„Züri wie neu“: Public Value von Online-Partizipation

Abstract

Next to the common goals efficiency and effectiveness the notion of public value considers also social aspects relevant to society. However, only a few studies have measured how the population appreciates the value of services by the public sector. So far the potential use of such services has only been predicted in advance based on expert opinion. We close this research gap by an empirical study (n = 738) on the open government platform "Züri wie neu", a Swiss adoption of the FixMyStreet initiative from UK. On this platform citizens of Zürich report damages and defects of infrastructure with a user-friendly web and mobile application.The results indicate that the participants appreciate time-savings (efficiency), comfort, and interaction with the public service (both effectiveness). In addition we observed above average trust-building with the government, personal knowledgeability and the feeling of participatory decision making (all three of them social values). This explains why efficiency and effectiveness are not the only benefits for the citizens by such platforms but social values are relevant for them, too.

Zurich Like New

“…In 2013, the city of Zurich created its own FixMyStreetbased platform: "Züri wie Neu" (Zurich like new). Zurich's citizens can report issues via the phone application or the ZüriWieNeu's platform 2 . Users report problems with a title and a description, the location of the issue, and an optional picture.…”

“…King et al [9] and Abu-Tayeh et al [2] surveyed citizens about FixMyStreet and ZuriWieNeu respectively. These open government platforms are well regarded by the citizens surveyed, as they feel empowered by bringing good to their local community.…”