Governance of smart cities: an integrative literature review

Abstract

This article identifies and analyzes different smart city governance settings through an integrative literature review. Based on this methodological approach, we sought to integrate different types of studies (quantitative, qualitative, theoretical and empirical), in order to obtain an encompassing view on the topic. The text was structured following these stages: formulation of the research question, development of a search strategy based on the Problem-Interest-Context (PICo) model, application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, categorization of the selected works, analysis and interpretation of the results and presentation of the review-synthesis of the findings. The databases Scopus, Web of Science and Portal de Periódicos Capes were consulted, resulting in four main studies used for the analysis. The data reveals that authors converge in the need to define essential features to understand the phenomenon as a whole. The theoretical model of Bolívar and Meijer (2016) stands out for its empirical validation with European city managers, as the most solid proposal in methodological terms. The study concluded that there are significant empirical gaps in the literature and recommends that the model be replicated and refined in different urban contexts, so as to consolidate analytical categories and enhance smart governance implementation strategies.