Performance Analysis of Smart City Governance: Dynamic Impact of Beijing 12345 Hotline on Urban Public Problems

Abstract

The 12345 hotline service has become a widely accepted smart city governance system of citizen contact with the local authorities in Beijing and has enabled leaders to handle public complaints more effectively. However, there have been few studies on the performance of the 12345 hotline. This study, taking Beijing city as the study area, explains how this system improved urban problem management and the degree of improvement in different urban problem categories. First, we studied the quantity distribution of 12345 cases and the public’s top concerns. Then, based on the VAR model, we analyzed the specific dynamic influence process and degree of 12345 cases on UGMS cases, which reflect urban public problems. The main findings of this research are as follows: (1) Illegal parking/charging problems and issues with the city’s dirty conditions were the two primary concerns of the public. (2) The 12345 system hampered the increase in urban public problems with a lag of 3–5 days. (3) Exceptionally, for the construction management and market regulation categories, the hotline cases had no active effect on urban problem management. This paper can help city authorities to assess the strength and weakness of the 12345 system and decide on improvement plans for urban management.