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The paradox of smart cities: technological advancements and the disconnection from social participation

Beizhen Tang & Daniel P. Aldrich

Telematics and Informatics2026https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2026.102376article
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Weight
0.50

What the paper says

• Smart City Paradox: Technological advancements in smart cities improve governance but reduce traditional social participation. • Comprehensive Analysis: Combines macro-level smart city development indicators with micro-level citizen behavior data • Innovative Methodology: Utilizes factor analysis, Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural networks, and ordered logit regression for robust analysis. • Policy Implications: Highlights the need for inclusive governance strategies to mitigate the unintended consequences of digital transformation. • Empirical Evidence: Provides data-driven insights from China’s smart city initiatives, offering a globally relevant case study. As smart city initiatives proliferate globally, whether they genuinely foster inclusive and participatory governance remains unclear. This study examines the “smart governance paradox” by integrating macro-level evaluations of urban smartness with micro-level analyses of citizen perceptions across six large Chinese cities. At the macro level, we construct a Smart City Development Index using factor analysis and a neural network optimized by genetic algorithms. Results reveal significant regional disparities: some cities (Beijing and Shanghai) lead in smart economy, infrastructure, and innovation, while others lag in mobility and connectivity, highlighting uneven implementation capacities. At the micro level, we analyze 2021 Chinese Social Survey data using ordered logit models to examine associations between smart city development and public perceptions. Smart city development is positively associated with perceived trust, fairness, and protection, but negatively associated with civic participation—especially among younger demographics. This disconnect suggests that technological development may accompany favorable service-related perceptions while correlating with lower community engagement, potentially reflecting digital substitution and governance centralization. We propose reframing “smartness” as a socio-political construct emphasizing inclusion, responsiveness, and equity, and offer policy recommendations bridging digital efficiency with democratic engagement.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2026.102376

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@article{beizhen2026,
  title        = {{The paradox of smart cities: technological advancements and the disconnection from social participation}},
  author       = {Beizhen Tang & Daniel P. Aldrich},
  journal      = {Telematics and Informatics},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2026.102376},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.