TRANSFORMATIVE GOVERNANCE FRONTIERS: RELATIONAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION FOR SMART CITY INCLUSIVITY

Abstract

Smart city development initiatives aim to transform urban governance and service delivery by leveraging digital technologies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Extensive literature portrays these technologies as instruments for efficiency, control, and streamlined urban management. This instrumental logic often frames informal systems as deficiencies to be optimised, ignoring their relational, cultural and psychosocial value. The reductionist approach excludes informal systems from governance, yet in South Africa, where inequality and digital exclusion are prominent, these systems remain central to urban functioning. Consequently, the systematic literature review examined the conceptualisation of informal systems in the context of South African smart city initiatives. By repositioning informal systems as co-creators in urban governance, this study advocates for a paradigm shift from technocratic optimisation to relational inclusion. This reframing aligns with South Africa's constitutional and developmental goals, enabling transformative governance and the effective localisation of SDG 11 in sustainable cities.