What makes a smart village smart? A review of the literature
Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy
ISSN: 1750-6166
Article publication date: 22 February 2022
Issue publication date: 12 July 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Smart villages (SVs) have lately attracted considerable attention, but what does the term mean? This literature review aims to explore its ambiguous nature and to identify main theoretical and practical aspects to be further explored in the conceptualisation and implementation of these initiatives.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis draws upon a review of 79 references from the grey and academic literature on SVs, identified through a systematic search of academic databases and snowball sampling.
Findings
This review highlights how the definition and characterisation of SVs is currently shaped by disciplinary backgrounds and geographical contexts. SVs are often viewed as the rural version of smart cities or an innovative model for rural development, but there has been little engagement in the literature with other debates around rurality and sustainable development. It is only through engaging with these other debates that a better understanding of the term will emerge.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to conduct a systematic review on SVs. In addition to identifying the main trends in the conceptualisations and design of these initiatives, this paper contributes to the academic debate on smart rural development and provides useful recommendations to both policy makers and practitioners.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
A previous version of this paper was presented at International Telecommunications Society Biennial Conference in July 2021.
Citation
Gerli, P., Navio Marco, J. and Whalley, J. (2022), "What makes a smart village smart? A review of the literature", Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 292-304. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-07-2021-0126
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited