Smart city development as public entrepreneurship: an in-depth case study analysis based on actor-network theory

This article investigates smart city development as a government-led innovation process in which large collaborative networks of business and non-business stakeholders interact and organize in order to solve important societal problems. Drawing on actor-network theory, it provides an in-depth empirical analysis of the smart city transformation of a Belgian urban area. It argues that a key role in this process is played by the leadership of mayors. Acting as public entrepreneurs, mayors can indeed shape the direction of a smart city innovation process along three different albeit interconnected dimensions. Firstly, they provide the strategic vision of the smart city transformation process through the multivocal problematization of key policy texts. Secondly, they interact with the municipal administration and the broader institutional context of the city through project-based and business-like devices to establish formal relationships with key stakeholders. Thirdly, they secure public support by mobilizing citizens through communication and information sharing campaigns. For each of these three dimensions the limits of the mayor's action and possible solutions are identified and discussed.