Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Denmark Road Building, Manchester M13 9NG, UK
James Evans
Manchester Urban Institute, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
Christopher Martin
Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Department of Geography, Durham University, Lower Mountjoy South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Trond Linjordet
Centre for IP-based Service Innovation, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Stavanger, Stavanger P.O. Box 8600, Norway
Dujuan Yang
Information Systems in the Built Environment Group, Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Andrew Karvonen
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Urbana o Regionala Studier, Drottning Kristinas väg 30, 10044 Stockholm, Sweden
The wisdom of ‘smart’ development increasingly shapes urban sustainability in Europe and beyond. Yet, the ‘smart city’ paradigm has been critiqued for favouring technological solutions and business interests over social inclusion and urban innovation. Despite the rhetoric of ‘citizen-centred approaches’ and ‘user-generated data’, the level of stakeholder engagement and public empowerment is still in question. It is unclear how smart city initiatives are developing common visions according to the principles of sustainable urban development. This paper examines how data governance in particular is framed in the new smart city agenda that is focused on sustainability. The challenges and opportunities of data governance in sustainability-driven smart city initiatives are articulated within a conceptual Framework on Sustainable Smart City Data Governance. Drawing on three cases from European countries and a stakeholder survey, the paper shows how governance of data can underpin urban smart and sustainable development solutions. The paper presents insights and lessons from this multi-case study, and discusses risks, challenges, and future research.
