Levels of Public Trust as the driver of Citizens’ Perceptions of Smart Cities: the Case of Hong Kong

Lai, Calvin Ming Tsun; Cole, Alistair

doi:10.1016/j.procs.2022.09.250

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Several surveys conducted for academic research have also addressed perceptions about smart cities in Hong Kong. Recent examples are studies of resident perceptions about smart cities and quality-of-life (Hartley, 2023), relative levels of trust in smart cities across issues of program benefits, trust, and governance (Hartley, 2021), the relationship between pre-existing levels of trust in government and trust in smart city technologies and applications (Cole and Tran, 2022;Lai and Cole, 2022), and the relationship among public trust, digital trust, and collective pride in the context of smart cities (Lai and Cole, 2024). Surveying 243 residents, Chan and Marafa (2018) investigate a variety of issues related to the concepts of a "green" and "smart" city, including physical and organic green-smart infrastructure, governance and livelihoods, the "quality" of a smart society, and perceptions about water quality, employment opportunities, information and communications technology (ICT), and transport services.…”

Section: Case Background: Hong Kongmentioning

confidence: 99%

State-society relations and government technology: a survey of public awareness and communication in Hong Kong

Hartley

2024

Data & Policy

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A survey of Hong Kong residents finds that public support for government technology, as understood through the concept of smart cities, is associated with concept-awareness and official communications. The statistical analysis identifies moderating effects attributable to personal social media use and controls for personal ideological views about scope of government intervention and perceived political legitimacy of smart city policies. The study builds on a growing body of empirical scholarship about public support for government technology, while also addressing a practical trend in urban governance: the growing sophistication of technologies like artificial intelligence and their use in strengthening government capacities. The Hong Kong case exemplifies ambitious investments in technology by governments and, at the time of the survey, relatively high freedom of political expression. The study’s findings help refine theories about state-society relations in the rapidly evolving context of technology for public sector use.

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Section: Case Background: Hong Kongmentioning

confidence: 99%

State-society relations and government technology: a survey of public awareness and communication in Hong Kong

Hartley

2024

Data & Policy

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“…Insights from Hong Kong, where substantial investments in smart city initiatives and infrastructures are being made, may also be used by urban governments in similarly situated settings. The literature review for this study found only three published, systematic, large-scale peer-reviewed surveys related to public perceptions about smart cities in Hong Kong (Cole & Tran, 2022 ; Hartley, 2021 ; Lai & Cole, 2022 ). Other Hong Kong-based surveys examine aspects or sub-dimensions of smart cities, including ‘smart campus’ (Zhang et al, 2020 ) and smart buildings (To et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the study usefully and insightfully examines aspects of quality-of-life, the scope of the study did not include individual operationalizations of governance effectiveness related to smart cities, such as public participation, transparency, public service quality, communication, and fairness. Lai and Cole ( 2022 ) find that respondents’ pre-existing level of trust in the Hong Kong government (legislative or district council) associates positively with their perception about Hong Kong’s quality of development as a smart city and their trust in associated technologies (e.g., the ‘LeaveHomeSafe’ Covid-19-tracing mobile application). The relationship between levels of trust in general governance and perceptions about smart cities has scope for further exploration in more intricately operationalized dimensions of smart cities (e.g., buildings, environment, and transportation).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Perceptions About Smart Cities: Governance and Quality-of-Life in Hong Kong

Hartley

2023

Soc Indic Res

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This study analyzes public perceptions about the impact of ‘smart cities’ programs on governance and quality-of-life. With smart city scholarship focusing primarily on technical and managerial issues, political legitimacy remains relatively underexplored—particularly in non-Western contexts. Drawing on a Hong Kong-based survey of over 800 residents conducted in 2019, this study analyzes the results of probit regressions on dependent variables for governance (participation, transparency, public services, communication, and fairness) and quality-of-life (buildings, energy-environment, mobility-transportation, education, and health). Findings show more optimism about the impact of smart cities on quality-of-life than on governance. Awareness about the smart city concept associates positively with expectations about smart city benefits, but the effect is sensitive to education level and income. This study deepens understandings about the political legitimacy of smart cities, at a time when urban governments are accelerating investments in related technologies. More broadly, it adds contextual nuance to research about state-society relations and, at a practical level, supports policy recommendations to strengthen information and awareness campaigns, better articulate smart city benefits, and openly acknowledge limitations.

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Public Trust in Covid-19 Tracking Technology: A Survey of Attitudes About Hong Kong’s LeaveHomeSafe Mobile App

Hartley,

Aldag

2024

Soc Indic Res

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The effectiveness of governments in addressing the Covid-19 pandemic has been analyzed through numerous perspectives, including state authority, capacity, and legitimacy. In Hong Kong, incumbent political tensions and lack of trust in government potentially weakened public support for official Covid-19 mitigation measures, which included a government-mandated mobile application to monitor personal movements and contacts. This episode invites academic inquiry about public trust in policies and associated technology. Based on a 2022 survey of more than 5,000 residents, this study finds that support for Hong Kong’s LeaveHomeSafe application is associated with, among other factors, a predisposition to cooperate with government in sharing personal data. Several control variables, including age, social media use, and vaccination status, are also associated with support for the application. Trust in policies that use technology and data, and agreement that the government was effective in managing the spread of Covid-19, do not significantly associate with public support for the application. This study deepens scholarly understandings about the distinction between public trust in government and public trust in government technology, a topic of recent interest in the context of smart cities and rapid advancements in artificial intelligence.

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Levels of Public Trust as the driver of Citizens’ Perceptions of Smart Cities: the Case of Hong Kong

Cited by 5 publications

References 20 publications

State-society relations and government technology: a survey of public awareness and communication in Hong Kong

State-society relations and government technology: a survey of public awareness and communication in Hong Kong

Public Perceptions About Smart Cities: Governance and Quality-of-Life in Hong Kong

Public Trust in Covid-19 Tracking Technology: A Survey of Attitudes About Hong Kong’s LeaveHomeSafe Mobile App

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