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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 18957

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar

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Guest Editor

Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Interests: smart cities; smart governance; emerging technologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Some societies have difficulties achieving sustainable development, despite their best effort to actively seek and work towards this goal. In this context, a transition to future sustainable cities necessarily involves the implementation of Information and Communication Technologies, which have demonstrated to be capable of securing economic prosperity and improving quality of life while tackling the existential threats posed by sustainable challenges. Smartening up our cities, so the rhetoric goes, promises to deliver ‘sustainable’, ‘efficient’, ‘secure’, ‘liveable’, and ‘equitable’ outcomes. Digital technologies should serve people and improve public services and working conditions, especially in the governance and management of cities, rural areas, and regions.

One of the main outcomes of smart governance should be to assist societies in developing effective government within a democratic system, and to implement sustainable development principles through global partnership. Nonetheless, the lack of empirical evidence on the positive outcomes of smart governance in cities, rural areas, and regions on the achievement of sustainable development goals motivated us to conduct this Special Issue.

Therefore, we invite papers that analyze the link between smart governance systems implemented in cities, rural areas or regions, and their sustainability. These papers can be focused on the impact of different smart governance models in the achievement of sustainable development goals and/or higher citizens’ quality of life. Also, scholars are invited to submit papers analyzing the institutional and/or contextual conditions of smart governance and their impact on the achievement of sustainable development goals. In any case, this Special Issue will put its attention on empirical papers, including case studies, comparative case studies (that involve different countries, disciplines, or sustainability challenges), and surveys. Finally, empirical studies about smart governance in vertical or horizontal integrations of public organizations for achieving sustainable development goals will be welcome.

Prof. Dr. Manuel Pedro Rodriguez Bolivar
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Smart Governance
Smart City
Sustainable Cities
Sustainable Development Goals
Quality of life

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 589 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Acceptance Model of Smart City Service: Focused on Seoul

by Seulki Lee

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2695; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032695 - 02 Feb 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1806

Abstract

The goal of providing smart city services is not only simply building smart technology and infrastructure but also improving the quality of life of citizens who use smart city services and have positive experiences. This requires establishing service supply strategies considering citizens’ satisfaction levels by identifying the factors that affect the will or behavior of citizens who use smart city services. However, decision making regarding smart city policies and service supply in Korea is conducted through the central government-centered top-down mode, which lacks the consideration of how to improve citizens’ satisfaction levels or their intention to use technology. Thus, we proposed an acceptance model for smart city services, which is a theoretical model that offers a foundation for a model to evaluate the interaction levels of citizens toward smart city services based on the technology acceptance model, which is the most widely used tool to evaluate what factors affect the acceptance and use of information technology and system-based services. In addition, we defined research models by discussing previous studies that proposed factors that affect the acceptance of smart city and U-City services and urban public services. To empirically verify the research models proposed herein, we surveyed citizens in Seoul and conducted structural equation modeling using AMOS 28. As a result, we derived a total of eight factors (Quality, User Characteristics, Positive Attitude, Perceived Risk, Social Influence, Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness, and Acceptance Intention) that affected the acceptance of smart city services and 42 assessment items from these factors. The results of this study are expected to be foundational data for establishing policies and systems for the improvement of citizens’ interaction level and continuous use of smart city services. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Governance for Smart Cities, Rural Areas or Regions and Sustainable Development)

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27 pages, 2074 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Auditing in Rural Areas: Current Patterns and Future Challenges in Central Asia

by Sandro Brunelli, Anel Murzakhmetova and Camilla Falivena

Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 15163; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215163 - 16 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3224

Abstract

Environmental audit (EA) is a systematic process of collecting and objectively evaluating information, whether certain environmental activities are in compliance with audit standards, criteria, and control systems. Due to the former use of the Soviet Union regime, Central Asia, with vast resources and a growing population, is still confronting a number of environmental issues. The increasing number of businesses in Central Asian countries has an impact on the local environment and the population’s health. As a response, EA is one of the instruments that businesses may use to improve their environmental performance, protect nature, and ensure public-health safety. This paper, after providing a scoping review concerning the academic literature, investigates, by using secondary data, the current trends and challenges in practical application of EAs in five Central Asian countries. Our findings point out a list of shortcomings in applying the EA tools in Central Asia, which mainly derive from implementation, legislative, and resource gaps. Thus, the road towards a concrete implementation of EA is still far from being achieved. The study ends with some pieces of advice for EA policy makers and opens up avenues for future research, which can also be applied outside Central Asia. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Governance for Smart Cities, Rural Areas or Regions and Sustainable Development)

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17 pages, 1243 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Addressing the European Green Deal with Smart Specialization Strategies in the Baltic Sea Region

by Rita Lankauskienė, Vitalija Simonaitytė, Živilė Gedminaitė-Raudonė and Jerker Johnson

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 11912; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141911912 - 21 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1420

Abstract

Despite the extent and importance of the Smart Specialization strategies, achieved in a short cohesion policy period from 2014 to 2020, the evidence on the assessment of their actual effect on the economic development and the mobilization via the Smart Specialization implementation of the regions is still pending. In light of green transformation, accelerated by the European Green Deal, the heart of Smart Specialization strategies of EU regions is to avoid fragmentation and to reach a complementary in reaching the joint EU ambition of climate neutrality by 2050. This article aims to demonstrate how to identify the region-specific (place-based and bottom–up) pathways for green transformation and align them with the European Green Deal-focused Smart Specialization strategies in regions, using moderated co-creation in DPSIR analysis and policy modeling. The findings of this article are based on the moderated experimental experience from the two interconnected projects in the area, i.e., “LARS” and “GRETA”, implemented in the Baltic Sea Region (October 2017 to September 2021). The research proposes how moderated learning and knowledge transfer between matured innovators and young innovators embodies the identification of place-based pathways and help develop political course recommendations for green transformation, thus solving the homogeneity issues of the Smart Specialization strategies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Governance for Smart Cities, Rural Areas or Regions and Sustainable Development)

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14 pages, 1523 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Spatial Analysis of Smart Meter Adoptions: Empirical Evidence from the U.S. Data

by Yue Gao, Chao Fang and Jing Zhang

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1126; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031126 - 19 Jan 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2058

Abstract

With the increasing demand on grid modernization for improving environmental sustainability and grid security, the topic of smart meter adoption has attracted much attention, especially with regard to the roles of public policies. However, there is a lack of research investigating the association between the multi-layered government policies and smart meter adoption from a spatial perspective to explain the variant adoption rates across the United States. This study constructs a panel of 48 contiguous U.S. states and the District of Columbia over the period 2007–2019. Using this unique dataset and spatial econometric models, we investigate the impacts of federal and state policies as well as spatial spillover effects of smart meter adoption in the residential sector. Results indicate the following: (1) Smart meter adoption has spatial spillover effects between the adjacent states in a sense that the rate of adoption in one state is positively associated with adoption rates in the neighboring states; (2) federal funding and state-level legislative actions on advanced metering and smart grid have positive impacts on smart meter adoption. These findings provide important implications for the formulation and implementation of public policies for the adoption of a modern electric grid in the U.S. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Governance for Smart Cities, Rural Areas or Regions and Sustainable Development)

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29 pages, 2191 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Toward Sustainable Governance: Strategic Analysis of the Smart City Seoul Portal in Korea

by Yejin Yoo

Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 5886; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13115886 - 24 May 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3897

Abstract

Currently, the efforts of many cities around the world, including Seoul, are aimed at transforming themselves into smart cities under a governance vision. Thus, the purpose of this study is to propose a reinforcement plan for the ’Smart Seoul’ portal to develop into a cooperative, participatory, and network governance. We select four representative smart city portals from Barcelona, Amsterdam, Columbus, and Singapore and evaluate their main features and roles. We sort the features analyzed in each portal based on certain governance strategies, employing their key features as part of our evaluation criteria model. These evaluation criteria are used to analyze the ‘Smart Seoul’ portal and create a strengthening plan. The plan comprises a set of actions intended to improve the portal’s capabilities in terms of disclosure of information, the participation of stakeholders, and civil petition services. When this plan is implemented, the resulting optimal information disclosure through the ‘Smart Seoul’ portal will ensure the transparency of Seoul’s administration and create an environment in which citizens can actively participate in solving urban problems and making decisions. In addition, the results of this study will be an important guideline for the design and operation of smart city portals, and the catalogs for key features are expected to be used to make smart city portal design regulations in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Governance for Smart Cities, Rural Areas or Regions and Sustainable Development)

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15 pages, 1788 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of Smart City Standards, Implementation and Cluster Models of Cities in North America and Europe

by Milan Kubina, Dominika Šulyová and Josef Vodák

Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3120; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063120 - 12 Mar 2021

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 4246

Abstract

Sustainability in Smart Cities is a current and trendy topic in a global sense. The primary impetus for writing this article was to create a general implementation model for the smart governance of European Smart Cities based on the American best practice. The ambition is to be able to modify the generally created model to meet the local conditions of all countries. The aim of the article is to point out the essential elements and differences between the implementation standards, models and clusters in the cities of North America and Europe, including their benefits and limitations. This article compared standards, implementation and cluster models for Smart Cities in North America and Europe through a secondary analysis from Arcadis and IDC consultants, standards agencies, and relevant sources. In addition, comparisons and summaries of the results were used. The results of this article point out the fundamental differences between the American and European approaches to building Smart Cities. American models are more centrist-oriented to people and complex in their simplicity, thus achieving a higher degree of reputation. Europeans are less consistent and top-down oriented. The new model will make European Smart Cities more focused on the needs and expectations of all stakeholders. The main results of this article are the answers to the research questions and the general implementation model, the verification of which will take place in practice in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Governance for Smart Cities, Rural Areas or Regions and Sustainable Development)

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