From Smart Governance to Sustainable Urban Development: The ‎Mediating Roles of Citizen Participation and Urban Service Quality in ‎Shiraz, Iran

The transition toward sustainable urban development increasingly depends on the capacity of ‎cities to integrate digital technologies, participatory governance, efficient public services, and ‎citizen-centered planning. Although smart-city research has extensively examined technological ‎infrastructure and digital transformation, less attention has been paid to the mechanisms through ‎which smart governance may contribute to sustainable urban development through improvements ‎in citizen participation, urban service quality, and quality of life. This study develops an ‎integrated structural model to investigate these relationships in the context of Shiraz, Iran. The ‎proposed model examines the effects of smart urban governance on citizen participation and ‎urban service quality, while assessing the subsequent effects of these variables on quality of life ‎and sustainable urban development. A simulated dataset of ۳۸۴ respondents was employed to ‎demonstrate the proposed structural equation modeling framework. The simulated results ‎indicate that smart urban governance has a positive effect on citizen participation (β = ۰.۵۸) and ‎urban service quality (β = ۰.۳۱). Citizen participation also demonstrates a positive relationship ‎with urban service quality (β = ۰.۴۳), while urban service quality has a substantial positive effect ‎on quality of life (β = ۰.۵۲). Furthermore, quality of life exhibits the strongest direct relationship ‎with sustainable urban development (β = ۰.۶۷). The findings suggest that smart governance ‎should not be understood merely as technological modernization. Rather, its contribution to ‎sustainability depends on its capacity to enhance participation, improve urban services, and ‎ultimately create better living conditions. The study proposes a citizen-centered governance ‎framework for Shiraz Municipality and highlights the importance of integrated digital platforms, ‎neighborhood-based planning, participatory budgeting, data-driven service management, and ‎spatially inclusive urban policies. Because the dataset is simulated, the statistical findings are ‎methodological demonstrations and should not be interpreted as empirical estimates of Shiraz's ‎population.‎

کلیدواژه ها:

Smart Urban Governance ، Citizen Participation ، Urban Service Quality ، Quality of ‎Life ، Sustainable Urban Development ، Smart Cities ، Shiraz ، Iran.‎