Managing Smart City development using citizen feedback: transforming opinions into a multi-criteria tool for evaluation and validation of city policies

Abstract

In the last decade, research in the field of smart cities has expanded from purely technological aspects to include the areas of management development, urban planning and social sciences. In general, the discussion focuses on how the use of technology contributes to the development of the city, urban space and improving the quality of decisions [1] . The article offers a tool to enrich the urban development management system. It is argued that by developing appropriate scales, subjective views and perceptions of the citizen can be objectivized and, therefore, are very useful for managers and politicians.In this paper, the development process is carried out in several stages, using inductive and deductive methods. Following focus groups and interviewing representatives of the city authorities, a survey was conducted with the participation of almost a thousand city inhabitants from all Kazakhstan regions.  The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 24 and AMOS 20 tools.The study proposes a scale that includes statements structured in five identified dimensions: willingness to interact, expectation of improvements, willingness to use, concern about efficiency, concern about abuse. As the methodology is disclosed, important theoretical and managerial implications are discussed, the need for information flow management in the interests of participants in the implementation of Smart City is justified.