Análise da percepção quanto à participação cidadã na smart city em Curitiba

Abstract

Institutional and social factors are frequently neglected on scientific literature on smart cities so that a sociotechnical approach is needed. The smart city concept is usually understood by the appliance of information and communication technologies, besides urban services improvement, making them more effective. Beyond that it’s necessary to discuss the role of each actor in this process. There are conceptual challenges for smart cities regarding the design of systems that are effectively at the service of its inhabitants and the recognition and potentialization of citizen participation in this transition. It’s important to recognize that citizens are part of the regional system of innovation, not only as final users, but also as co-creators and bearers of specific knowledge. The question that guides this research is if local actors perceive that citizens are part of this transition and if technologies promote citizen participation. The perception of the actor about what is a smart city and about citizen participation influences the creation of the concept, that will influence the way the smart city is built and the strategies for its transition. Thus, this research objective is to understand how citizen participation is perceived by the actors involved in the smart city Curitiba. In particular it aims to analyse how these actors perceive citizen participation in technological transitions and how technology influences this participation. Research methodology is divided in the stages of bibliographic and documentary research, in order to explore the theme and identify some actors of the smart city Curitiba; interview design and application; content analysis of the interview results. The results suggest that the interviewees recognize the complexity of smart city aspects and citizen participation is almost always understood as one of its important aspects, however there is little consensus on what it is and how it should work. While most recognize that citizens are central to the smart city, there is little understanding about their effective participation on technological transitions, strategies definition and even on the construction of the smart city concept. The legitimacy of the participation is contested given that there is a lack of citizenship and technical appropriation of the citizens. In this sense technology and participation are integrated so there is a need of an educational basis that contemplates both for citizenship formation. The interviewees mention a series of interactions between citizen participation and technological development in Curitiba and their challenges, as hindrances to integrate actions of different actors, of communication and feedback and access to technology. Another sensitive point is the role of citizens on the growing generation and treatment of data and information in the city. The results are an outlook of these actors’ perception and possible directions related to citizen participation on the future of planning of the city of Curitiba.