This literature review has focused on smart governance as an emerging domain of study that attracts significant scientific and policy attention. More specifically, this paper aims to provide more insight in the definitions of and relationships between smart governance and concepts such as smart and electronic government, in the context of smart cities. The literature review shows that smart government can be considered as a basis for developing smart governance, through the application of emergent information and communication technologies (ICT) for governing. Smart governance as the intelligent use of ICT to improve decision-making through better collaboration among different stakeholders, including government and citizens, can be strongly related to government approaches. In this case ICT-based tools, such as social media, and openness can be factors that increase citizen engagement and support the development of new governance models for smart government. Smart governance may also have an important role in smart city initiatives, which require complex interactions between governments, citizens and other stakeholders. Based on the literature review, this paper coins a definition of 'smart city governance' and contributes to developing a framework for building new, smart governance models addressing the challenges of the digital society, collaborative governance, information sharing, citizen engagement, transparency and openness.

A renewed interest has appeared in citizen co-production of public services due to financial pressure on governments. While social media are considered an important facilitator, many digital participatory platforms (DPPs) have been developed to facilitate co-production between citizens and governments in the context of urban development. Previous studies have delivered a fragmented overview of DPPs in a few socio-spatial contexts and failed to take stock of the rise of DPPs. This article aims to provide a more comprehensive picture of the availability and functionalities of DPPs. Through a systematic review, 113 active DPPs have been identified, analysed, and classified within a citizen-government relationship typology. Almost a quarter of these DPPs demonstrate a realistic potential for online and offline co-production between governments and citizens. The article critically analyses the characteristics of these DPPs and explores their real-world applications in urban development. The article concludes with directions for further research.

Previous research has highlighted that there is a lack of advanced technological solutions able to foster government-citizens collaboration. We argue that many examples of digital participatory platforms are already available and also ready to use for governments and citizens. Hence, causes for ineffective citizen engagement and collaboration with local government should not be sought in the lack of advanced technology. Thus, we focus on the issues and challenges that local governments face in fostering online and offline citizen engagement. We also provide a classification of challenges into six categories as a prerequisite to identifying actions and solutions for local governments.

This article explores the potential of web-based participatory mapping tools for urban planning purposes and spatial information creation in informal settlements, i.e. the slums (barrios) of Caracas, Venezuela. While an increasing use of mapping tools is found in developed countries, fewer applications are found in informal settlements of developing countries, due to issues of high informality, illegality, and a lack of information, human and financial resources. In the context of course-based mapping activities directed to neighbourhood Sector-level planning officers and action research, this study has employed a two-tier approach (planning officials doing the mapping and eliciting complementary information from the population) to online participatory mapping (Google My Maps) for urban planning purposes in the barrios of Caracas. Our efforts aimed mostly at identifying and mapping public facilities, and planned and under-construction public works. This research aims to show the potential contribution of such tools to planning informal settlements and creating locally-produced spatial information. The outcomes of the mapping courses have already proven to be useful for planning public projects across Sectors and Communes, mutual consideration of their priorities in the preparation of two-year development plans, and for increased awareness of local residents of communal councils.