Design and Development of a Smart Citizen Engagement Platform for a Smart City

Abstract

The project aims to design and develop a Smart Citizen Engagement Platform for a Smart City. The concept of Smart Cities revolves around enhancing the quality of life for urban inhabitants through innovative technologies and sustainable practices. The key strategy of this transformation is citizen engagement, which ensures that residents actively participate in shaping their city’s future. However, the design faces challenges of hesitation from Citizens to get involved. In the context of smart cities, citizens must actively engage with planners and architects to collaboratively shape the urban environment. The aim of the study was to create a place where information technology is combined with infrastructure, architecture, everyday objects and our own bodies to address social, economic and environmental problems’ (Townsend 2013, 15).

The study used a mixed method design, employing a Causal research design and focused group discussions across 3 selected Districts in Urban, Peri-Urban and Rural areas in Lusaka Province of Zambia. The interviewees were grouped into two groups aged (18-35) and (36 and above) registered in online platforms/peer groups that included Facebook, WhatsApp and Zoom meeting platforms. Quantitative data was collected using Google forms. A total of 450 interviews were conducted.

The findings of the study indicated that only 82% of the Population were ready to get involved in creating smart city, with 6% adopting a wait and see approach to what happens from the study of creation of smart city and 12% totally unwilling to get involved all together. The determinants of these behavior intentions included: the perceived adverse effects of digital-driven interactions between citizens and planners, inadequate information about the smart city creation, conflicting information about how difficulty creating a smart city is from the social media.

Hesitancy in joining smart city creation remains high among the population but the causes of it are modifiable and communication systems need to have evidence based engagements with the population to reduce hesitancy.

I’m Michael Kanyanta Kabwe, a Student studying Information and Communications Technology at Information and Communications University. Away from Class, I work as an Information and Communications Technology Technician, looking forward to becoming a respectable Information and Communications Technology Engineer so that I can help out in fostering technology in both Information and Communications which is my dream work.

Participant’s biography, Mr Jones Chiguta, Zambia National Service, a Software Engineer with expertise in developing interactive Information and Communications Technology Platforms.