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This paper aims to spark a debate by presenting the need for developing data ecosystems in Europe that meet the social and public good while committing to democratic and ethical standards; suggesting a taxonomy of data infrastructures and institutions to support this need; using the case study of Barcelona as the flagship city trailblazing a critical policy agenda of smart cities to show the limitations and contradictions of the current state of affairs; and ultimately, proposing a preliminary roadmap for institutional and governance empowerment that could enable effective data ecosystems in Europe.

This paper draws on lessons learned in previous publications available in the sustainability (Calzada, 2018), regions (Calzada and Cowie, 2017; Calzada, 2019), Zenodo (Calzada and Almirall, 2019), RSA Journal (Calzada, 2019) and IJIS (Calzada, 2020) journals and ongoing and updated fieldwork about the Barcelona case study stemming from an intensive fieldwork action research that started in 2017. The methodology used in these publications was based on the mixed-method technique of triangulation via action research encompassing in-depth interviews, direct participation in policy events and desk research. The case study was identified as the most effective methodology.

This paper, drawing from lessons learned from the Barcelona case study, elucidates on the need to establish pan-European data infrastructures and institutions – collectively data ecosystems – to protect citizens’ digital rights in European cities and regions. The paper reveals three main priorities proposing a preliminary roadmap for local and regional governments, namely, advocacy, suggesting the need for city and regional networks; governance, requiring guidance and applied, neutral and non-partisan research in policy; and pan-European agencies, leading and mobilising data infrastructures and institutions at the European level.

From the very beginning, this paper acknowledges its ambition, and thus its limitations and clarifies its attempt to provide just an overview rather than a deep research analysis. This paper presents several research limitations and implications regarding the scope. The paper starts by presenting the need for data ecosystems, then structures this need through two taxonomies, all illustrated through the Barcelona case study and finally, concludes with a roadmap consisting of three priorities. The paper uses previous published and ongoing fieldwork findings in Barcelona as a way to lead, and thus encourage the proliferation of more cases through Cities Coalition for Digital Rights (CCDR).

This paper presents practical implications for local and regional authorities of the CCDR network. As such, the main three priorities of the preliminary roadmap could help those European cities and regions already part of the CCDR network to establish and build operational data ecosystems by establishing a comprehensive pan-European policy from the bottom-up that aligns with the timely policy developments advocated by the European Commission. This paper can inspire policymakers by providing guidelines to better coordinate among a diverse set of cities and regions in Europe.

The leading data governance models worldwide from China and the USA and the advent of Big Data are dramatically reshaping citizens’ relationship with data. Against this backdrop and directly influenced by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Europe has, perhaps, for the first time, spoken with its own voice by blending data and smart city research and policy formulations. Inquiries and emerging insights into the potential urban experiments on data ecosystems, consisting of data infrastructures and institutions operating in European cities and regions, become increasingly crucial. Thus, the main social implications are for those multi-stakeholder policy schemes already operating in European cities and regions.

In previous research, data ecosystems were not directly related to digital rights amidst the global digital geopolitical context and, more specifically, were not connected to the two taxonomies (on data infrastructures and institutions) that could be directly applied to a case study, like the one presented about Barcelona. Thus, this paper shows novelty and originality by also opening up (based on previous fieldwork action research) a way to take strategic action to establish a pan-European strategy among cities and regions through three specific priorities. This paper can ultimately support practice and lead to new research and policy avenues.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of various cultural amenities on tourism demand in 168 European cities.

Using data from the European Commission’s Culture and Creative Cities Monitor 2017, a series of regressions are estimated to examine the impact of various cultural amenities on tourism demand while also controlling for other factors that may impact on tourism demand. Diagnostic tests are also conducted to check the robustness of the results.

The results reveal that cultural amenities in the form of sights, landmarks, museums, concerts and shows have a positive impact on tourism demand. By pinpointing the cultural amenities that are important for increasing tourism demand, the findings aid stakeholders in the tourism industry as they develop post-pandemic recovery plans.

This paper identifies two key aspects of the cultural tourism literature that require deeper investigation and aims to address these aspects. Firstly, while many studies focus on a specific or narrow range of cultural amenities, this study includes a series of measures to capture a range of cultural amenities. Secondly, while many studies are narrow in geographical scope, this paper includes data on 168 European cities across 30 countries.

This study investigates the relationship between the strength of innovative entrepreneurial ecosystems and subjective well-being in 43 European smart cities. Subjective well-being is operationalized by a Quality of Life (QOL) survey that references the level of multidimensional satisfaction or happiness expressed by residents at the city level. The entrepreneurial ecosystem concept depicted here highlights actor interdependence that creates new value in a specific community by undertaking innovative entrepreneurial activities. The research uses objective and subjective variables to analyze the relationships between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and subjective well-being.

The authors conducted a cluster analysis with a nonaggregative quantitative approach based on the theory of the partially ordered set (poset); the objective was to find significant smart city level relationships between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and subjective well-being.

The strength of the entrepreneurial ecosystem is positively related to subjective well-being only in large cities. This result confirms a strong interdependency between the creation of innovative entrepreneurial activities and subjective well-being in large cities. The smart cities QOL dimensions showing higher correlations with the entrepreneurial ecosystem include urban welfare, economic well-being and environmental quality, such as information and communications technology (ICT) and mobility.

Despite the main implications being properly referred to large cities, the governments of smart cities should encourage and promote programs to improve citizens' subjective well-being and to create a conducive entrepreneurship environment.

This study is one of the few contributions focused on the relationship between the entrepreneurial smart city ecosystem and subjective well-being in the urban environment.

There is widespread agreement that the tourism sector should address the issue of sustainability. The purpose of this study is to analyze the digital accessibility of the cities awarded as European Capitals of Smart Tourism for their innovative, accessible and sustainable practices by the European Commission.

An analysis of the digital level of accessibility of 50 uniform resource locator (URL) of European cities was undertaken. The analysis followed the international evaluation requirements of the World Wide Web (W3C).

The results show that none of the official Web pages analyzed obtained 100% in relation to the digital accessibility requirements. The main factors that pose barriers to communication and interaction were identified.

The paper encourages smart tourism destinations to overcome the challenge of matching both dimensions of accessibility to obtain barrier-free information to ensure cities are inclusive and sustainable in line with Agenda 2030 (sustainable development goal [SDG] 11).

The concept of tourism for all receives special attention in the sector, and this notion is reflected in the UN SDGs. However, accessibility has not been extensively analyzed in relation to the cohesion between the digital and the physical dimension. Tourism research tends to focus on accessible experiences within destinations. This paper introduces a new insight into the key issue of digital accessibility, which can promote destination choice and influence the tourism experience.

人们普遍认为, 旅游业应该解决可持续性问题。本研究旨在分析被欧盟委员会授予欧洲智慧旅游之都的城市的数字可及性, 以了解其创新、可及和可持续的做法。

对50个欧洲城市的URL的数字可及性进行了分析。该分析遵循万维网（W3C）的国际评估标准。

结果显示, 所分析的官方网页中没有一个获得100%的数字无障碍要求。对交流和互动构成障碍的主要因素被确认。

全民旅游的概念在该领域受到特别关注, 这一概念也反映在联合国可持续发展目标（SDGs）中。然而, 无障碍性还没有被广泛地分析到数字和物理层面之间的凝聚力。旅游研究倾向于关注目的地内的无障碍体验。本文对数字可及性这一关键问题提出了新的见解, 它可以促进目的地的选择并影响旅游体验。

本文鼓励智能旅游目的地克服挑战, 使无障碍环境的两个维度相匹配, 以获得无障碍信息, 确保城市的包容性和可持续性符合2030年议程（SDG 11）。

Existe un acuerdo generalizado en el sector turístico para abordar la cuestión de la sostenibilidad. Este estudio pretende analizar la accesibilidad digital de las ciudades premiadas como Capitales Europeas del Turismo Inteligente por sus prácticas innovadoras, accesibles y sostenibles por la Comisión Europea.

Se realizó un análisis del nivel de accesibilidad digital de cincuenta (50) URL de ciudades europeas. El análisis siguió las normas internacionales de evaluación de la World Wide Web (W3C).

Los resultados muestran que ninguna de las páginas Web oficiales analizadas obtuvo el 100% en relación con los requisitos de accesibilidad digital. Se identificaron los principales factores que suponen barreras para la comunicación y la interacción.

El concepto de turismo para todos recibe especial atención en el sector y esta noción se refleja en los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de la ONU. Sin embargo, la accesibilidad no se ha analizado ampliamente en relación con la cohesión entre la dimensión digital y la física. La investigación turística tiende a centrarse en las experiencias accesibles dentro de los destinos. Este artículo introduce una nueva perspectiva sobre la cuestión clave de la accesibilidad digital, que puede promover la elección del destino e influir en la experiencia turística.

El documento anima a los destinos turísticos inteligentes a superar el reto de hacer coincidir ambas dimensiones de la accesibilidad para obtener información sin barreras que garantice que las ciudades sean inclusivas y sostenibles en línea con la Agenda 2030 (ODS 11).

During the evaluation of European Capital of Culture (ECoC) Aarhus 2017, the evaluation organisation rethinkIMPACTS 2017 formulated a set of “dilemmas” capturing the main challenges arising during the design of the ECoC evaluation. This functioned as a framework for the evaluation process. This paper aims to present and discuss the relevance of the “Evaluation Dilemmas Model” as subsequently applied to the Galway 2020 ECoC programme evaluation.

The paper takes an empirical approach including auto-ethnography and interview data to document and map the dilemmas involved in undertaking an evaluation in two different European cities. Evolved via a process of practice-based research, the article addresses the development of and the arguments for the dilemmas model and considers its potential for wider applicability in the evaluation of large-scale cultural projects.

The authors conclude that the “Evaluation Dilemmas Model” is a valuable heuristic for considering the endogenous and exogenous issues in cultural evaluation.

The model developed is useful for a wide range of cultural evaluation processes including – but not limited to – European Capitals of Culture.

What has not been addressed in the academic literature is the process of evaluating ECoCs; especially how evaluators often take part in an overall process that is not just about the evaluation but also planning and delivering a project that includes stakeholder management and the development of evaluation criteria, design and methods.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the metaverse platform in a social context to better understand the future of this tool in tourism cities and how this can help to improve the well-being of residents in both digital and physical scenarios.

In this paper, the current and probable developments in the metaverse, and its use in tourism cities and companies have been investigated. Moreover, this study develops, collects and examines the main metaverse definitions by expert authors and organizations as a methodology to ensure the transparency and credibility of the metaverse analysis.

Findings suggest that the fusion of the metaverse and tourism cities must create residents’ services and experiences in the new MetaTourPolis to help interact and connect citizens with the city’s institutions and companies, as well as make tourism cities more attractive, innovative, environmentally friendly and healthier places to live. Metaverse will bring new changes for residents and tourists, in fact, this virtual platform is already changing and improving the residents’ quality of life and people with disabilities in tourism cities. For instance, the metaverse platform has been implemented in Seoul, Santa Monica and Dubai MetaTourPolis to interact with their residents, including people with disabilities, to resolve bureaucratic and administrative problems, avoiding this group and the rest of the residents travelling by bus or car to the city’s institutions. In addition, several metaverse applications based on softbot tutors or metaverse virtual social centres have been developed to improve blind and impaired people, and elderly people’ quality of life, respectively.

A new concept called “MetaTourPolis” has been included to stage the relationship between tourism cities and the metaverse platform, where the fusion of metaverse and the new tourism polis of the 21st century will be at the service of citizens, tourists and companies, to create more sustainable, efficient, quantitative and environmental tourism cities.