Smart government as a key factor in the creation of a smart city

Abstract

The essence of the smart city concept is to increase the quality of life in cities with an emphasis on digital technologies. This mainly concerns the participation in decision-making as a part of the smart government. The participation means opportunity for citizens to participate in the management of the city. This academic paper presents basic concepts of a smart city as well as specific ways how smart cities can increase the participation of their citizenry, especially with regard to social media. Based on a literature search it is obvious that the involvement of citizens strengthens democracy and the quality of the decision-making process.