Participatory technologies in smart cities: What citizens want and how to ask them

Abstract

This article deals with the process of prioritization of requirements on one selected participatory technology, which is citizen reporting on issues of public infrastructure (CRIsPI). Reporting is the activity that expresses the interest of citizens about the place they live. Traditionally, older citizens are more active in this activity, but modern technologies have the potential to motivate also young people to become active participants in public issues. There are two objectives of the article: 1) determination of which CRIsPI features would motivate young citizens to higher participation, and 2) comparative analysis of six prioritization methods to select the most appropriate method for engagement of this group of citizens. In total, 155 respondents (students) participated in the study. Results revealed that respondents require easy-to-use tools and positive feedback from the local government. Moreover, they prefer mobile solutions. The most suitable prioritization method, according to five given criteria, is adjusted cumulative voting ($100).