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Abstract
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The growing role of advanced technologies in urban life, often in the context of policy initiatives like ‘smart
cities,’ is leading to social change that calls for policy attention and scholarly analysis. The academic literature
has made progress incorporating social dimensions into the analysis of smart cities, but a more robust understanding is needed about social challenges specifically – including patterns of exclusion, inequality, and
marginalization. This study presents the results of a scoping review and thematic analysis of academic literature
that codes and categorizes accounts of social challenges related to the proliferation of smart city technologies.
The cross-disciplinary sample draws on studies published since 2000, including works that provide theoretical
and social context and those that capture emerging socio-political and technological trends. Results reveal a
variety of social challenges associated with age, gender, race, income, citizenship status, and other personal
characteristics. Results also reveal patterns in how personal attitudes, concerns about privacy, and technology
skill impact the effectiveness of smart city programs. At a higher level, governance quality and power dynamics
are increasingly recognized by the literature as mediators of smart cities effectiveness, encompassing issues like
stakeholder collaboration, policymaking processes, and data ownership and control. This article summarizes
these points in a novel framework applicable to future research, and provides practical recommendations to
address social challenges in smart cities, including distributional fairness, public participation, and enhanced
user capacity.
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