Smart cities in Canada: an examination of progress and impediments in Halifax, Canada

摘要

>Driven by globalisation, urbanisation, and virtualisation, over the past two decades the world has witnessed the rise of the notion of a smart city. The essence of a smart city is bettering local governance and improving collective outcomes via a complex set of inter-related technological and human capacities for learning, innovation and adaptation. The purpose of this article is to examine the emergence of one aspiring smart city in Canada - and the production and distribution of new governance processes with a specific focus in the evolving efforts of local government in orchestrating such processes. Our primary focus is to better understand the tensions between traditional government on the one hand and emergent Gov 2.0 capacities on the other hand. With the long term success of Halifax as a smart city dependent upon a more digital and participative form of democratic governance, we aim to derive from this case some important lessons learned regarding the opportunities and barriers confronting local governments engaged in this transformational endeavour.