Vital Role of Local Government in Smart City Development

Implementing smart city strategy benefits the local government in accelerating various sector of urban management. Smart City can certainly reduce the cost, maximise efficiency, foster economic development and enhance the quality of life. Local government plays a critical role in ensuring that the Smart City initiatives planned and implemented in their local municipalities are appropriate to the specific problem and challenges that the local area require. 

Several process where local government should pay attention to are for example, integrating stakeholders’ perception during the decision-making process. Local government need to come up with innovative planning tool to increase the participation of the public in the development of the smart city. Having better tools for urban planning communication may also lead to more capital investment to operate and manage the diverse smart city initiatives. Local government with solid engagement with city stakeholders also is more likely to develop strategies that are more inclusive that enhance justice and equality of access to urban services. Strong local governance shows evidence of better political and economical support from the partners, national government and the broader public, strengthening the social capital of the city.

Reference: 

Razmjoo, A., Østergaard, P. A., Denai, M., Nezhad, M. M., & Mirjalili, S. (2021). Effective policies to overcome barriers in the development of smart cities. Energy Research & Social Science, 79, 102175.

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