VOSviewer to identify key research trends and thematic clusters.
Findings and Discussion: Clustering of scientific sources revealed the dimensions of smart governance in the previous studies, while the thematic analysis of both literature and public opinions demonstrated the alignment between these two groups. Increased citizen participation and optimization of decision-making generated the most significant changes in social and governance dimensions. Public data also emphasized the need for oversight, law updates, and data privacy. Also, the expansion of digital boundaries shifts political power, which requires safe, cross-border cooperation to ensure oversight, security, and data protection. Overall, urban governance is shifting from traditional models to networked and intelligent ones. Four key clusters—smart cities and urban governance in modern planning, smart infrastructures, the role of big data, and economic growth—highlight the main focus of studies. Public data stresses tangible technological outcomes, whereas scientific literature underlines structural changes. Eleven overarching themes emerged, with the greatest emphasis on social aspects, human empowerment, and citizen participation, enhancing efficiency and accountability. Participatory mechanisms, such as online forums and citizen feedback platforms, foster direct engagement in urban planning, transparency, and collaboration, while concerns remain regarding surveillance, data privacy, and regulatory needs. The transfer of power to citizens, decentralization, and the optimization of decision-making through big data reflect the shift toward digital governance, and future research is encouraged to examine these themes across diverse urban contexts.
Conclusion: Bibliometric and public data analyses indicate that smart technologies are transforming urban governance from traditional models to networked and intelligent ones. Four key clusters—smart cities and urban governance in modern planning, smart infrastructures, the role of big data, and economic growth—shape the nature of the literature, and reveal their interconnections with spatial transformation and hybrid urban environments. Public data emphasize tangible outcomes of technology, while scientific literature underlines structural changes and long-term strategic implications. Eleven overarching themes emerged from the data, with the greatest emphasis on social aspects, human empowerment, and citizen participation, enhancing efficiency, accountability, and responsiveness. These transformations improve operational performance and facilitate adaptive decision-making in complex urban environments. Participatory mechanisms, such as online forums, mobile apps, and citizen feedback platforms, foster direct engagement in urban planning, transparency, collaboration, and co-creation of urban solutions, while concerns remain about surveillance, data privacy, inclusivity, and equitable distribution of technological benefits. The transfer of power to citizens, decentralization, and the optimization of decision-making through big data reflect the shift toward digital governance that reshapes institutional boundaries and governance cultures. Future research is encouraged to examine these themes across diverse urban contexts, evaluating the practical realization of these dimensions and their impact on sustainable, resilient, and socially inclusive urban development. |
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