The ‘Smart City’ between urban narrative and empty signifier: Hong Kong in focus
The article consists in an in-depth interpretative study of Smart City in the case of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, China. It proposes a framework of analysis as a heuristic tool to interpret narratives in general and those of Smart City Hong Kong in particular. The capacity of a n...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Cogent Social Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2231624 |
| _version_ | 1827198873153568768 |
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| author | Alistair Cole Dionysios Stivas Emilie Tran Calvin Lai |
| author_facet | Alistair Cole Dionysios Stivas Emilie Tran Calvin Lai |
| author_sort | Alistair Cole |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The article consists in an in-depth interpretative study of Smart City in the case of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, China. It proposes a framework of analysis as a heuristic tool to interpret narratives in general and those of Smart City Hong Kong in particular. The capacity of a narrative to confer meaning draws upon three criteria: its originality (degree of endogeneity); its sincerity (internal validity and trustworthiness), and its extension (its ability to provide a convincing account to the outside world for social phenomena). They are also affected by the form of diffusion and communication. Four types of account emerged from our empirical investigation: survey responses; written responses from official agencies; face to face interviews; and collective interviews in focus groups. By reconstituting chains of meaning in relation to the Smart City, the article interrogates the utility of technology, sustainability and e-governance narratives for public administration. Taken as a whole, Smart City appears as a rather hollow narrative, an empty signifier, a general term lacking clear meaning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:46:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c95c571a53554ca0befeb7b5a9ca4b1e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2331-1886 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-21T10:23:56Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cogent Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-c95c571a53554ca0befeb7b5a9ca4b1e2024-07-03T09:55:02ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Social Sciences2331-18862023-12-019110.1080/23311886.2023.2231624The ‘Smart City’ between urban narrative and empty signifier: Hong Kong in focusAlistair Cole0Dionysios Stivas1Emilie Tran2Calvin Lai3The Department of Government and International Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, ChinaThe Department of Government and International Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, ChinaThe School of Arts and Social Sciences, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong, ChinaFaculty of Architecture, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, GermanyThe article consists in an in-depth interpretative study of Smart City in the case of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, China. It proposes a framework of analysis as a heuristic tool to interpret narratives in general and those of Smart City Hong Kong in particular. The capacity of a narrative to confer meaning draws upon three criteria: its originality (degree of endogeneity); its sincerity (internal validity and trustworthiness), and its extension (its ability to provide a convincing account to the outside world for social phenomena). They are also affected by the form of diffusion and communication. Four types of account emerged from our empirical investigation: survey responses; written responses from official agencies; face to face interviews; and collective interviews in focus groups. By reconstituting chains of meaning in relation to the Smart City, the article interrogates the utility of technology, sustainability and e-governance narratives for public administration. Taken as a whole, Smart City appears as a rather hollow narrative, an empty signifier, a general term lacking clear meaning.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2231624smart cityurban narrativesHong Kongsustainabilitysmart technologycity-governance |
| spellingShingle | Alistair Cole Dionysios Stivas Emilie Tran Calvin Lai The ‘Smart City’ between urban narrative and empty signifier: Hong Kong in focus Cogent Social Sciences smart city urban narratives Hong Kong sustainability smart technology city-governance |
| title | The ‘Smart City’ between urban narrative and empty signifier: Hong Kong in focus |
| title_full | The ‘Smart City’ between urban narrative and empty signifier: Hong Kong in focus |
| title_fullStr | The ‘Smart City’ between urban narrative and empty signifier: Hong Kong in focus |
| title_full_unstemmed | The ‘Smart City’ between urban narrative and empty signifier: Hong Kong in focus |
| title_short | The ‘Smart City’ between urban narrative and empty signifier: Hong Kong in focus |
| title_sort | smart city between urban narrative and empty signifier hong kong in focus |
| topic | smart city urban narratives Hong Kong sustainability smart technology city-governance |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2231624 |
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