Contextualizing smart governance research: Literature review and scientometrics analysis

Abstract

As research on smart governments continues to attract interest, the concept of smartness seems to be growing in scope and complexity. This paper uses the scientometrics analysis to examine literature on smart cities and governance and situate the research conducted on this topic. Results suggest that research on smartness is interdisciplinary and, although spread across a variety of domains, it remains scant on topics such as e-participation and e-governance. The findings shed light on the importance of on-going examinations of smartness at the theoretical and conceptual levels for practical research endeavors.