How Nudge can support Smart Governance in Smart Cities Ecosystems: An A4A framework

Abstract

Smart cities can be defined as a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient through the use of ICT innovations for the benefit of their citizens and business (European Commission, 2022). This implies that smart cities are ecosystems where each actor, thanks to new technological solutions, can contribute to the good of the community by nudging a series of behaviors aimed at social rather than individual wellbeing. Nudging can improve citizens’ engagement in the smart governance decision-making process and influence their behavior in smart cities. There is a similarity between nudges and smart cities as they both aim to offer an optimal lifestyle as well as a sustainable and healthier one. Thus, the purpose of this study is to present how nudge can influence smart governance, supporting factors such as policy domain, trust, political and institutional environment, and internet reach and use by using the cyclical model of the actor-for-actor model (A4A), which gives a panorama on their intentionality and finality alignment, while exploring how resource integration works. Therefore, this theoretical study shows all variable’s relationships and their impact on supporting smart governance in smart city ecosystems by having citizens as major actors. This research can support policymakers to understand better the citizen’s engagement citizens and prepare through ICT technologies the possible choices for them to help integrate their resources.