Can the Implementation of Smart City Promote Inclusive Development of a Local Economy?

Abstract

Smart city initiatives which have been implemented worldwide are seen as an excellent revolution within sustainable development in urban areas. The smart city concept offers governance framework aiming to efficiently manage the resources by considering environmentally friendly approaches and humanist principles. The ultimate goal of this study is to investigate the implementation of a smart city on inclusive development in Malang City, East Java, Indonesia. By employing a qualitative methodology, specifically using case study approach, this research examined if smart city concept is successfully implemented in Malang City according to six different aspects; smart government, smart environment, smart living, smart economy, smart mobility, and smart people. Results showed that Malang City has started to become a smart city by acquiring four out of six aspects mentioned above: smart government, smart economy, smart environment and smart living. This transformation indicates that smart city employment can increase inclusive development in Malang, although other evaluation parameters, namely smart people and smart mobility, require an improvement. Therefore, a synergy between stakeholders in a policy formulation and a program implementation is required; thus, the implementation of a smart city can benefit the public as a whole and drive active community participation on local, sustainable development.