Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

"future cities" – why in quotes? "solutionism" – what do you mean? ‘urban cities are becoming recognized as drivers for economic development and innovation, along with an approach to address challenging issues [6-11]’ – clarify the relevance of 6-11. The same with 15-18, be specific! ‘there needs to be a stimulating silence on security issues among believers in smart cities’ – why? "using new technologies to improve urban governance through better use of information and better communications" – this easy to rephrase quote requires page. The same here: "clusters of rights, rules and decision-making procedures that give rise to social practices, assign roles to the participants in these practices, and guide interactions among occupants of these roles.” "belief systems, norms, culture, and a sense of community". ‘[20, 21The’ – poorly edited. ‘by analyzing data of 000 bureaucrats and citizens’ – 000? ‘According to Scholl & Scholl (2014), smart collaboration with stakeholders is an extensive field for researchers in smart city governance that stems from traditional e-government. The main objective of e-government is to augment services in city areas, which consequently helps improve the quality of life for the people living in those constituencies’ – missing number for the cited source, for style consistency. ‘may be found under Smart Environmental’ - Smart Environmental? ‘Technological innovation in government organizations is currently attracting significant attention in the academic community [27-30]’ – develop. The same here: ‘alongside technology assessment [33-35]’. ‘Scholars have examined issues like reform, experimental, and urban labs in urban contexts [88, 89]’ – and what were the results? "design out" – why in quotes? ‘Several studies underestimate the importance of adopting innovative technologies in security and privacy spheres for decreasing crime rates. Nonetheless, privacy and security are fundamental components of a high-quality existence in every city, as illustrated by Maslow's hierarchy of needs.’ – what specific studies? Maslow's hierarchy of needs requires proper citation. ‘A smart, safe city is generally described by drawing on the perspective of Vitalij et al., (2012) [104]’ – what is this perspective? ‘5. Discussion’ – compare your results with others. The reference list is not properly edited, a lot of sources are incomplete, old, and not from scholarly journals.

 

Author Response

Reviewer 1

1. "future cities" – why in quotes?

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. Future cities have been previously used in several studies, e.g., Javed et al. (2022), Khan and Zaman (2018), and Riffat et al. (2016). This term is used in quotes to avoid plagiarism and to make it more prominent for readers because of its importance in smart cities literature.

2. "Solutionism" – what do you mean?

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. Solutionism is the view that all problems have straightforward remedies, particularly of a technological nature.

3. ‘Urban cities are becoming recognized as drivers for economic development and innovation, along with an approach to address challenging issues [6-11]’ – clarify the relevance of 6-11.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. The relevance of the study by Nijkamp and Kourtit (2013) to our study is that they discussed the systematic strategic approach to transform urban megatrends and challenges into research and policy concerns for Europe. Similarly, Myeong et al. (2021) found in their study that instilling a culture of innovation through training government managers and frontline workers is a critical component in achieving a holistic and sustainable smart city transformation that can survive leadership changes, which is relevant to our study. Some irrelevant and extra references are deleted from the list due to the large number of citations in a single paper, as observed by another reviewer.

4. The same goes for 15-18; be specific!

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. Two of the least relevant references are removed, and more focused and relevant references, such as Caragliu and Del Bo (2012) and Lee et al. (2013), are upheld.

5. There needs to be a stimulating silence on security issues among believers in smart cities' – why?

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. The authors accepted the mistake and replaced the word silence with uproar. Security is an important issue in urban areas, so smart city believers should raise their voices to implement innovative technologies to improve security matters.

6. "using new technologies to improve urban governance through better use of information and better communications" – this easy-to-rephrase quote requires a page.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. As you suggested, this quote is paraphrased, and the quotation marks are removed.

7. "clusters of rights, rules, and decision-making procedures that give rise to social practices, assign roles to the participants in these practices, and guide interactions among occupants of these roles." – this rephrased quote requires a page.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. As you suggested, this quote is paraphrased, and the quotation marks are removed.

8. "belief systems, norms, culture, and a sense of community." – this easy-to-rephrase quote requires a page.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. As you suggested, this quote is paraphrased, and the quotation marks are removed.

9. ‘by analyzing data of 000 bureaucrats and citizens’ – 000?

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. This error has been updated with "496", the number of participants in this study.

10. 'According to Scholl & Scholl (2014), smart collaboration with stakeholders is an extensive field for researchers in smart city governance that stems from traditional e-government. The main objective of e-government is to augment services in city areas, which consequently helps improve the quality of life for the people living in those constituencies – missing number for the cited source, for style consistency.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. The number of cited sources is included; it was missed due to style consistency.

11. ‘may be found under Smart Environmental’ - Smart Environmental?

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. Smart environments are replacing traditional environments. Smart environments link computers and other smart devices to everyday settings and tasks. Therefore, fire and theft prevention can be achieved using smart, innovative technologies in smart cities.

12. 'Technological innovation in government organizations is attracting significant attention in the academic community [27-30]' – develop.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. This paragraph is developed with previous literature and cited accordingly. It is highlighted in yellow.

13. ‘Scholars have examined issues like reform, experimental, and urban labs in urban contexts [88, 89]’ – and what were the results?

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. The results of the analysis conducted in these studies are presented and highlighted in yellow.

14. Several studies underestimate the importance of adopting innovative technologies to decrease crime rates in the security and privacy spheres. Nonetheless, privacy and security are fundamental components of a high-quality existence in every city, as illustrated by Maslow's hierarchy of needs.' – what specific studies?

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. The study's reference is included in this reference section, highlighted in yellow, and it should be cited by the end of the sentence.

15. ‘A smart, safe city is generally described by drawing on the perspective of Vitalij et al. (2012) [104]' – what is this perspective?

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. The following sentence explains Vitalij et al.'s perspective (2012).

According to this perspective, a smart city provides a variety of interconnected systems, a single set of information-management devices, multifaceted coverage for intricate and multi-functional operational responsibilities, and support for the sustainable development of current and future services [104].

16. Discussion’ – compare your results with others.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. The results are compared with previous literature in the discussion section and highlighted in yellow.

17. The reference list is not properly edited, and many sources are incomplete, old, or not from scholarly journals.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. The reference list has been properly updated and edited according to the Journal's requirements.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript offers a comprehensive analysis of the impact of institutional and technological innovations on Smart City Governance, particularly focusing on stakeholder satisfaction and crime rate. This study provides valuable insights for urban management and planning. However, a few minor modifications are required before publication.

L30 For addressing urbanization issues, we recommend highlighting key papers. 'Evaluating trends, benefits, and risks of global cities in recent urban expansion for advancing sustainable development' in Habitat International and 'An assessment of urbanization sustainability in China between 1990 and 2015 using land use efficiency indicators' published in Npj Urban Sustainability are particularly noteworthy.

Please review errors in the title, as well as on lines 136 and 142, and in the range of lines 730-733.

The relationship between Technological Innovations and Smart City Governance, their potential impacts on Stakeholder Satisfaction and Crime Rate, should be clearly illustrated in figures.

The authors have proposed several hypotheses. Is there evidence or references to support them? Additionally, they may consider exploring other potential impacts on Stakeholders and Crime Rate.

A flowchart is recommended to clarify the methods used in the study.

Could you elaborate on the distinction between Institutional and Technological Innovations? Is it meaningful to focus on Institutions?

Could you please provide information about the survey's location and the demographics of the participants? Specifically, their age, education level, and occupation?

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Minor editing of English language required.

Author Response

Reviewer 2

1. L30 To address urbanization issues, we recommend highlighting key papers. 'Evaluating trends, benefits, and risks of global cities in recent urban expansion for advancing sustainable development' in Habitat International and 'An assessment of urbanization sustainability in China between 1990 and 2015 using land use efficiency indicators' published in Npj Urban Sustainability are particularly noteworthy.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. We highly appreciate your recommendation to highlight the key papers included in our study.

2. Please review the errors in the title, lines 136 and 142, and lines 730-733.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. Please correct the errors on lines 136 and 142 and highlight

 them in yellow.

3. The figures clearly illustrate the relationship between Technological Innovations and Smart City Governance and their potential impacts on Stakeholder Satisfaction and Crime Rate.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. Figure 2 clearly illustrates the relationships between independent, moderating, and dependent variables in an integrated conceptual framework.

4. The authors have proposed several hypotheses. Is there evidence or references to support them? Additionally, they may consider exploring other potential impacts on Stakeholders and Crime Rate.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. This study developed several hypotheses based on previous theories and literature. Results from previous literature on variables are given in the "Discussion" section and highlighted

5. in the Yelin. Please chart is recommended to clarify the methods used in the study.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. Figure 1 is included in the study per your suggestion for a flowchart to clarify the research methodology.

6. Could you elaborate on the distinction between Institutional and Technological Innovations? Is it meaningful to focus on Institutions?

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. Technological innovation is a procedure wherein an enterprise (or an association of individuals operating outside of a formal entity) strikes upon a mission whereby the value of technology as a source of innovation is recognized as an essential component of performance for better competition in the market. Enterprises most frequently ignore the form of innovation known as institutional innovation. Enterprises, groups, businesses, sectors, and governments can all benefit from institutional innovation. Numerous sectors may benefit from this application, and co-innovation potential exists within these sectors. Institutional innovation is important because enterprises can restructure themselves through institutional innovation to scale learning and produce deeper innovations at different levels, such as management systems, business models, and products.

7. Please provide information about the survey's location and the participants' demographics. Specifically, what is their age, education level, and occupation?

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. The demographic details of participants are explained in subsection 3.1 and highlighted in yellow, please.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Smart City Governance is a great topic. This manuscript selects a novel perspective to analyze the impact of innovation on urban management. Based on stakeholders and innovation theories, this manuscript analyzed the relationships between smart governance, stakeholder satisfaction, and city crime rates reveals a moderating role of institutional and technological innovation. Their findings showed that institutional and technological innovations have strengthened the stakeholder satisfaction level while weakening the crime rate in a smart city. The manuscript as a whole tends to focus on qualitative analysis, with limited analysis of specific cases. Will it affect the universality of the conclusion using Pakistan as a case study. However, although there are still some problems that need attention.

The main problems are as follows.

1. “[6-11]” is not appropriate on line 32. Too many references cited at once.

2. The literature review appears in these two sections of “1. Introduction” and “2. Literature Review and Hypotheses Development”. Suggest readjusting the relevant content of these two parts.

3. This manuscript sets 10 hypotheses. This is too much. Suggest integrating into 3-5 pieces.

4. This manuscript has cited a total of 127 references. Too many!

5. Finally, there is a lack of research prospects in “6. Conclusions”.

6. Will it affect the universality of the conclusion using Pakistan as a case study.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Minor editing of English language required

Author Response

Reviewer 3

1. “[6-11]” is not appropriate on line 32. Too many references cited at once

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. Some irrelevant and extra references are deleted from the list due to the large number of citations in a single paper and at once in a single paragraph, as observed by another kind of reviewer. Only relevant references are cited, please.

2. The literature review appears in these sections: "1. Introduction" and "2. Literature Review and Hypotheses Development". Suggest readjusting the relevant content of these two parts.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. The introduction section is developed following the given rules: study background, what is known, what is unknown, what is the research gap, what is the study objective, and what methods will be used to develop this study. The literature review is developed on a previous theoretical basis, and following these theories and prior literature, hypotheses are developed.

3. This manuscript sets ten hypotheses. This is too much. Suggest integrating it into 3-5 pieces.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. We value your kind suggestion, but this study contains an integrated research model where independent, dependent, and moderating variables are conceptualized in a single framework. Hence, shortening Hypotheses may affect our research model and may further require data analysis and research findings to be modified according to hypotheses testing. We would like to request you to please accept our integrated framework and continue this study with the proposed integrated conceptual framework.

4. This manuscript has cited a total of 127 references. Too many!

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. As per your observations, we have shortened references and deleted some that were repetitive for the same literature. Please limit the current references in this study to less than a hundred.

5. Finally, there is a lack of research prospects in “6. Conclusions”.

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. Future research directions are included in section 6, Conclusion.

6. Will it affect the universality of the Conclusion using Pakistan as a case study?

Answer: Thank you very much for your valuable comment. Please note that using Pakistan as a case study will not affect the university's Conclusion.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Can be published, but too many old sources for such a hot topic.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have carefully revised this manuscript.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Minor editing of English language required