Towards a Smart and Sustainable City with the Involvement of Public Participation—The Case of Wroclaw

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify the directions and scope of inclusion of the residents’ participation into the concept of city’s sustainable development and the smart city concept, taking into account national and international conditions, on the basis of Wroclaw’s practices in 1998–2018. Many researchers have emphasized the necessity of including residents’ participation in both the smart city concept and the sustainable city development concept, but they do not focus on a coherent linking of these activities during evolution toward a sustainable smart city (SSC). The in-depth case study analysis considered, i.e., three subsequent Wroclaw development strategies (1998–2018) and implementation of the smart city concept in Wroclaw (2015–2018) with particular emphasis on the issue of public participation and sustainable development of the city. The results of study show that in the case of the developments in the activities of smart city and sustainable city development carried out by Wroclaw, it is possible to identify two different approaches to residents’ participation in city activities. In Wroclaw, ‘residents’ participation’ in the framework of the sustainable city development activities currently covers all theoretical levels of participation, while within the smart city activities it focuses mainly on the participatory budget and the limited use of ICT. The conducted research indicates that for the implementation of the SSC concept it would be important to integrate these approaches in order to ensure the full range of residents’ participation in accordance with theoretical postulates. The conducted analysis therefore covers mostly unexplored area of research, which is important from the point of view of a city’s evolution toward becoming a sustainable smart city. The conclusions from the research are also an empirical contribution to the analysis of the changes of cities towards SSC and indicate the need for further, extended research on the undertaken problem.

Mapping RRI Dimensions and Sustainability into Regional Development Policies and Urban Planning Instruments

“…Participatory processes during the drafting of spatial plans and development policies are already a common practice in many territories to pursue public engagement, as well as the promotion of awareness/social marketing campaigns on specific RRI dimensions, mainly gender equality and science education. Citizens and all the relevant actors should be involved during the whole process, from the elaboration to the approval and also during the implementation and monitoring of spatial plans and development policies, in order to guarantee the acceptability of the choices made and also to obtain more concrete results in the achievement of the planning objectives [64]. Moreover, the co-creation in the first phases ensures that different perspectives are included, aligning the outcomes to the values, needs and expectations of the whole society.…”

Exploring the Smart Future of Participation

“…Policy design, policymaking and the collective goals of public authorities and private interests, with inputs from citizens in the context of social values, the political and economic environments, in combination adds to this picture, serving to legitimize governance (Bednarska-Olejniczak, et al, 2019). In recent years, the operation of ICT in smart cities has expanded to include the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, big data and digital public repositories, and mobile applications (Bednarska-Olejniczak, et al, 2019;Yigitcanlar, et al, 2020). It has become common to make a distinction between the more data-centric 'smart-city' and the contextually focused 'smart communities.'…”

Social Participation of City Inhabitants Versus Their Future Orientation. Evidence From Poland

“…The forms in which citizens have the possibility of exerting a direct influence include: advisory committees, participatory decision-making (budgets), citizens' juries etc. [24,25]. Litvack and Seddon pointed out that local referenda, regular public-private meetings and other institutional structures can contribute to improving the ability of local governments to recognise and act towards the preferences of their citizens [26].…”