The Different Ideological Systems of Innovation in
Smarter City Development: Case Analysis, Cultural
Explanation, and Practical Implication
智慧城市发展中创新理念的差异：案例分析、文化阐释
与实践意义
ZHANG Nan (张楠)
School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
清华大学公共管理学院 中国.北京
Nov. 14th 2013
Introduction
 Background (背景）
 Web of things, cloud computing, big data processing（物联网、云计
算、大数据……)
 Related applications in urban governance and service (城市治理与服
务中的应用）
 Different modes (不同发展模式)
 Living Lab (Almirall & Wareham, 2011)
 R&D and innovation (研发与创新)
 Full scale urban laboratories for such service development and innovation
(面向服务发展与创新的全方位城市实验室）
 Fab Lab (Beyes, 2010; Gershenfeld, 2005)
 Personal fabrication (个人制造)
 Equipped with the tools to achieve every aspect of the technology
development process (配备技术发展过程所需的各方面条件)
Introduction (Cont.)
 Smarter urban governance (SUG) practices
in Beijing (北京的智慧城市管理实践)
 have been carried out since 2006 (始自2006年)
 following the European Living Lab model (学习欧
洲的Living Lab模式)
 encourage voluntary innovation by individuals and
communities, and incorporates them into the
overall innovative system of the city (鼓励个人与社
区层面的自主创新，将上述创新活动纳入城市的整
体创新体系)
Research Questions
 What are the differences between the two
innovative ideological systems, Living Lab
and Fab Lab? (两种创新理念的差异何在?)
 How can these differences be explained ? (如
何解释这些差异)
Husted's Cultural Consequences Framework
 Cultural Consequence Theory (文化价值理论
）(Hofstede 2001)
 Based on: surveys, more than 110,000 employees,
IBM, 5 years (基于面向全球11万IBM员工的调查，
历时五年)
 National culture: the collective programming of the
mind which distinguishes the members of one
human group from another. National differences
can be interpreted in terms of national culture (国家
文化: 那些能够区分人类群体成员的共同特征)
Husted's Cultural Consequences
Framework (Cont.)
 Power Distance (权力距离) (PDI):
 highest degree of distance across social groups (e.g., boss v. employee) .
 Uncertainty Avoidance (不确定性规避) (UAI):
 discomfort with the unknown; desire to reduce ambiguity.
 Individualism/Collectivism (个人主义/集体主义)
(IDV):
 the importance of the individual versus the group.
 Masculinity/Femininity (男性主义/女性主义) (MAS):
 the emphasis on stereotypically “masculine” goals (power, achievement,
etc.) / “feminine” goals and attributes (caring, consensus, etc.)
 Long-term orientation (LTO), or the Confucian
dynamism (长期导向/儒家文化)
 The extent to which a culture programmes its members to accept
Living Lab, Fab Lab and Their Cultural
Explanation
Living Lab, Fab Lab and Their Cultural
Explanation (Cont.)
Target level
目标
Living Lab
Fab Lab
Cultural Explanation
facilitate the
living conditions
for the public
改善公众生活条
件
endow individuals
with a stronger
innovation
capability
增强个体创新能力
•
encourages wide
Participants advocate
extensive public public participation
参与者
Process
流程
engagement
倡导广泛公众参
与
鼓励广泛的公众参
与
Prefer
applicationoriented
integral
innovation
system
青睐应用导向的
the innovation
system is only a
supporting model
rather than
production
paradigm
创新体系是支撑模
•
country with masculinity endeavors to
build a performance society (男性主义
国家青睐绩效社会)
country with femininity strives for the
construction of a welfare society (女性
主义国家青睐财富社会)
•
individualism-oriented innovative
model
• integral social innovation system
个人主义创新模式 VS 整体社会创新体系
•
higher uncertainty avoidance, tend to
use more laws, regulations and
regimes with a higher precision, to
ensure management performance 高
不确定性规避意味着青睐运用更多法
律、规则和制度确保高效.
Case Analysis of the Smarter Urban
Governance (SUG) Practices
 Background and Methodology (背景与方法)
 SUG endeavors to enhance the urban governance
level of Beijing, the capital of China, by using
information technology innovation (智慧城市管理
旨在利用信息技术创新加强首都城市管理)
 The cases of Living Lab and Fab Lab are studied
through second-hand data analysis, the case
study of SUG is performed by conducting several
field interviews with the key principals involved in
the project (Living Lab和Fab Lab的材料来源于二
手数据，只是城市管理的案例分析则基于对项目主
要负责人的多次现场访谈)
Case Analysis of the Smarter Urban
Governance (SUG) Practices (Cont.)
 Description of the Process of SUG (过程)
 The first phase (2005-2008):
 The initial development concept for SUG originated from the effort to
bridge the gap between the technology development and social
demand in the area of city operations management. (理念来源于弥补城
市管理中技术发展与社会需求间的缝隙)
 The second phase (2008-2010):
 In the following two years’ development, SUG was filled with more Fab
Lab elements and incorporated into the innovation system of SUG by
binding with ordinary citizens to become closer communities as
innovative subjects. (逐渐鼓励普通工程成为创新主体)
 The third phase (2010-curent):
 Ever since 2010, two transformations have brought about new
opportunities and challenges for the development of the SUG project. (
两方面转型提供了新的机遇和挑战)
Case Analysis of the Smarter Urban
Governance (SUG) Practices (Cont.)
 Discussion from the Cultural Perspective
• Masculinity and
uncertainty avoidance
scores: those of China
closer to those of
America
• Power distance and longterm orientation: China is
characterized by long
power distance and high
long-term orientation
• Individualism: the cultural
environment of
collectivism in China is
more powerful than in
Concluding Remarks
 The smarter city should include not only the
applications of new ICT, but also the process of
pursuing a more convenient and comfortable urban
life by virtue of human innovative ideas. (智慧城市不
仅包括新技术的应用，而更应该是以创新理念追求便
利舒适城市生活的过程)
 The innovation system differs under diverse cultural
contexts. (不同文化背景下适用的创新体系存在差异)
Thank You !
Questions and Comments 