Public Trust in Smart Cities: Survey Insights from Singapore

Abstract

The smart city concept is an increasingly popular policy framework, and recent advances in artificial intelligence figure to shape smart city development in new and unanticipated ways. As public and private investment in smart city projects accelerates, it is prudent to consider how these projects shape and are shaped by public trust – an issue about which there is a growing body of research but lingering theoretical questions. This study investigates factors that shape public trust in smart cities and government technology, examining a range of issues including public awareness, government communication, personal ideals and aspirations, and personal perceptions and expectations. Data come from a 2021 survey in Singapore (N=1,500). The country is representative, in part, of those with high developmental ambitions and sufficient resources to fully pursue smart city programs. This study seeks to deepen scholarly and practical understandings about the mutually necessary but sometimes diverging forces of public trust in technology and public trust in government.

Keywords: smart cities, public trust, political legitimacy, public service delivery, quality-of-life