Urban Technological Innovation: Developing and Testing a Sociotechnical Framework for Studying Smart City Projects.

A.J. Meijer, Marcel Thaens

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Urban technological innovation—the innovative use of technologies to tackle urban problems—has become increasingly popular under the label smart city. Our understanding of this sociotechnical process is limited, and therefore, this article develops a framework on the basis of the literature on social and technological innovation. This framework identifies four perspectives—a technological, an instrumental, a collaborative, and a symbolic perspective—to generate a comprehensive account of urban technological innovation. The value of the framework is tested by using it to analyze the Living Lab Stratumseind in Eindhoven (the Netherlands). The case highlights the value of the framework and demonstrates the interactions between the social and technological dimensions. The case study suggests that, for successful urban technological innovation, it is crucial to link initial enthusiasm based on technological and symbolic value to the long-term dynamics of institutionalized collaboration and instrumental value.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)363-387
Number of pages25
JournalUrban Affairs Review
Volume54
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Keywords

  • urban innovation
  • smart city
  • technology
  • network collaboration

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