Public–private partnership in a smart city: A curious case in Japan
| Published date | 01 September 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00208523211051839 |
| Author | Daniela Pianezzi,Yuji Mori,Shahzad Uddin |
| Date | 01 September 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Public–private partnership
in a smart city: A curious
case in Japan
Daniela Pianezzi
University of Essex, UK
Yuji Mori
University of Shizouka, Japan
Shahzad Uddin
University of Essex, UK
Abstract
Previous studies have overlooked how partnerships between public and private actors
(PPPs) play out as an effect of cultural and historical conditions in the context of a
smart city. Our analysis investigates the peculiar context of Japan, where smart city
initiatives stem from a historically and culturally embedded “partnership”between gov-
ernment and businesses. Unlike other smart city settings, the adoption of a neoliberal
logic of an all-embracing market world by prioritizing business interests over other
civic issues is not inevitable. This paper contributes to the literature on PPPs and
smart cities by presenting the case of a partnership between public and private actors
that overcomes the antagonistic and transactional relationship problematized in previous
studies. We demonstrate that the workings of PPPs are historically and culturally embed-
ded. Thus, we caution policy-makers against adopting a universal framework for partner-
ships in smart city initiatives. In the case of Japan, we advocate for long term orientations
of projects instead of the short-term goals espoused by smart city initiatives.
Keywords
public–private partnership, smart city, Japan
Corresponding author:
Daniela Pianezzi, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK.
E-mail: daniela.pianezzi@essex.ac.uk
Article
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
2023, Vol. 89(3) 632–647
© The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/00208523211051839
journals.sagepub.com/home/ras
1. Introduction
Smart cities have been defined in the literature according to three key criteria: smart tech-
nology, smart people and smart collaboration (Appio et al., 2019; Baron, 2012; Meijer
and Bolívar, 2016). The urban deployment of smart technology (information and commu-
nication technologies) is key in the smart city discourse (Angelidou, 2017; Baron, 2012),
but several studies have also suggested that it is the inhabitants that make a city “smart”
(Meijer and Bolívar, 2016). In other words, smart cities are those that attract and cultivate
highly educated people (Shapiro, 2006).
The third criterion, i.e. “smart collaboration”, the focus of this study, refers to the
involvement of a wide variety of stakeholders—including citizens—in the governance
of the city (Ruhlandt, 2018). In particular, “smart collaboration”calls for local govern-
ments to partner with companies to address wicked urban problems, such as population
health, pollution, and climate change (Koppenjan et al., 2004). Despite “smart collabor-
ation”being seen as a distinctive characteristic of smart cities (Appio et al., 2019; Nesti,
2020; Rodríguez-Bolívar, 2015), we know little about how public and private actors col-
laborate to transform a city into a smart city (Rodríguez-Bolívar, 2015). The collaborative
model of public–private partnerships (PPPs) has offered a blueprint for the development
of smart city projects but there is little literature exploring its adoption in the smart city
context (Liu et al., 2020; Ruhlandt, 2018). Our study addresses this gap by investigating
how do public and private actors collaborate in transforming a city into a smart city?
In carrying out this investigation, we build on previous studies that have analyzed
PPPs as a contingent and culturally situated practice (Koppenjan and de Jong, 2018;
Steijn et al., 2011). As noticed by Wang et al. (2018), “informal institutions (e.g.
culture and custom)”(p. 312) may influence the adoption and success of PPPs. These
partnerships, which originated in the USA, indeed acquire different forms in contexts
with different governance traditions (Koppenjan and de Jong, 2018; Steijn et al.,
2011). The Japanese case is one that deserves in-depth investigation because of the
highly distinctive historical patterns of partnerships between private and public actors
(Hollands, 2015). In particular, values that are characteristic of the Japanese culture,
such as “stability, goodwill and mutual obligation”(Domberger et al., 1997: 778), are
said to enable cooperative rather than contractual relationship between organizations.
This paper thus explores how PPPs have emerged in the Japanese context with a specific
view on smart city initiatives.
The following sections offer an overview of the existing literature on PPPs in smart
cities and a description of the research method adopted in the study. We then provide
a critical discussion on PPPs in Japanese smart city initiatives with a focus on
Yokohama City. The paper finishes with some concluding remarks.
2. PPPs in smart cities
Public–private partnerships are a key component of neoliberal reforms such as new public
management, which praises private sector involvement in public decision-making and in
the delivery of public services (Hood, 1991). Despite the global diffusion of
Pianezzi et al. 633
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