Accelerating the development of smart city initiatives amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: the case of health code in China

ABSTRACT Top-down and bottom-up approaches have been widely used in the development of smart city initiatives, but each entails serious shortfalls. An unprecedented pandemic such as COVID-19 paves the way for the development of innovative approaches and measures in accelerating smart city initiatives. We present a new mode of governance for smart city initiatives based on an in-depth case study of the development of health code in China. Our analysis reveals the key challenges of both the top-down and bottom-up approaches and shows how potential mechanisms for smart city development can effectively tackle these challenges.