Digital Technologies and Public Policies Applied to Green Cities

Abstract

Digital technologies and public policies are fundamental for cities in defining their urban greening strategies, and the main goal of this research is to identify the applied digital technologies and the public policy dimensions implemented at the national level by the member states to promote urban greening in the literature and official documents. The methodology used is a systematic literature review (based on international studies), a Delphi study with experts, and a policy analysis, aiming to understand how the Portuguese government has implemented policies and identify the main technologies applied to urban greening. The main findings regard (i) the focus on the interaction between actors in policymaking; (ii) interpretive approaches used to examine the application of technologies in urban greening problems; and (iii) how policies reflect the social construction of ‘problems’. The research focuses on how policy analysis provides a powerful tool that can be used to understand the technologies, actions, interests, and political contexts underpinning policy decisions. The main lessons learned from this research are that urban greening can benefit urban centers together with the non-urban environment on which they have a functional impact, such as agricultural hinterland areas, forest spaces around the cities, and the rural–urban interfaces. Initiatives for urban greening are designed to enhance cross-border coordination, complementarities, flexibility, productivity, and access to the main international markets and territories.

Using DEMATEL and ISM for Designing Green Public Policies Based on the System of Systems Approach

“…Ref. [5] analysis unveils the applied digital technologies and public policy dimensions deployed to promote urban greening. The study emphasizes the significance of multi-stakeholder engagement, interpretive approaches, and technologydriven solutions in addressing urban environmental challenges.…”

“…In the literature, a lot of papers have been investigating the multifaceted dimensions of green governance, public policy, and their intricate relationship with sustainability-oriented practices, with a particular emphasis on the importance of designing green policies. This is the case of the studies in [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] that stress the impact of environmental regulations [4], public support [5], sustainability orientation [6], digital technologies [7], and incentive mechanisms [8] in promoting green initiatives, urban greening, green consumption, real estate development, and the transition to a low-emission economy.…”

Enabling In-Situ Urbanization through Digitalization

“…In the multiple digitalization-related definitions, it is common to refer to the application of digitalization to innovate governance through various technologies by multi-scalar actors. The technology industry's ascent as a force advancing urban governance ideology is particularly important because it permeates cities' political administrative structures and reframes public discourse about urban issues in technology-centered terms [61,62]. For example, the "Smart Territory" is termed the one that seeks to solve public problems through solutions based on technology in the framework of a partnership between multiple participants from different sectors, both public and private [63,64].…”