Print Email Facebook Twitter Enabling citizens’ right to the smart city through the co-creation of digital platforms Title Enabling citizens’ right to the smart city through the co-creation of digital platforms Author Leclercq, E.M. (TU Delft Design & Construction Management) Rijshouwer, Emiel A. (Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam) Date 2022 Abstract In response to increasingly deterministic and all-encompassing implementation of smart city technologies, scholars and activists plea for policies and initiatives to support citizens’ democratic ‘Right to the Smart City.’ Although it is common for government officials and technology companies to make an effort to support citizen participation in smart city development, the question is how this works in practice. The authors engaged in a series of three participatory action research projects with the aim to support citizens’ ‘Right to the Smart City’ through the development and use of digital platforms. We find that, although (the processes of co-creatively developing) these platforms do actively address citizens’ engagement, empowerment and emancipation in smart city development, their contribution to provide participants with the opportunity to actually and sustainably reframe, reimagine and remake the smart city in a way that benefits them and their communities, is fairly limited. We conclude that time and budget constraints, entrenched technocratic beliefs, as well as vested – traditional – and imbalanced power relationships and divergent views, concerns and objectives prohibit citizens’ ‘Right to the Smart City.’ Hence, our plea for ‘Governance Beyond Participation:’ city making processes that do not perceive citizens as participants or clients, but as valued and trustworthy collaborators in the development and the governance of public space. Subject smart citiesright to the citycitizen participationempowermentengagementgovernanceemancipation To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c5188fe4-536a-4b5b-9005-8b7b1a326c67 DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-022-00030-y ISSN 2524-8162 Source Urban Transformations, 4 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2022 E.M. Leclercq, Emiel A. Rijshouwer Files PDF s42854-022-00030-y.pdf 1.2 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:c5188fe4-536a-4b5b-9005-8b7b1a326c67/datastream/OBJ/view