The smart city and urban governance: the urban transformation of Barcelona, 2011–2023

Abstract

This study explores the changes and stability of urban governance through the lens of smart city policy in Barcelona. It argues that the concept of smart cities is flexible and can be applied to both the neoliberal and participatory models of urban governance. Smart city policies undergo gradual rather than radical changes, with public–private relationships remaining stable despite fluctuations in the prominence of different actors. Comparing the smart city policy approaches of two ideologically opposite local governments, this study reveals similarities in the use of the scale, which is limited to local and global dimensions, and dismissal of metropolitan scale.