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Analyzing smart cities' reporting: do they report “smart”?

Sandra Cohen (Department of Business Administration, Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Greece)
Sotirios Karatzimas (Department of Accounting and Finance, Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Greece)

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management

ISSN: 1096-3367

Article publication date: 1 October 2021

Issue publication date: 1 November 2022

608

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the reporting practices of a sample of awarded smart cities that report in English by analyzing the financial and non-financial reports published in their websites.

Design/methodology/approach

The study performs a manifest content analysis on the financial and non-financial reports published by a sample of awarded – by various networks and organizations – smart cities. Integrated Popular Reporting that builds on Integrated Reporting, Popular Reporting and ICT advancements is used as the reference paradigm to analyze the content and the characteristics of these reports.

Findings

The results indicate that smart cities' reports are mainly developed conventionally and do not embed technological advancements. However, there are several smart cities that adopt a reporting paradigm where the five capitals of Integrated Reporting, over and above the financial one, are discussed.

Originality/value

Systematizing the way the existing reports of smart cities are developed provides evidence whether smart cities adopt reporting means that are consistent with their character, as well as, the specific areas they should focus to achieve that. Toward this end, collaborations between citizens and smart city councils, in the philosophy of co-production and co-creation of public value, could prove helpful in the development of useful reports.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participants of the Annual EGPA Conference held at Belfast UK for their fruitful suggestions on earlier version of the paper.

Citation

Cohen, S. and Karatzimas, S. (2022), "Analyzing smart cities' reporting: do they report “smart”?", Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Vol. 34 No. 5, pp. 602-621. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-12-2020-0198

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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