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Towards Sustainable Smart Cities: A Contextual Study on Digital Participatory

Planning Policies and Readiness Assessment in Oman

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DOI: 10.1680/jurdp.21.00040

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Cite this article Research Article
Sameer N, Alalouch C, Saleh MS, Al-Saadi S and Saleem A Paper 2100040
Towards sustainable smart cities: a study on digital participatory planning in Oman. Received 11/10/2021;
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Urban Design and Planning, Accepted 14/03/2022
https://doi.org/10.1680/jurdp.21.00040
ICE Publishing: All rights reserved

Urban Design and Planning

Towards sustainable smart cities: a study on

digital participatory planning in Oman
Nibras Sameer BSc Saleh Al-Saadi PhD
Postgraduate student, Department of Civil & Architectural Engineering, Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Architectural Engineering,
College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
(Orcid:0000-0002-8103-2092) (Orcid:0000-0002-9095-6983)
Chaham Alalouch PhD Ashraf Saleem PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Architectural Engineering, Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Computing, Michigan
College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA
(Orcid:0000-0002-2234-0351) (corresponding author: (Orcid:0000-0003-2415-850X)
c.alalouch@squ.edu.om)
Mohamed S. Saleh PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Architectural Engineering,
College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
(Orcid:0000-0002-5654-1629)

Many cities are undergoing a transition towards sustainable smart cities (SSCs) that are built on advanced
information technology infrastructure and support social justice. To achieve a smooth and effective transition to SSC,
policies and delivery mechanisms should be put in place, and the readiness of both the government and the society
should be assessed. This study focuses on digital participatory planning (DPP) as a precondition for social
sustainability in SSC and aims to summarise and assess the current relevant local policies and endeavours in Oman;
and to develop a generic framework to evaluate the readiness for DPP. In doing so, selective key literature, policies
and initiatives were critically reviewed covering the SSC concept, establishing the link between the SSC and DPP, and
eliciting a list of comprehensive DPP readiness factors. The results indicated that the Omani government has a clear
will to move towards SSC and the country has already witnessed few initiatives supporting this direction. However,
there is a lack of a clear action plan regarding DPP. Therefore, more work is required to systemise efforts. The study
provides a generic framework to assess the readiness of the government and society for DPP and concludes with
recommendations for policymakers.
Keywords: information technology/sustainability/town & city planning

1. Introduction been calls to revisiting factors of ranking smart cities by con-

In an ever-changing world, a smart sustainable city (SSC) that sidering the principles of place making in order to enhance the
is characterised by its citizens’ digital participation has become singularity of smart cities (Abusaada and Elshater, 2021).
an essential keyword of any developed city. The paradigm of a
smart city is not a new one, and it has been around for more Cities around the world are moving towards being sustainable
than two decades (Yang et al., 2021). It was originally pre- and smart, and cities of Oman are no exception. In fact, the
sented as a technical solution that utilises advanced infor- Sultanate of Oman dedicates remarkable effort to become a
mation and communications technology (ICT) to overcome developed country. One of these latest efforts to attain that goal
the phenomena of rapid population and its associated is Oman Vision 2040, which outlines the future planning for the
challenges of urbanisation (Wu and Chen, 2021), and is country. The vision has laid the foundations for 12 national pri-
characterised by citizens enablement by way of participation in orities that envisage empowering the local citizens through their
decision making (Caragliu et al., 2009) as a tool for knowledge involvement and participation in many aspects of city manage-
and fairness (Camboim et al., 2019). Later, the term ‘smart’ ment (Omanuna, 2017). The vision also links Oman develop-
was associated with the term ‘sustainability’ due to the recog- ment to the global sustainable developed goals (SDGs). In
nition of the benefits that smart technologies could offer particular, the ninth national priority ‘Development of
to advance the sustainability agenda. For example, digital Governorates and Sustainable Cities’ aims to tackle global chal-
transformation of infrastructure services in smart cities lenges such as poverty, inequity and provide all citizens with
provided an efficient and reactive impact on user behaviour, equal chances of prosperity through the transformation of the
which resulted in reducing resource consumption, increasing Omani cities to SSCs that are developed on advanced IT infra-
environmental quality and cutting down on carbon dioxide structure and support social justice and equality for all different
emissions (Evans et al., 2019). More recently, there have layers of the society (Foundation, 2004).

1
Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

Offprint provided courtesy of www.icevirtuallibrary.com

Author copy for personal use, not for distribution

The co-relation between the urban planning process and large scale away from the densely populated areas in order to
SSCs concept is inevitable (Anthopoulos and Vakali, 2012) accommodate the massive population growth. As a result,
wherein citizens have an essential role by way of their digital urbanisation was spread to the outskirts of major cities such as
participation in gathering information, generating maps, Muscat. Traditionally, the planning and urban design in Oman
sharing their thoughts and ideas and eventually, accept or is done by the government following a top-down approach
reject the proposed design (Delitheou et al., 2019), and (Alalouch et al., 2019a). Stakeholders, including citizens, were
based on their participation, the success of any urban not often consulted. However, recently, there has been a strong
development is determined (Wu et al., 2010). Despite that, inclination towards citizen participation following the Royal
digital participatory planning (DPP) is still limited and seldom Directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said regarding
in Oman, and current endeavours are still in the early stages. Oman Vision 2040 in which His Majesty stated: ‘Developing
To avoid failing to achieve successful implementation of the future vision with mastery and high precision in light of
SSC in Oman, it is essential now to critically look at the broad societal consensus and with the participation of all seg-
local policies that have been set for that goal and to have a ments of society. The vision should be relevant to the socio-econ-
framework to measure how truly the government and the omic context and objectively foresee the future, to be recognized
society are ready to adopt an effective and proper DPP as an as a guide and key reference for planning activities in the next
official practice henceforth. This study addresses these issues. two decades’. In spite of the clear government direction
It starts with a brief background on Oman and proceeds to towards public participatory planning and SSCs, most of the
describe the methodology and the results leading to the con- studies related to the Omani built environment to date have
clusions of the paper, limitations and suggestions for future focused on sustainable construction (Saleh and Alalouch,
research. 2015, 2020), eco-architecture (Alalouch et al., 2016), energy
efficiency (Al-Badi and Al-Saadi, 2020; Al-Saadi and Al-Jabri,
2020; Alalouch et al., 2019b) and accessibility (Alkamali
2. Brief background on Oman et al., 2017). Nonetheless, public participation in the planning
The Sultanate of Oman is in the extreme southeast corner of process in Oman has been scarcely studied.
the Arabian Peninsula. Oman extends from latitude 16.40 to
26.20 degrees north and from longitude 51.50 to 59.40 degrees
east. Its 3165 km coastline runs northwards from the Arabian 3. Methodology
Sea and the entrance to the Indian Ocean in the far southwest To fulfil the objectives of this study, a systematic review and
to the Sea of Oman and Musandam. The total population is analysis of the relevant literature was conducted. The review of
4505 365 out of which 61.1% are Omani. Oman occupied a the literature followed the methodological model proposed by
total area of 309 501 km2, and it consists of 11 governorates Brocke et al. (2009), who proposed a five-step methodological
with 61 provinces known as Wilayats (Oman Info, 2020). model for a systematic literature review: (a) definition of the
Muscat is the capital and largest city in Oman. The country is review scope; (b) conceptualisation of topic; (c) literature
overlooking three seas; the Arabian sea, the sea of Oman and search; (d) literature analysis and synthesis and (e) research
the Arabian Gulf, and it is bordered by two gulf countries; the agenda. This method was used earlier in the context of the sys-
United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from tematic literature review on smart cities (Bouzguenda et al.,
the west. From the south, it adjoins the Republic of Yemen, 2019). The inclusion criteria included the criteria proposed by
while from the north and east, the country is boarded by the Cooper (1988), namely, focus, goals, structure, perspective,
Strait of Hormuz, and the Arabian Sea, respectively. Its audience and coverage. After that, the key studies that formed
location shapes up the importance and strategical location of the source of subsequent literature on DPP in smart cities were
Oman and opens it up to different cultures in the world. identified and advanced for further critical review and analysis
namely Van Empel (2008), Delitheou et al. (2019) and
With the discovery of the oil industry in the late 1960s and the Bouzguenda et al. (2020). This is not to say that analysis of
Renaissance in 1970, Oman has witnessed remarkable political, this study was limited to these studies, but these studies formed
economic and social development, which led to a rapid urban the main skeleton for the framework on readiness assessment
expansion in all parts of the country. Alongside those develop- for DPP that is presented in the results section.
ments, Oman has deployed enormous efforts to change
Oman’s global image from being isolated to an open and The review was started by looking at the local policies and gov-
developing country (Tovaglieri, 2011). In 2010, the United ernmental initiatives that deal with SSC and DPP in order to
Nations acknowledged these developments and efforts by set the scene on the Omani government efforts and willingness
listing Oman as a top improved nation among other 135 to move towards SSCs in the near future as required by Oman
countries (Schrenk et al., 2012). This ever-lasting urban growth Vision 2040. This is supported by a review of a selective set of
led to urban expansion and the development of new areas on a literature that is related to SSC concept and its relationship to

2
Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

Offprint provided courtesy of www.icevirtuallibrary.com

Author copy for personal use, not for distribution

DPP. Equally important, the key literature on readiness assess- participation and (iv) factors to assess readiness for digital parti-
ment frameworks for SSC transition was identified, compared cipatory planning.
and contrasted to develop a generic framework that can be used
by the Omani governed to optimise their efforts and measure
the readiness of the government and society for DPP. Therefore, 4. Results
the review is divided into four main themes: the first one investi-
4.1 Theme 1: Smart city, IT initiatives and digital
gates the current condition in the Sultanate of Oman in terms
participatory planning in Oman
of the local policies and initiatives towards the achievement of
SSCs in Oman by 2040. The second theme reviews the concept 4.1.1 Oman vision 2040
of smart city and its challenges and traces the development and ‘The future starts now, shaped by Omani people’ was the
change on smart city understanding. The third theme establishes opening statement of Oman vision 2040 stresses the idea of
the hierarchical connection between the SSC implementation social sustainability, public participation and well-being for all
and DPP and highlights why DPP is crucial to the success of different parts of the society. It presents the government’s vision
any SSC implementation. Finally, the last theme explores the of the desired image of Oman joining the world of developed
concept of DPP and then lists down the associated factors countries by 2040 through the establishment of SSCs in Oman.
and indicators that should be considered for the country’s The vision establishes three pillars, namely, people and society,
readiness for the implementation of the concept of DPP within economy and development and governance performance
the SSC context by comparing key studies on this topic. (Omanuna, 2017). Within these three pillars, 13 national priori-
Therefore, the four themes explored are (i) smart city, IT initiat- ties have been set to be achieved by 2040 as shown in Figure 1.
ives and digital participatory planning in Oman, (ii) the smart Among those priorities, the ninth priority was the ‘Development
city concept, (iii) smart city planning and digital citizen of Governorates and Sustainable Cities’. To achieve this

Governance Education,
of state’s learning,
administrative scientific
bodies, research and
resources national
Legislative
and projects capabilities
judicial and
Health
oversight
system

Citizenship,
Environment identity and
and natural national
resources heritage and
culture
Our national
priorities
Development of
governorates Well-being
and sustainable and social
cities protection

The private
Economic
sector, investment
leadership and
and international
management
cooperation
Labour Economic
market and diversification
employment and fiscal
sustainability

Figure 1. Oman Vision 2040’s national priorities (source: https://www.2040.om/Oman2040-En.pdf)

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Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

Offprint provided courtesy of www.icevirtuallibrary.com

Author copy for personal use, not for distribution

particular priority, the vision articulates several objective and authority was established in 1972, and it was known as the
performance indicators, with emphasis on the necessity of Higher Development Planning Board and the Directorate of
moving towards smart, sustainable and vibrant cities and a vital Planning and Development, which was responsible for setting
countryside with a viable architecture that ensures high quality up a general statutory planning framework for all the sectors.
of life, work and leisure. Through this vision, the Omani govern- After few years, the Ministry of Land Affairs was established
ment envisions tackling global challenges such as poverty, in 1975 to be one of the most powerful planning entities in
inequity and providing all citizens with equal chances of prosper- Oman that provide the main guidelines of urban planning
ity (Omanuna, 2017). To attain this goal, the government is cur- throughout the Sultanate. This ministry was known in later
rently laying down the foundation for the environmental and years as the Ministry of Housing who was responsible for the
social sustainability of smart Omani cities that encourages the allocation of the use of land, residential, commercial and
participation of the private sector, with an emphasis on empow- industrial, on national, regional as well as local levels
ering local citizens. In fact, Oman Vision 2040 is the main driver (Tovaglieri, 2011). Another government planning body is the
for both SSCs and public participation. Supreme Committee of Town Planning (SCTP) that was
founded in 1985 to tackle all the planning issues on the
regional and local levels. It provides general guidelines for
4.1.2 Oman’s IT initiatives
urban planning according to the economic and social aspects
Following the directions of Oman vision 2040, all government
and sets up regulations and laws for urban planning (Gharibi,
efforts were put forward to improve and enhance government
2014). However, the SCTP did not last for long, and it was
services taking into consideration that participation is the cor-
appended in 2012 (Gharibi, 2014). Most of its duties have
nerstone of Oman vision 2040. Subsequently, the Omani gov-
been assigned to either the Ministry of Housing or to the new
ernment has launched a digital society known as ‘Omanuna’,
Supreme Council of Planning (Tovaglieri, 2011). With the pres-
which outlines many IT initiatives. The portal provides a
ence of different, often competing, planning entities, it is
variety of community services like the digital lab, education
important to understand the designated role of each. Gharibi
and health platforms that are available online (Omanuna,
(2014) has established a framework presenting the main auth-
2017). It aims to utilise ICT to empower citizens, provide
orities who are involved in urban planning in Oman along
better government services and enhances business. It is impor-
with its main roles and responsibilities. However, to increase
tant to notice that the digital participation of citizens is acti-
the efficiency in delivering the final outcomes anticipated from
vated through the portal, wherein citizens are enabled to give
these governmental entities, a royal decree was issued in
their opinion, feedback and suggestions to enhance the services
August 2020 to merge both the supreme council of planning
through direct interaction with the government entities.
and Ministry of Housing into one governmental body referred
However, this portal is not dedicated to planning or to urban
to as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning (The
design; it is rather general in nature.
Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, 2020). Figure 2
shows the governmental bodies for urban planning in Oman.
On the same ground, Oman has also witnessed the establish-
ment of the Smart City platform in 2017. The platform was
As a result, the Oman National Spatial Strategy programme,
introduced jointly by the Supreme Council of Planning, Muscat
known as ONSS, that was initiated by the SCTP back in 2008,
Municipality, the Research Council and the Information and
has been taken forward by the newly formed Ministry of
Technology Authority (Smart City Platform, 2021). The main
Housing and Urban Planning (The Ministry of Housing and
objectives of the Smart city platform were to spread awareness
Urban Planning, 2020). ONSS aims to set up a spatial planning
about sustainable development and smart city initiatives, open
strategy on the national level along with associated elements
up for innovations in smart city projects and encourage citizens
such as the provision of planning information systems and plan-
to participate in smart city solutions (Smart City Platform,
ning frameworks, all designed to provide proper and sustainable
2021). However, the presence of this platform is rather shy and
land use through which socio-economic sustainability can be
does not seem to reach a wide range of society. Although one of
attained (ONSS Oman National Spatial Strategy, 2016). ONSS
the main aims of this platform is to facilitate knowledge sharing
had provided a list of concerns pertaining to the framework of
and encourage collaboration among smart city stakeholders, the
urban planning in Oman; among many concerns, limited citi-
interaction of the society with the platform’s social media
zens’ participation in the design process was on the list (Al
accounts, particularly Twitter, is unsatisfactorily limited.
Shueile, 2015). Hence, one of the ONSS’s objectives is to bring
the best sustainable urban planning process through the practice
4.1.3 Urban planning and digital participatory of citizens’ participation in urban planning (Schrenk et al.,
planning in Oman 2012). Al Shueile (2015) had shed light on citizens’ participation
In general, the urbanisation processes in Oman are outlined by in urban planning in Oman. He conducted an interview and
many governmental urban planning bodies. The first planning focus groups for both Ministry of Housing and Muscat

4
Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

Offprint provided courtesy of www.icevirtuallibrary.com

Author copy for personal use, not for distribution

Krueger, 2015), and also they were conducted physically which

Ministries council does n’t follow the directions of the government vision that aims
to digitalise citizens participation through many e-services
Merged in
2020 to form (Omanuna, 2017).
The Ministry of
Housing and
Urban Planning
ng

Supreme council of planning

Sup 4.2 Theme 2: The smart city concept
4.2.1 Smart city definition
As mentioned earlier, the paradigm of smart city is not a new
concept, and it has been used for a couple of decades (Yang
Agencies responsible for
A Agencies responsible for basic
Urban planning infrastructure services et al., 2021). It is originally presented as a technical solution
that utilises advanced information and communication tech-
Ministry of
Ministry of
housing
Sohar
municipality
Ministry of
transport Electricity & Water nology (ICT), to overcome the rapid populations’ phenomena
and its associated urbanisation challenges (Wu and Chen,
Ministry of Ministry of state
regional and Governate 2021) that include inefficient use of resources, pollution,
municipality of dofar
crimes, crowdedness, inefficient public services and many other
Muscat Oman tel
environmental, economic and social issues (Hollands, 2015).
municipality company In this context, smart city initiatives and strategies have gained
remarkable attention, and many cities strive to pick up the
concept forward for implementation. Examples can be seen in
Figure 2. Governmental bodies for urban planning in Oman
the UK in Bristol, Manchester and Milton Keynes (Ersoy,
(source: after Gharibi (2014))
2019). By 2012, there were around 143 smart city projects, 30
out of which were located in USA and 74 in Europe
(Ahvenniemi et al., 2017). For example, New York City has
Municipality officials and found that no effective citizens par- adopted Big Apple’s smart city initiatives that include water
ticipation in urban planning was ever witnessed in Oman. He management, waste management, traffic management, tourism
pointed out that there was a lack of technical expertise in the and navigation and mobility (Hellman Electric, 2019).
citizens’ participation process and methods, and there was an New York City has installed hundreds of thousands of smart
absence of legislation that mandates citizen participation as one sensors and metres to monitor everything from water usage
of the urban planning processes in Oman. Furthermore, he and waste levels in trash bins to air quality. The city has also
argued that the absence of citizen’s participation in urban plan- completed a large urban traffic management upgrade to
ning in Oman is due to the lack of financial support from the improve efficiency and reliability, reduce congestion on surface
concerned governmental authorities and the lack of public streets and save costs. Another example of smart cities in the
awareness of the participation concept. It is important to USA that aim to improve sustainability is San Jose, California.
mention that this study was conducted several years ago, and Air quality and climate sensors are deployed in the city in
the ONSS programme has conducted several workshops in 2018 order to reduce pollution and increase the quality of air in the
wherein local citizens were physically participating in setting out city (Santosham, 2020). The city has also used smart sensors
the main policies for the regional planning (The Ministry of technologies and promoted real-time data analytics to help
Housing and Urban Planning, 2020). A wide range of stake- residents and businesses conserve energy and water. The
holders participated in these activities including representatives number of smart city projects increased in 2017 to 250 smart
form the society, government and public sectors including city projects in 178 cities around the world (Patrão et al.,
Omanis and non-Omani stakeholders. However, the programme 2020). With the expected 6 million increase in population by
did not include any real framework or mechanism to adopt citi- 2050, more smart cities are expected to arise (Nikki Han and
zens’ participation as an official practice in future planning and Kim, 2021).
it was limited to the strategic level. Furthermore, less than 20%
of the participants of the workshops were citizens who have Despite the importance of the smart city concept and its wide-
been selected by the government based on their educational and spread implementation worldwide, there is no holistic under-
social background. This led to conclude that these attempts standing of the smart city concept (Angelidou, 2014), due to
were lacking many aspects to achieve a ‘proper’ citizens partici- its multi-disciplinary nature (Meijer and Bolívar, 2016). Albino
pation that promotes a successful implementation of smart cities et al. (2015) conducted a literature review on smart city
initiatives, since they were limited to selected groups of citizens, concept and concluded that the meaning of a smart city is
which is contradictory with the concept of social equity that multi-faceted and includes qualities of people and communities
allows all willing citizens to participate (Monfaredzadeh and as well as ICTs. Therefore, till now, there seems to be no

5
Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

Offprint provided courtesy of www.icevirtuallibrary.com

Author copy for personal use, not for distribution

consensus definition of what a smart city is (Min et al., 2019). Different terminologies are presented to describe these two
Many researchers have tried to establish a list of the most approaches, such as ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ infrastructure-oriented city
common available definitions of the smart city concept like (Angelidou, 2014), ‘ top-bottom’ and ‘bottom-top’ approaches
Chourabi et al. (2012) and Korachi and Bounabat (2020). (Calzada and Cobo, 2015) and ‘ICT-oriented’ and ‘human-
Others attempted to provide justifications on why there are oriented’ approaches (Ahvenniemi et al., 2017). In this study,
many definitions (Yang et al., 2021), while other researchers ICT-oriented and human-oriented terms are used to express the
criticised the whole concept of the smart city due to its multi- smart city approaches. The ICT-oriented smart city emerged
nomenclatures and meanings (Hollands, 2015). first, as it was presented by leading technology companies like
Cisco, who majorly used technologies to achieve the smart city
Similarly, Ghaffarianhoseini et al. (2016, 2018) emphasised the approach (Hasler et al., 2017). Angelidou (2014) described the
importance of differentiating between what is ‘Intelligent’ and city with ICT emphasis as the city that focuses on the utilisation
what is ‘smart’ in the context of city planning. While Tatsuno of advanced technology and ICT to achieve efficient ‘hard’
(2019) focused on establishing links between sustainable devel- infrastructure that includes transportation, energy, resources and
opments and smart communities. Other scholars compared the so on. Many smart cities adopt the ICT-oriented approach in
indicators used in rating systems for a smart city, a sustainable their strategies, like Masdar city in Abu Dhabi, United Arab
city and a competitive city in an attempt to understand where Emirates and Songdo in Seoul, South Korea. Examples of tech-
these concepts complement and contrast (Monfaredzadeh and nologies used in smart cities include smart grids, smart water
Berardi, 2015). Based on review of key literature on this topic, a metres, smart environment monitoring devices, internet of things
timeline of major different smart city definitions was compiled (IoT) and AI-driven data analytics. While smart grids help in
and is presented in Figure 3. This timeline illustrates the shift in generating and storing renewable power more efficiently, smart
the focus of the smart city definition from 1996 until 2020. water metres enable sharing water information with residents,
proactively identifying water leaks and enable troubleshooting in
4.2.2 ICT- against human-oriented smart city real time. In contrast, smart environment monitoring help in
Many researchers, practitioners and city planners have developed measuring air quality, reducing environmental pollution, flood
different smart city approaches depending on what smart cities monitoring and so on. IoT and AI-driven data analytics play a
can provide them with (Noori et al., 2020). Most of the available big role in improving city safety, reducing traffic accidents and
literature was mainly dividing smart city approaches into two fatalities, increase transparency and deploying self-driving
main mainstreams, one based purely on ICT and technologies vehicles, which will dramatically re-shape the future in-city
and the other based on people (human and government). transportation.

(Hall, Bowerman, Braverman, ( De Azambuja, Pereira, &

Taylor, & Todosow, 2000) (Lara, Da Costa, Furlani, & Yigitcanlar, 2016) Krimmer, 2020)

A city that uses the smart A strategic response to

A ‘vision’ build on 3 techno-
technologies to make its essential over come the urbanization
pillars, namely, economy,
infrastructure, like roads, education challenges with the help
social and spatial in order
system, healthcare transportation of the ICT.
to shape up the ‘ideal’ city
and others ervices more ‘intelligent
‘and’ efficient’

1996 2009 2018

2000 2016 2020

BSI: The adaptation of ‘Smartness’ in As perthe European commission

urban development as the approach ‘Ideal city’ where in environmental smart city is an interrelated urban
that can offer a solution for many issues pertaining to climate and development system that utilizes
urban challenges through the energy use can be tackled both digital technologies and civic
integration of the city’s Physical through urban development involvement to achieve efficient
infrastructure, digital and using ICT. environment with better living quality.
communication in frastructure

(Pollak,1996) (Caragliu, Del Bo, & Nijkamp, 2009) (Sikora-Fernandez, 2018)

Figure 3. Timeline of smart city’s definitions from 1996 until 2020

6
Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

Offprint provided courtesy of www.icevirtuallibrary.com

Author copy for personal use, not for distribution

Notwithstanding the crucial role of advanced technology and to the technical aspects of smart city that led to the total neglect
ICT in shaping up those smart cities, many researchers have of the ‘people’ aspect. However, it is vital to include people in
shed light on the challenges of these cities. For instance, the smart city concept, as they are the key players who can, with
Angelidou (2014) highlighted that despite the advanced tech- their involvement, determine the success or failure of a smart
nologies that were utilised to manage the city of Rio de city project. Angelidou (2014) defined human-oriented smart
Janeiro, the citizens of the city suffer from a lack of safety, city as a city that targets to achieve quality ‘soft’ infrastructure
equality and adequate living environment due to the limited using ICT. The ‘soft’ infrastructure is presented by citizens’ par-
human involvement in the city management. Masdar city as ticipation, social equity and inclusion. An example of this is the
well was heavily criticised for being exaggeratedly planned and city of Barcelona that was presented as the city of people,
hence offer an expensive lifestyle to the extent that makes it wherein all the efforts were put forward to enhance its citizens’
difficult to live in (Breuer et al., 2014). Furthermore, it was cri- quality of life and foster economic growth. The human aspect in
ticised for giving absolute trust to the technology with very the city of Barcelona was achieved by creating an encouraging
little room left for its citizens (Noori et al., 2020). In fact, environment for private–public partnerships. With the wide con-
many researchers have criticised the idea of absolute reliance tribution of private and public sectors in the city management,
on advanced technologies, computers and sensors without and the empowerment of the local citizen in decision making,
active and ‘real’ involvement of local citizens for whom the the city of Barcelona managed to achieve a good level of social
city is built. For instance, Hollands (2015) argued that a smart equity and democracy for its citizen (Angelidou, 2014).
city that emphasises on ICT and technological aspects only is Therefore, depending on technology and ICT alone is not
more likely a money-based city that seeks to attract business. enough to achieve smartness. In contrast, people’s creativity and
Thus, local people are not the prime motive. As a result, the intelligence underpinned with advanced technology are more
real urban problem that smart cities should solve, like crimes, effective and efficient than machines to achieve smart city initiat-
poverty and social inequity, will be overlooked (Hollands, ives. Hence, the smart city should deploy all available technol-
2015). Hollands also argued in his earlier study in 2008 that ogies for the sake of its citizens, not vice versa.
the real importance of advanced technology and communi-
cation depends on how it gets utilised by city citizens in a way Equally important, many smart cities advocate and highlight
that enhances their capability to make their life ‘smarter’. the importance of social sustainability and human factors.
Whereas, when technology becomes the main trigger of smart This approach suggests a balanced integration between tech-
city initiatives, citizens will be dealt with as customers rather nology and humans, hence the use of technology and ICT ser-
than key players (Nikki Han and Kim, 2021). Furthermore, vices with a citizen is the focal point (Meijer and Bolívar,
some argued that ICT-oriented cities focus only on the 2016). Chourabi et al. (2012) also emphasised that the term
implementation of high-tech regardless of the actual needs of ‘people’ in a smart city does not refer to individuals only, but
the citizens (Masik et al., 2021). The authors warned that it communities who are equally important to achieve smart city
might lead to what they considered as ‘modern colonialism’, initiatives and argued that being smart does not mean being
which gives a great deal to the marketing aspects and compe- connected through ICT only, but it goes far beyond to include
tition with other smart cities rather than solving the actual human development as a tool for knowledge, as well as fair-
urban issues and challenges of its citizens. ness. Hollands (2008, pp. 15 and 16) further emphasised the
importance of the human factor of the smart city by stating,
Many studies highlighted aspects of social inequity caused by ‘First and foremost, progressive smart cities must seriously start
the ICT-oriented approach. Calzada and Cobo (2015) raised a with people and the human capital side of the equation, rather
concern about social inequity –presented by level of education, than blindly believing that IT itself can automatically transform
income and accessibility – that can be caused by the presence and improve cities’. The author measured the success level of
of IT connections and availability. Similarly, Odendaal (2003) smart cities with the level of real and proper citizens’ partici-
emphasised that ICT and technological utilities are not equally pation and involvement, ‘In essence the smart progressive city
accessible by the citizens in smart cities, which in return will needs and requires the input and contribution of these various
cause social isolation of less fortunate citizens. Hollands (2008) groups of people and cannot simply be labeled as smart by
argued that the new empowerment role given to the ICT and adopting a sophisticated information technology infrastructure
business companies and government is at the expense of the or through creating self-promotional websites’. Figure 4 sum-
citizens of the city. This transformation of power is likely to marises the smart city approaches.
lead to inequality in the city.

In response to these challenges of the ICT-oriented smart city, 4.2.3 Smart city components
the human-oriented smart city has emerged (Hasler et al., 2017). With the availability of different definitions and approaches for
Chourabi et al. (2012) argued that initially, the focus was given a smart city, it is worth noting that many of these are derived

7
Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

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Current
smart
Traditional smart city city
approach approach

Integrated approach

ICT – orinted Use ICT to address Human – orinted

smart city smart city
people’s needs

Challenges New approach

1. Inequity , crimes and poverty (Hollands, 2015). 1. Balance integration between ICT and citizen
(Meijer & Bolívar, 2016).
2. Citizens are dealt with as ‘customer’ rather
than key player (Nikki Han & Kim, 2021a) 2. It is vital to include people in the smart city
concept, as they are the key players who can,
3. Focus only on competition with other smart Solutions with their involvement, determine the success or
city and neglect the real urban issues and failure of smart city project (Chourabiet al., 2012).
citizen life (Masiket al., 2021).
3. Include human development as a tool for
4. Provide absolute trust to technology with little knowledge, as well as fairness (Camboimet al., 2019).
room left for citizens (Noori et al., 2020)

Figure 4. Smart city approaches

from a smart city model generated by Giffinger et al. (2007), et al. (2007). Chourabi and colleagues argued that a smart
who described the smart city as ‘forward-looking’ urban devel- city’s framework should not be limited to the environmental
opment that addresses issues such as knowledge, transparency, and human-living factors, but it should include other com-
individuality and flexibility. Originally, Giffinger’s work aimed ponents that shape up the full structure of smart city
to establish an evaluation tool for medium-sized smart cities in implementation and initiatives. The overall proposed frame-
Europe. They argued, through a comprehensive literature review, work included the following clusters of factors or components
that despite the variety of available definitions, none has covered ‘(1) management and organisation, (2) technology, (3) govern-
the concept of smart city holistically. Every definition is a reflec- ance, (4) policy, (5) people and communities, (6) economy,
tion of what a smart city is from a different perspective (7) built infrastructure and (8) natural environment’. In this
(Giffinger et al., 2007). Subsequently, the author managed to structure, both policy and management and organisation were
list down six main components that shape up the smart city newly introduced to the six well-known components suggested
concept, namely, smart economy, smart people, smart govern- by Giffinger and his colleagues. Equally important, they ident-
ment, smart mobility, smart environment and smart living. ified a set of factors for each component. These factors must
be considered in order to achieve a proper and comprehensive
Later, several researchers have adopted Giffinger’s model in fulfillment of each component. Figure 5 presents a comprehen-
their research (Petrova-Antonova and Ilieva, 2019; Pop sive model of the main components of a smart city.
and Protean, 2019; Teixeira et al., 2020), and some tried to
further detail and elaborate on the components listed by him
4.3 Theme 3: Smart city planning and digital
(Chourabi et al., 2012). A notable work in this context is the
citizen participation
study by Chourabi et al. (2012) in which they compared a
smart city as an ‘organ’ that connects different parts and com- 4.3.1 Public participation within the smart city
ponents. This understanding generated another perspective to paradigm
understand the smart city concept. Based on an integrative Chourabi et al. (2012) listed public participation and partner-
review of the literature, they suggested eight components of a ship as a common factor in two important components of the
smart city instead of the six presented earlier by Giffinger smart city’s framework, namely governance and people and

8
Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

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Chourabi et al. (2012) model

Giffinger et al. (2007) model

Smart economy Smart mobility

-Productivity, trademarks, innovation and flexibility Various modes of transportation systems that are integrated
of the labor market (Giffinger et al., 2007). with information and communication technologies
-Attract new business and embrace economic activities (Dudzevičiūte· et al., 2017).
into international perspective (Camboim, Zawislak. & Pufal,
2019).
Smart government
Smart people It adopts effective and people-
it measures people connectivity and oriented management (Vinod Kumar &
openness to the outer world. It measures Dahiya, 2017), The main function of smart
people connectivity and openness to the government is to improve citizen's
outer world (Giffinger et al., 2007). involvement in decision-making to
achieve transparent governance
Smart (Dudzeviciute et al., 2017).
city
Smart environment components Smart living
Providing the city with proper Different aspects of quality citizens’ life.
infrastructure and policies that reduce Such as adequate health services,
pollution, energy consumption, protect education, safety, adequate urban
natural resources and provide services, wellbeing and livability
sustainable management (De Azambuja et al., (De Azambuja et al,, 2020).
2020).

Policy Management and organisation

Policy context is important for the effective use of Refer to the requirement of well-organised managements and
information system in the smart city concept. Therefore, organisations that directly impact the IT initiatives, like the
government in smart city requires change in policies that availability of good planning, well-skilled team and expertise
allow for innovation (Chourabi et al., 2012). & good communications (Chourabi et al., 2012).

Figure 5. Smart city’s components

communities. The governance component is described by the perspective. They argued that the smart city concept comprises
author as the ‘core of smart city concept’ that is mainly based four main dimensions rather than limit the concept within
on the principle of collaboration with different stakeholders, specific components as proposed by earlier studies (Chourabi
including citizens and communities. This collaboration, which et al., 2012; Giffinger et al., 2007). The author justified that
is considered as a key factor towards a successful government those components of a smart city may be implemented differ-
in the context of a smart city, can be achieved through citizen ently in different smart cities depending on many factors,
participation and partnership in the decision-making process. including time and context. So for that reason, there are no
Similarly, in the people and communities component, the consolidated guidelines for smart city implementation, and
author concluded based on a comprehensive review of the lit- thus there is no ‘full-fledged’ smart city. To overcome this
erature that despite the earlier neglect of people and commu- issue, Camboim and his colleagues concluded that all these
nities at the expense of highlighting the significant role of ICT elements of the smart city, established by previous researchers
in managing the smart city, many recent attempts by academia and practitioners, have common features and drivers that
focus on this critical component. The smart city concept together can create four main dimensions for the smart city
targets, among many other aims, to enhance citizen education, concept. Those dimensions are Governance, Enviro-urban,
awareness and allow them to be active users in managing their Socio-institutional and Techno-economic. They then proposed a
cities through their participation with the government in the set of factors for each dimension that must be considered to
decision-making process (Chourabi et al., 2012). Therefore, it achieve a ‘successful’ smart cities implementation. Similar to
is understood that public participation and citizen engagement Chourabi’s study, citizens’ participation was also listed as a
with the government is an essential element that needs to be common factor between both the governance and the socio-
properly and effectively presented within the concept of a institutional dimensions. Figure 6 illustrates the key position of
smart city, as it is a core principle to achieve two of the most public participation within the smart city paradigm.
important components of a smart city structure.
These two studies illustrate the hierarchical connection
On the same ground, but in a more flexible context, Camboim between the smart city concept and citizens’ participation and
et al. (2019) presented smart city in a wider and more robust show how important it is to activate effective citizen

9
Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

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Author copy for personal use, not for distribution

Smart city Smart city

components dimensions

1 2

8 Components 4 Dimensions
Policy
Collaboration City
Economy administration
Leadership
Date exchange Governance Improved
services
Transparency Governance E-government
Communication
Collaboration
Accountability

Participation Technology Participation

Enviro-Urban
Quality of Life
Culture flexibility
Digital Divide
Communication Empowerment
People & Social cohesion
Accessibility
Information communities
Education Diversity
Socio-
Natural
resources
institutional

Built
infrastructure Techno-
economics
Management
& organisation

After Chourabi et al., (2012) After Camboim et al., (2019)

Figure 6. Key position of public participation within the smart city paradigm

participation as a precondition for smart city implementation. affairs through citizens’ participation and become more toler-
In line with this conclusion, Vinod Kumar and Dahiya’s ant to accept others’ opinions. Add on that, their trust
(2017) study emphasised that the success of smart city plan- and faith in government will get strengthened (Van Empel,
ning and implementation depends solely on the participation 2008). Moreover, effective citizen participation can lead to;
and involvement of its people, and smart city initiatives can (a) educate participants about community issues and their
be in jeopardy if the smart people element is not properly feasible solutions, (b) increase the effectiveness of policies
functioning. Similarly, other authors describe citizens as ‘social implementations since they are shaped up based on citizens’
sensors’ who have to be considered to achieve a smart views and (c) it can change citizens’ opinion of the government
city (Nikki Han and Kim, 2021). To sum up, there is a consen- as a partner in their pursuit of quality and fairness (Nam,
sus in the literature about the crucial role of public partici- 2012). Above all, citizens’ participation is considered as ‘the
pation in smart city planning and design and that public cornerstone of democracy’ (Arnstein, 1969). These beneficial
participation is seen as a cornerstone for the success of the aspects of public participation were also touched on by Hasler
city of the future. et al. (2017), who indicated that public participation in
urban planning contributes towards an improved level of
‘education and awareness’ of the citizen, enhanced com-
4.3.2 Public participation and social sustainability munication channel with the government, and an increased
in smart cities level of citizen satisfaction in urban planning projects and
Public participation is defined as the ‘participation of citizens policies.
in the planning and administrative processes of government’
(Simonofski et al., 2017). Many researchers have identified an Even though social sustainability as a term is multi-disciplin-
enormous number of benefits from citizens’ participation. ary that cannot be identified with a specific definition
Abelson (2006) has listed down the anticipated benefits of (Bouzguenda et al., 2019), the main elements of social sustain-
citizen participation. Among the many, the author highlighted ability have been determined through literature. For instance,
that citizens could become more responsible towards civic Monfaredzadeh and Krueger (2015) described social equity as

10
Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

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one of the important element towards social sustainability, understand the terminologies that are usually used by the
wherein all citizens regardless of their demographic back- experts.
ground are granted with participation in decision making.
Additionally, social cohesion and inclusion are also considered Other aspects of the traditional participation that were criticised
as major elements for social sustainability (Mappiasse, 2015), by researchers are time and cost. Hasler et al. (2017) highlighted
in which public participation and citizen empowerment are the that classical participation usually consumes a lot of time that
main drivers of social sustainability. The concept of smart city people cannot spare, and it involves cost and effort to get it
and ICT utilisation has helped to facilitate citizen participation accomplished. To overcome the shortcoming of the traditional
more effectively (Nikki Han and Kim, 2021), and contribute participation, alternative methods have emerged (Wang et al.,
towards achieving social cohesion and inclusion (Mappiasse, 2021). They indicated in their research that with the widespread
2015), wherein the city is accessible equally by all its citizens. use of advanced technologies and communications, opportu-
Bouzguenda et al. (2019) highlighted that digital public par- nities of integrating ICT into public participation had a high
ticipation could actively contribute towards achieving social potential to improve participation in terms of the process as
sustainability wherein smart people, technologies and policies well as the outcomes. With the adaptation of digital partici-
are effectively integrated. pation, many benefits were identified. For instance, Wu et al.
(2010) referred to ease of access as one of the gains of digital
participation and emphasised that using the internet to conduct
4.3.3 From conventional to digital the participation will allow for a wide range of participants to
Despite the fact that many researchers have appraised the access the required information and documents at any location
importance of citizen participation and its fruitful gains to the and time, which is in contrast to the traditional public partici-
citizens as well as the government, the process through which pation that was criticised for being available for limited partici-
traditional participation has been conducted was criticised pants. Glaas et al. (2020) considered that citizen inclusion is one
(Bouzguenda et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2021). For instance, of the main reasons behind the success of digital participation
Hasler et al. (2017) highlighted that in the traditional citizens’ since it underpinned ICT system that encourages more citizens
participation, it is difficult to get as many participants as poss- to get involved (Wilson et al., 2019). Apart from getting
ible. Whereas Delitheou et al. (2019) found that the possible involved, digital participation can shape up citizens’ role as
reasons for getting fewer participants are (i) the lack of partici- ‘data producer’ rather than ‘information receiver’ (Hasler et al.,
pation culture, (ii) the absence of trust between citizens and 2017). In addition, three-dimensional digital participatory plan-
government and (iii) the language. In contrast, Wilson et al. ning (3DDPP) has shown to enhance community engagement
(2019) stressed that the language is an obstacle for many in decision making (Bouzguenda et al., 2021). Figure 7 shows a
people to participate, as regular people may not be able to chronology of public participation methods.

Utilising computer software such as CAD

and graphic visualisation

WWP

PP
GIS
Conventional
1 2 3 Digital
participation
participation
MWP

APP.

Physically
hysically done with paper GIS were utilised to share the
maps, sketches and text
maps required maps and layout online
specifications via the internet

Figure 7. Chronology of public participation methods (source: after Wu et al. (2010)). WWP, web-public participation; PP GIS, public
participation through a geographic information system; MWP, mobile-public participation; App, application-public participation by way of
portable devices – for example, smart watch

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Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
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Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

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4.4 Theme 4: factors to assess readiness for digital open access to adequate information to help citizens shaping
participatory planning up their views.
The importance of understanding the maturity level among
the involved stakeholders for the concept of DPP in the smart In this section, the authors compared three major studies that
city context lies in the fact that their acceptance will reflect the attempted to develop a framework to measure different dimen-
potential of achieving successful smart city implementation, sions of a country’s readiness for DPP as shown in Table 1.
which inevitably involves remarkable financial support for its These three particular studies were selected due to their com-
implementation and it has social implications (Bouzguenda prehensiveness, variation in the methodological approach, cov-
et al., 2020). Furthermore, to overcome the ‘digital divide’ that erage of different geographical locations and the time span
is related to the digital capability of using new technologies they cover. The aim is to develop the basis for an integrative
and advanced communication (Nikki Han and Kim, 2021), framework (factors and indicators) that can be used by not
the acceptance level of such practice has to be first identified, only the Omani government but also other countries and
since depending on the utilisation of ICT alone without prior bodies who wish to transit to smart cities to examine their
understanding of the maturity level cannot close the digital readiness for DPP as a contribution to social sustainability.
divide (Anthopoulos and Tougountzoglou, 2012). Therefore,
measuring the readiness and acceptance of the stakeholders to First, Van Empel (2008) established a comprehensive frame-
be introduced to the DPP can avoid improper or even smart work of indicators based on which ‘proper’ citizen partici-
city’s abandonment. pation can be achieved. The framework consists of 18
indicators covering a wide spectrum of participation-related
In this context, the aim of this part is to gather the factors that factors. Although this study is comprehensive and covers a
can compose an assessment criterion to evaluate the readiness wide range of indicators that are directly related to citizen par-
and acceptance of the concept of DPP through the identifi- ticipation and its level of effectiveness, it does not categorise
cation of what is to be considered when integrating DPP. the indicators based on their relevance to stakeholder’s inter-
Many researchers have identified the factors and indicators ests and expectations. Second, the study by Delitheou et al.
that are directly related to the process of DPP. For example, (2019) investigated the characteristics of digital citizen partici-
the availability of resources was one of the factors indicated by pation by analysing two case studies in two different cities in
Brody et al. (2003), who considered making resources available Greece, wherein traditional public participation is the domi-
for public participation as the first step towards the prep- nant mode of citizens’ involvement in urban planning. The
aration of proper participation along with a structured plan finding of the study summarised five elements to achieve
and general guidelines for smooth public participation. digital citizen participation – that is, flexible accessibility, time,
Another factor is when introducing the participants to the information, motivation and feedback. This study has the
planning process. Brody et al. (2003) emphasised that citizen same drawback as the previous research, as it does not dis-
participation shall be as early as possible and continue tinguish between the indicators that are related to the govern-
throughout the full decision-making process. Wilson et al. mental organisation and the ones that are related to the
(2019) also stressed the importance of getting the citizen participants. It instead focuses on factors related to citizens
involved in the planning stage as early as possible to gain fruit- only.
ful results. The United Nations, however, suggests the involve-
ment of citizens through all different stages ‘(i) at the early This shortcoming was addressed by the third study conducted
stages to enhance public problem definition and to identify by Bouzguenda et al. (2020), who developed another list of
acceptable policy options; (ii) through the implementation assessment factors that have to be considered in the context of
stages by facilitating dialogue to support policy inclusiveness digital participation based on a comprehensive review of the
and (iii) to receive feedback while monitoring and evaluating literature. The authors grouped these factors into two cat-
public policy programmes and their outcomes, which is key to egories; government-related factors and citizens-related factors.
continuous improvements in the delivery of public goods and Governmental organisation-related set of factors focuses
services’ (DESA | United Nations). These stages include; mainly on the trust between citizens and organisations that can
design, implementation as well as evaluation (Simonofski be earned through the proper representativeness of the partici-
et al., 2017). Whereas, Delitheou et al. (2019) emphasised that pants who shall also be involved in participation as early as
information about the potential participants is required to possible through adequate infrastructure underpinned ICT
ensure relevant and accurate data collection and indicated that technology to experience full-fledged engagement in the
motivation is essential to encourage public participation, decision making. In comparison, the society-related set of
especially for younger generations who are not familiar with factors focuses on the participants and their perceptions
the participation. Furthermore, to achieve fair participation, towards the digital participation process that is affected directly
Brody et al. (2003) highlighted the importance of easy and by their level of education, awareness and digital literacy.

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Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

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Table 1. Factors and indicators related to public participation assessment

Study Indicators Description

Van Empel (2008) Administration Refers to the availability of the resources/time required to conduct the participation.
Objective Outlines the level of participation based on the objective.
Stage At which the participation should occur.
Targeting Defines the type of participants and stakeholders.
Techniques Refers to the type of involvement (one-way or two-way communication).
Information Type of topics to be discussed with the citizens.
Legitimacy Responsibly treats participants’ input while shaping the final decision.
Ideology/Values Establishes mutual understanding from different participants’ opinions to come up with the
best result.
Fairness To build trust and equal communication between government and citizens.
Equal power Refer to the openness of the process.
Leadership Establish the process of decision making.
Competence To make sure that the required level of knowledge among participants is available.
Social learning Enables the understanding of the concerns of participants.
Efficacy Refers to participants’ acceptance of participation.
Responsiveness Measures the relevancy of decision making concerning the participant’s opinions.
Representativeness Measures the level of participants’ readiness to participate.
Capacity Measures the opportunities of participants to participate.
Willingness Refers to participants’ motivation.
Delitheou et al. Flexible accessibility To get active and real participation, participation has to be through easy access (from work or
(2019) home) at their own time.
Time To encourage more citizens to involve, and to keep their interest, the involvement procedure
shall be within a short period.
Information Participants’ information is required to make sure of relevant and accurate data collection.
Involvement platform can be connected with often used social media to ensure that
required information can reach a wide spectrum of citizens.
Motivation Enhancement of citizen participation can occur through the active interaction between
participants, wherein good ideas can be appraised.
Feedback To allow the citizen to give their feedback on the participation process and suggest any
enhancement for a better experience.
Bouzguenda et al. Indicators related to governmental organisation
(2020) Trust in citizens Level of trust expressed by the organisation in the citizens’ opinions and ideas.
Behaviour and attitude Planner’s behaviour and attitude towards citizen participation.
IT support Strategic support/availability of online resources (IT experts + software).
Indicators related to society
Demographics Neighbourhood/population demographic characteristics
Trust in participation Level of trust in the concept of citizen participation in city planning
Trust in organisation Level of trust in the influence of the community’s opinion on the organisation’s decision.
Technology utilisation Technology utilisation tendencies
Privacy Privacy concerns within online environments

Additionally, their level of accessibility to the internet as well that coincides with the concept of digital citizen participation
as capability to utilise technology to participate are considered. (Vinod Kumar and Dahiya, 2017), especially in the context of
Table 2 compares the three studies considered in this section. urban planning (Anthopoulos and Vakali, 2012). The relation-
ship between being ‘sustainable’ and being ‘smart’ is inevitable
5. Discussion and conculsion as smart devices will not only help people to use energy wisely
SSCs are being promoted as solutions for the urbanisation but also empower them to live more efficiently and effectively
paradigm and all its associated challenges (Wu and Chen, (Pantić et al., 2021). In the same vein, the middle east region
2021). Hanania (2020) argued that cities around the world also witnessed endeavours towards the achievement of ‘smart-
need a smart ‘upgrade’ using digital technology in order to be ness’ and ‘sustainability’ within their cities such as Masdar and
able to meet people’s expectations in the digital era, and Zayed cities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai smart city in Dubai
address recent challenges such as congestion and pollution. (Digital UAE, 2022) as well as the city of Neom in Saudi
That urged, many countries around the world to seek environ- Arabia (Tomorrow City, 2022). Henceforth, it was necessary
mental, social and economic sustainability through the for Oman to cope up with all global and regional changes and
implementation of the smart city concept (Patrão et al., 2020), take the step towards future SSCs.

13
Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

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Table 2. Comparison between the three studies related to the assessment criteria for DPP
Van Empel Bouzguenda
Criteria (2008) et al. (2020) Delitheou et al. (2019)

Directly related to citizens participation in urban planning 3 3 3

Based on a comprehensive literature review 3 3 Based on case studies
Directly related to the digital practice Not specified 3 3
Segregate related governmental factors from the citizen’s related Not specified 3 Measures citizen-related factors
factors only

This study is envisioned to achieve two objectives. The first regulate digital citizens’ participation as an official practice in
objective is to understand and highlight the local governmental the context of the urban planning process that is essential for
policies in Oman towards the implementation of SSCs, in the smart city implementation (Anthopoulos and Vakali,
which digital citizen participation in urban planning or what is 2012). In addition, the participation process was limited to the
referred to as DPP is a key element that can determine the strategic level with no participation at the detailing and design
success or failure of any SSC initiatives (Bouzguenda et al., levels. The smart city concept consists of several components
2020). The second objective is to establish a generic evaluation (Chourabi et al., 2012) and dimensions (Camboim et al.,
framework that consists of several factors and indicators 2019), and it is mainly built on the concept of citizens empow-
that can assess policymakers to develop local tools to measure erment and partnership in the process of decision making
stakeholders’ readiness to adopt DPP. By measuring the (Vinod Kumar and Dahiya, 2017) on which social sustainabil-
readiness of the stakeholders, policy makers can identify chal- ity can be achieved (Mappiasse, 2015). Noteworthy here is that
lenges and opportunities of DPP in Oman and what are the although Oman Vision 2040 has capitalised on the involve-
required actions to be considered going forward similar to ment of the private sector, a balance in participation should be
other researcher studies that elaborated issues in different sought between those who have the wealth and therefore are
countries in the region such as Dubai (Alawadi and Dooling, able to fund initiatives on one hand, and the less privileged sta-
2016; BinTouq, 2014), Saudi Arabia (Alsayel, 2016), Egypt keholders who are willing to get their voice heard on the other
(Kiwan et al., 2021) and Iran (Mahdavinejad and Amini, hand. Achieving equality and fairness in participation is one
2011). of the main requirements for social sustainability. Therefore,
relaying on the private sector alone might compromise
The information extracted from literature has shown that this requirement. Existing models for participation such as
Oman has started to pave the way for Omani SSCs motivated Arnstein ladder of citizen participation (Arnstein, 1969) could
by Oman Vision 2040. The country has witnessed few IT help to determine the level of participation and impact
initiatives, such as Oman digital society portal (Omanuna), required at each stage and for each group of stakeholders to
and Oman smart city platform. All these initiatives have con- achieve the desired balance and therefore minimise inequality.
sidered the Omani citizen as a cornerstone of its implemen- The main characteristic of participation within the smart city
tation. For instance, Omanuna aims to encourage citizens’ context is the equal access that can be obtained through the
involvement by providing them with meaningful interaction digital mode of the involvement using the ICT (Wu et al.,
and communication channels with the government through e- 2010).
services (Omanuna, 2017). Similarly, the Oman smart city plat-
form supports citizens’ participation in innovations and smart Therefore, to foster the process of achieving Omani SSCs and
city solutions (Smart City Platform, 2021). However, none of ensure a smooth and effective transition, DPP should be effec-
these attempts is explicitly related to urban planning and tively integrated into Oman’s policies and regulations. The par-
design, and both are either providing one way of communi- ticipation process should be as exclusive as possible and
cation or not fully activated to the level of achieving satisfac- therefore should include all types of stakeholders, Omanis and
tory participation. In the context of urban planning, the Oman expatriate, business owners and workers, in order to achieve
government has launched the ONSS programme that is under- equality. However, prior to doing so, the maturity level of
taken by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning. The accepting the concept of DPP has to be assessed for both the
programme is envisaged on the concept of promoting citizens’ government as well as society. The necessity of determining the
involvement in urban planning. Although the ministry has maturity level lies behind the fact that unready stakeholders
already conducted several workshops with local stakeholders for the DPP, may jeopardise the smart city implementations,
under this programme, yet the participation was limited to which in turn causes significant financial and social conse-
selected stakeholders including Omanis and non-Omanis. The quences. Hence, the need for an assessment framework to
ministry has not adopted a consolidated methodology to identify the readiness and acceptance level to integrate DPP in

14
Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

Offprint provided courtesy of www.icevirtuallibrary.com

Author copy for personal use, not for distribution

Table 3. Proposed factors in assessing readiness for DPP

Factors (Bouzguenda et al.,
2019) Relevant indicators (Delitheou et al., 2019; Van Empel, 2008)

Government-related factors Trust in citizen opinion Objective: outlines the level of participation.
Stage: at which stage the participation should occur.
Responsiveness: relevancy of decision making concerning the
participant’s opinions.
Equal power and fairness: the openness of the process, equal
communication between government and citizens.
Planner behaviour towards citizen Information: type of topics to be discussed with the citizens.
comments Legitimacy: responsibly treats participants’ input.
Availability of infrastructure Techniques: refers to the type of involvement (one-way or two-way
(experts/software) communication).
Administration: refers to the availability of the resources.
Citizen and communities- Characteristics Target: defines the type of participants.
related factors Competence: level of education.
Level of trust in citizen Efficacy: participants’ acceptance of the participation concept.
participation Willingness: participants’ motivation.
Technology tendency Capacity: opportunities of participants to participate.
Representativeness: participants’ readiness to participate.
Competence in tech.: level of literacy in technology among participants.
Privacy concern Social learning: Participants’ awareness of privacy-related concerns.

the planning process of smart cities is vital. Through the planners actually behave towards the participation process.
careful review of key literature related to the DPP topic, a Moreover, since the framework assesses the digital practice of
generic framework is proposed, as shown in Table 3. The citizens’ participation, the availability of necessary infrastruc-
list of factors by Bouzguenda et al. (2020) has been considered ture plays a crucial role in determining the readiness of the
as the base of the proposed framework, and each of the factors government for DPP. This factor included indicators related to
was assigned with indicators from both major studies by administration aspects and the techniques that need to be
Van Empel (2008) and Delitheou et al. (2019). The proposed adopted based on which the type of software and experts can
framework comprises two categories of factors; the first be provided.
category highlights issues related to the government’s
willingness to adopt the DPP concept. In contrast, the second In the citizens and communities related category, four main
category measures the citizens’ acceptance and trust in factors have been considered to check if the citizens are mature
DPP. The government-related factors include the level of enough to utilise DPP. It is worth noting that here the reasons
trust in citizens opinion that can be identified by the level of behind citizen’s level of maturity for DPP are not addressed,
participation (Arnstein, 1969), the stage at which the citizens rather the aim to develop factors and indicators to assess this
are allowed to get involved (Wilson et al., 2019), the level of level in order to help policymakers to make an informed
how responsible government will react towards citizens opinion decision regarding DPP implementation strategies as explained
and the willingness of providing equal access to all citizens earlier is considered. These factors include the characteristics
(Van Empel, 2008). The trust in citizens opinion was also which present the demographic profile of the community and
touched on by Simonofski et al. (2021) who argued that trust their knowledge level of the concept of citizens’ participation
can be achieved when governments acknowledge that citizens’ as certain socio-demographic factors such as age, education,
involvement can bring solutions that they have n’t considered gender and income are directly related to citizens acceptance
before. to participate (Li et al., 2020). The second factor in this cat-
egory composes the level of trust of the citizens towards the
Another factor in this category concerns the planner behaviour practice of their involvement, since building the trust in the
towards citizens’ comments, which is addressed through the policy makers as well as the process is essential for meaningful
type of information provided to the participants and how rel- outturns (Cohen and Wiek, 2017). This factor is identified by
evant the final decision is to the participants’ concerns. The three associated indicators, namely, fairness of the process,
importance of this factor was justified by Li et al. (2020), who which allows all citizens to participate efficaciously and to
highlighted that in some cases planners tend to involve the have willingness. Moreover, the readiness of the digital aspect
public just to satisfy the legislation process. Therefore, it was is measured through the factor of technology tendency that
important to include this factor to evaluate how would reflects citizens’ capacity to use new technologies, their

15
Urban Design and Planning Towards sustainable smart cities: a study
on digital participatory planning in Oman
Sameer, Alalouch, Saleh, Al-Saadi and Saleem

Offprint provided courtesy of www.icevirtuallibrary.com

Author copy for personal use, not for distribution

readiness to participate, and their skills using the internet in that the readiness of both the society and the government for
the DPP. Making sure of citizens digital literacy would illumi- DPP should be carefully assessed before the transition to
nate the possibility of having digital divide among the partici- smart city is put in place in order to inform a gradual
pants (Nikki Han and Kim, 2021). A final concern in this and rational transition to smart cities in the developing
category is related to the privacy concerns that are citizens countries. At a practical level, the study provides a generic and
may have towards the participation process. flexible framework, which can be used by policymakers to
assess the readiness of the society and the concerned auth-
The above factors and indicators compose a generic framework orities for citizen digital participation during smart city plan-
that can be deployed to measure and understand the level of ning processing.
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