Citizens’ Voice as a Cornerstone of Making Territories Smart

Abstract

This paper aims to answer the call for studies on smart transformation in small and rural municipalities. It focuses on the ‘smart territory’ concept, which includes all the features of the smart city but considers a larger and less delimited urban area, as well as the intricacy of effects among towns and cities. To address such a space, the authors conducted an in-depth analysis of the Province of Jaén in Spain through a content analysis of interviews with representatives from local associations of citizens. The results confirmed that a participatory approach supports the territory management thanks to the government-to-citizens interactions that allow getting direct information: The citizens’ voice is about perspectives and opinions related to the status of different neighborhoods, towns, or villages, as well as the city, and real opportunities to shape a smart territory as theorized. The study’s contribution stems mostly from the category of actors involved, as the critical issues, as well as the opportunities in local development, are usually investigated by involving either local administrations or politicians and citizens. Listening to citizens’ voices also addresses the intricacies of a territory overcoming the limits of an approach based on a single town or city. Furthermore, detecting problems and opportunities in an urban context in this way can help in planning local smart development.