{"paper_id":"2f60729b-a090-4228-9887-a152467883db","body_text":"Digital Justice in the Smart City Developing a Framework for Participatory Digitalisation Strategies at the Local Level | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Digital Justice in the Smart City Developing a Framework for Participatory Digitalisation Strategies at the Local Level Ralf Schüle, Michael Pollok, Orhan Güleş This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3233960/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 02 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Universal Access in the Information Society → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract An integrated consideration of digital inequalities in smart cities is relatively new to most discussions of the subject, and an applicable research framework for the assessment and management of digital inequalities in the smart city is still lacking. This paper proposes a framework for an action-oriented approach to analyse and strategically reduce digital injustices in smart cities. There are five requirements for creating digital justice: the availability of a concept with sufficiently allocated resources, the availability of digital infrastructures and technologies, programmes for learning digital competencies, offerings for citizen participation and a holistic perspective on the global dimensions of digital justice. For different case studies, we assess the coverage, integration and impact of these features. The analysis confirms that the proposed methodological approach can record and evaluate strategies for digital participation in smart cities. Smart City Strategy Program Evaluation Digital Justice Citizen Participation Digital Competencies Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 02 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Universal Access in the Information Society → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 17 Feb, 2025 Reviews received at journal 17 Feb, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 03 Feb, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Mar, 2024 Reviews received at journal 29 Feb, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Feb, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 25 Aug, 2023 Editor assigned by journal 25 Aug, 2023 Submission checks completed at journal 09 Aug, 2023 First submitted to journal 04 Aug, 2023 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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