Humanistic aspects of public governance in smart city development
Abstract
The article examines the humanistic foundations of public policy for smart city development in Ukraine, the European Union, and the world as a whole. Humanistic aspects are defined as social inclusion, ethical public governance, digital justice, participation and civic engagement, ethnic and cultural identity, and environmental sustainability. The paper proposes an interpretation of digital humanism in public governance of smart city development as a normative–value and governance paradigm according to which digital technologies are regarded as instruments serving individuals, communities, and the public good, and are implemented under the priority of human dignity, rights and freedoms, social justice, democratic accountability, and inclusiveness of the urban environment. It is emphasized that digital humanism and digital ethics are not synonymous but complementary categories, since digital humanism defines the value orientations and meaning of urban digital transformation, while digital ethics establishes the rules and boundaries for the practical use of digital technologies.
The dominance of a technocratic approach in smart city development governance processes is noted. A critical analysis of smart city components shows that each of them contains inherent humanistic contradictions. Humanistic and ethical problems of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into smart city systems are examined. The following humanistic challenges of smart city development are identified: depersonalization of individuals and a technocratic bias; algorithmic opacity and the problem of governmental accountability; violations of privacy and excessive surveillance; algorithmic discrimination and social injustice; the digital divide and exclusion of citizens from governance; commercialization of urban data and loss of sovereignty, among others.
An analysis of the formalization and institutionalization of the humanistic foundations of public governance of smart city development in the EU and Ukraine is conducted. For Ukraine, the article proposes the following directions for change: the development of a human-centric public governance concept for smart city development harmonized with the EU model; institutionalization of the principles of digital humanism and digital ethics in legislation on local self-government and digital governance; introduction of mandatory transparency mechanisms, human-in-the-loop approaches, and public oversight of AI use; development of digital inclusion and citizens’ competencies; and implementation of post-war urban recovery projects in Ukraine based on the principles of rationality, digital humanism, and digital ethics.
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