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RESEARCH PRODUCT

The Impact of Smart City Initiatives on Human Rights

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Abstract: A smart city is a phenomenon where municipalities engage with stakeholders to use ICT for increasing efficiency, sustainability, and quality of life for its citizens and city operations. However, smart city initiatives can at times challenge human rights. While particular human rights such as privacy have been subject to analysis in the digital government field, a complete view on human rights in smart cities has so far been missing in our discipline. It is mainly studies from other disciplines that voice comprehensive concerns about potentially negative impacts of smart cities on human rights. However, they often lack the technological background. This paper reports on a pilot study as an initial exploration of the phenomenon in the digital government field. In our research, we studied both the positive and negative effects of smart cities on human rights by conducting qualitative interviews with citizens and municipal employees with central roles in smart city initiatives. Our results suggest that in addition to privacy and security, the human rights of freedom of expression, adequate standard of living, and equal access to public services are likely to be affected by smart city initiatives.