Exploring the Utopic Promise of Smart City Engagements

This research is intended for practitioners and explored how smart city engagements are negotiated to better understand and recognize underlying complex relational power dynamics. This was accomplished through a conflict resolution reflective and facilitative lens as it pertains to trust and value alignments. Practical insights generated from understanding these influential dynamics create the opportunity to have better decision-making and transformative capabilities. The existing literature highlighted conflicts around geopolitical and operational security concerns. In contrast, the research conducted for this study showed much of the smart city industry was more naturally collaborative and artificially competitive than originally theorized. Additionally, the research uncovered a shift in the smart city industry of embracing a more inclusive and human-centered approach, rather than a one-size-fits-all model. The concept of utopia and Root Narrative framework were used to identify value commitments, while other organizational models were used to help position the engagements and understand issues around trust. Overall, while this research may not address all the issues related to this topic, it expands the application of the conflict resolution domain to areas of practice not previously explored. Research Question: How do relational power dynamics shape smart city engagements?

Author

• Sokol, Elana

• Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Organizational Development
• Power Dynamics Geopolitics and Cybersecurity
• Public-Private Partnerships
• Smart City Engagements
• Utopia and Value Alignments

Identifier

hdl:1920/14221

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:MARS:1920/14221