Smart cities but unequal realities: perceived inclusiveness in Amsterdam’s digital urban governance

As cities worldwide increasingly adopt smart technologies to address urban challenges, questions arise about the inclusiveness of these developments, especially in cities with strong neoliberal influences. This thesis investigates how Amsterdam’s smart governance instruments, such as its agendas, action plans, programmes, budgets, and strategies, appear to affect perceived social, spatial and economic inclusion among its citizens, and what types of people are experiencing a higher or lower sense of inclusiveness as perceived by themselves. While the city positions itself as a leading example of (responsible) digital innovation, concerns remain about whether all groups benefit equally from its smart city agenda. To explore this, the research employed a mixed-method cast study design. It combined document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and a citizen survey (n=332). A conceptual framework was developed from existing inclusiveness frameworks, some related to smart cities as well (World Bank; Tekin & Dikmen; Waghmare & Singhal), adapted for the Amsterdam context. This framework was used to both analyse official documents and formulate relevant survey questions. The framework is structured around three dimensions of inclusion: social, spatial, and economic inclusion, and within those dimensions, relevant aspects. Findings reveal that while Amsterdam’s smart city intentions often mention aspects of inclusiveness, operationalisation remains vague and uneven across policy documents and inclusion dimensions. Survey results show that some aspects of social, spatial, and economic inclusion are perceived as positive (equal rights, digital skills, smart services), while others are perceived as negative (participation, smart infrastructure, inclusive economic growth). Regression results also show that age, income, education, and physical disability significantly shape inclusiveness perspectives, with elderly, lower-income, lower educated, and physically disabled individuals reporting lower levels of perceived inclusion in the smart city landscape of Amsterdam. This thesis contributes a grounded, citizen-centred perspective on urban digitisation and smartening the city and introduces a practical assessment tool for measuring (perceived) inclusion. It also offers policy recommendations to improve inclusiveness through more specified operationalisation, targeted strategies, and more robust citizen engagement. As smart technologies become more embedded in the urban fabric, making sure they benefit all residents, not only tech-literate and affluent individuals, is key to sustainable urban governance.