MEASURING THE CAPACITY OF LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES TO ADOPT AN URBAN E-GOVERNANCE POLICY USING A SMART SYNTHETIC MODEL

Abstract

One of the main problems of urban governance in Algeria is bureaucracy. Based on the experience of other countries, the concept of smart cities is becoming increasingly important, including urban e-governance which is considered as an important corner stone of smart cities. Hence, e-governance is proposed as a new tool to solve urban governance problems. Its main objectives are focused on strengthening credibility and accountability. This paper tried to assess the ability of Algiers bay municipalities to adopt urban e-governance policies and to see strategies to be deployed to solve urban related problems. To achieve this goal, the work presented in this paper describes the development of a Smart Synthetic (SS) model that could serve as a tool for policy makers to assess their policies and to identify ways to solve urban problems. This ‘SS model’ is based on the findings of relevant, locally based case studies from the bay area, to which the model is later applied. In order to achieve this, the authors opted for a Multi-Attribute Value Theory method. The application of the model revealed that of a total of nine municipalities, four are in a position to adopt an urban e-governance policy. However, the remaining ones have not yet been able to adopt such a policy, due to several barriers which are mainly related to the governance policy. The advantage of this model is therefore its flexibility. It could even be adapted to evaluate urban e-governance in other cities.