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

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.

Automated summary

This study examines public perceptions of the impact of 'smart cities' programs on governance and quality-of-life. It reveals that there is more optimism regarding the influence of smart cities on quality-of-life rather than on governance. Awareness of the smart city concept is found to be positively associated with expectations of its benefits, but this effect varies based on education level and income. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the political legitimacy of smart cities and provide practical recommendations for policy-makers.