Many of today's city planning projects aim to realize smart city ambitions. In order to plan and build a smart city district, where ICT is integrated in critical infrastructure and used to control and govern city functions in innovative ways, new ways of working in city planning are needed. The purpose of this article is to develop a framework that takes into account stakeholders and smartness dimensions in city planning. We have studied a city district development in Sweden where a new planning approach was implemented. The developed framework was used to analyze the complexity of this city planning process. By defining which smartness dimension each stakeholder primarily focus on and analyzing the consequences of this, the framework pinpoints each stakeholder's contribution and/or hindrance to the process and outcome. A recommendation from this study is that new stakeholder groups are important to involve in smart city planning, but this also adds complexity that must be acknowledged when setting up this kind of projects. The developed framework can be useful when organizing and staffing city planning processes as well as when evaluating project outcomes.

Cities are facing many challenges; challenges linked to world-wide trends like urbanisation, climate changes and globalisation. In parallel to these trends, we have seen a rapid digitalisation in and of different parts of society. Cities and local governments have been appointed an important role in overcoming these world-wide challenges, and subsequently, in policy practices digitalisation is perceived as an important dimension in delivering better and sustainable services to its citizens. As a result, the smart city has emerged as a concept and approach to contemporary urban planning and development. There is still no common understanding of the concept and what components and dimensions it covers. However, in all definitions digitalisation constitutes one dimension, but the role and function of it is still not clear.

In this study I have examined how different stakeholders talk about digitalisation in policy and planning practices of urban development. The aim has been to identify and analyse different repertoires of discourses on digitalisation to advance our knowledge on how goals related to the smart city and digitalisation are put into practice. The results are based on a qualitative and interpretative case study with a social constructionist approach. An analytical framework based on discourse analysis, stakeholder theory and (new) institutional theory has been constructed to analyse the case.

Main results show that repertoires on digitalisation are limited in both policy and planning of urban development. In these practices, digitalisation is primarily seen as a means or as a communication infrastructure in relation to two city services/functions; i.e. services related to governance and to environment. Results also show that practices of urban planning and development are institutionalised, where different stakeholders’ salience and stakes in urban development and in digitalisation differ, but it is clear that digitalisation is a secondary issue. Implications of these results are that the taken-for-granted discourses in policy and planning practices of urban development limit both practice and research when developing a smart city.

Städer står inför många utmaningar kopplat till världsomspännande trender såsom urbanisering, klimatförändringar, och globalisering. Parallellt med dessa trender har vi sett en snabb digitalisering i och av olika delar av samhället. I detta sammanhang har städer och kommuner blivit tilldelade en viktig roll i hanteringen av dessa utmaningar. På policynivå ses digitalisering som en viktig dimension för att leverera hållbar och bättre service till medborgarna. Som ett led i detta har smarta städer vuxit fram som både begrepp och metod för stadsplanering och stadsutveckling. Det finns dock ingen gemensam tolkning av begreppet. Däremot finns digitalisering med som en dimension i definitionerna, men vilken roll och funktion den har är fortfarande oklart.

I denna studie har jag undersökt hur olika intressenter talar om digitalisering i olika policy- och planeringspraktiker kopplat till stadsutveckling. Syftet har varit att identifiera och analysera repertoarer av digitaliseringsdiskurser för att bidra med kunskap om hur mål kopplade till smarta städer och digitalisering omsätts i praktiken. Resultaten är baserade på en kvalitativ och tolkande fallstudie med en socialkonstruktionistisk ansats. Ett analytiskt ramverk baserat på diskursanalys, intressentanalys, och nyinstitutionell teori har tagits fram för att analysera fallet.

Resultaten visar att digitaliseringsrepertoarer är begränsade både i policy och i planering av stadsutveckling. I dessa praktiker ses digitalisering främst som ett verktyg eller en kommunikationsinfrastruktur i relation till två samhällsfunktioner, nämligen funktioner kopplade till styrning och administration, och funktioner kopplade till miljö. Resultaten visar också att praktiker kopplade till stadsplanering och stadsutveckling är institutionaliserade, praktiker där olika intressenter har olika makt, legitimitet och angelägenhet gällande stadsutveckling och digitalisering. Det är dock tydligt att digitalisering är en sekundär fråga. Implikationerna av dessa resultat är att de förgivettagna diskurserna begränsar både praktiken och forskningen i utvecklingen av smart städer.

ICT potentially plays an important part in achieving sustainable urban development. Subsequntly, ICT could be expected to have a central role in the general discourse of urban development, and in specific development projects, both as a means in the planning process itself and as an end product, i.e. smart city solutions. By exploring a case study of a local urban development project (Urb@n) in Sweden, we explore different characteristics given to ICT and how they can be understood as different discourses of sustainable development. By studying how ICT is spoken of in the planning phase of urban development we can understand how different stakeholders interpret and incorporate (or not) the technology in the design and development of urban areas, and how they collaborate in order to achieve goals. Our findings show that there are discrepancies between how ICT is spoken of on a policy level and in practice. A conclusion is that technology is both taken for granted and black-boxed at the same time. This indicates rather naïve conceptions and understandings among stakeholders of what characterizes ICT and how it can be used for different purposes to support sustainable development.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore if and how a professional identity can be formed in the wake of the foundation of a new public service. In the article, we focus on how different forces, regulative and emergent, interact and contribute to a development of a coherent understanding of a professional identity in a decentralised service. The case of local authority energy and climate consultancy is an illustrative example of a nascent service occupation in Sweden where the individuals holding the job title are geographically dispersed.  

Design/methodology/approach: This paper has a qualitative approach and relies on three different data sources: participatory observations, written documents, and in-depth interviews with energy and climate advisers working in a particular region in Sweden. The study covers the years 2005 to 2010.

Findings: Our findings suggest that identity formation among geographically dispersed individuals in a nascent service occupation is possible. The development of collective understanding of the professional identity is influenced both by regulative and emergent forces, which interact.

Research limitations/implications: This paper is limited to one particular service occupation in Sweden from which generalisations are limited.

Practical implications: The findings may serve as useful input for management in order to understand facilitation of identity building among professionals in decentralised functions.

Originality/value: The value of this study lies in the comprehensive approach to how different pertinent forces interact with each other in order for a cohesive understanding of a work-related identity to develop in newly established service occupations.

Att nya samhällsfunktioner och professioner växer fram som svar på behov i samhället är inte något nytt fenomen i sig, men vad är det som händer när en ny decentraliserad funktion skapas utifrån ett statligt behov? Hur organiseras och samordnas den? Och leder den nya samhällsfunktionen även till att en ny profession växer fram? I professionslitteraturen lyfts olika förklaringsmodeller till professioner ochprofessionalisering fram, allt från strukturfunktionalistiska förklaringar till monopolistiska och kulturella. Samtidigt när det handlar om utveckling av en ny funktion kan olika aspekter av organisationer och organisering bidra till ökad förståelse av vilken betydelse det har för att även en profession ska kunna ta form.

I den här studien är det ett statligt behov som legat till grund för att en ny samhällsfunktion har kommit att utvecklas. Som ett led i genomförandet av politiska mål skapades förutsättningar för kommuner att ansöka om bidrag för att tillhandhålla en ny funktion: kommunal energi- och klimatrådgivning. Den nya funktionens främsta uppgift var att förmedla anpassad kunskap om energieffektivisering, energianvändning och klimatpåverkan till allmänhet, företag och organisationer. Fokus i studien har varit på hur organiseringen kring den nya funktionen sett ut, vilken roll IT har i detta och vilka konsekvenser organiseringen haft för samordning och för skapandet av en profession. Dessa områden hanteras i tre artiklar. Den första artikeln undersöker om och hur en professionell identitet kan formas som ett led i utvecklingen av en ny samhällsfunktion. Fokus ligger på hur reglerande och framväxande krafter samspelar och kompletterar varandra i formandet av en enhetlig tolkning av en professionell identitet. Den andra artikeln utforskar hur kunskap och praktik kan strömlinjeformas i en decentraliserad verksamhet, där styrningen karaktäriseras av olika intressenters inblandning. Den tredje artikeln undersöker hur samverkan utifrån samordnade insatser kring kunskap och kunskapsdelning kan växa fram och på så sätt skapa livskraftiga nätverk.

Organiseringen kring den nya samhällsfunktionen visar på både ett decentraliserat och ett centraliserat ansvar, där kommunerna har det operativa ansvaret och statens energimyndighet har ett övergripande administrativt och samordnande ansvar. Samordning sker på olika nivåer och på olika sätt. Bland annat har en regional samordning i nätverk vuxit fram. Den regionala samordningen har visat sig vara viktig för att en gemensam tolkning av uppdrag och utförande ska kunna ta form, men även för att tillit och identitet utvecklas inom gruppen. Den nationella samordningen rör bland annat utbildning och informationsinsatser och i detta sammanhang har IT haft en central roll. Sammantaget har olika aspekter av organisering kring en ny samhällsfunktion, såsom uppdragsreglering, planering och uppföljning, och inte minst samordning, bidragit till att en professionell identitet börjat växa fram.

The establishment of new public services and the evolvement of new professions as a consequence of identified needs in society is hardly something new, but what happens when a new decentralized service is created on the basis of governmental needs? How is it organized and how is it coordinated? Does the creation of a new service also lead to the development of a new profession? In profession literature different explanations of professions and professionalization are emphasized, e.g. functional, structural, monopolistic, and cultural. However, as it also concerns development of a new service, different aspects of organizations and organizing could contribute to increasing knowledge about its implications for the development of a profession

The current study concerns the development of a new service in response to a governmental need. As a step in carrying out political goals, conditions were set for local authorities to apply for funding in order to carry out a new service: local authority energy and climate consultancy. The primary task of the new service was to convey coordinated knowledge about energy efficiency, energy consumption and climate effects to the general public, businesses and organizations. Focus in this study has been on the organization of the service, what role IT has, and what the implications of this organizing are to coordination and the creation of a profession. These areas are covered in three articles. The first article explores if and how a professional identity is forming in the wake of the new service. Focus lies on how regulative and emergent forces interact and supplement each other in the formation of a coherent understanding of a professional identity. The second article explores how knowledge and practice could be aligned in a decentralized service, where control is characterized by the involvement of several stakeholders. The third article explores how networking could emerge from coordination of knowledge and knowledge exchange, and thus create viable networks.

Hence, the organization of the new public service shows both a decentralized and a centralized responsibility, where local authorities have the operative responsibility and the energy agency has an administrative and coordinative responsibility. Coordination is achieved on different levels and in different ways. For instance, a regional networking structure for coordination has emerged, and that regional coordination has itself shown to be important for a coherent understanding of the mission to  develop, but also for developing trust and identity within the group. The national coordination concerns training and information, and in this context IT plays an important role. Altogether, different aspects of organizing the new public service, i.e. regulations, planning and evaluation, and above all coordination, have contributed to the formation of a professional identity.

Purpose - The purpose of this article is to describe in detail what coordination mechanisms have been used, as well as how they have been used, to achieve an alignment regarding the know-what and know-how of the local authority energy and climate advisors.

Design/methodology/approach - The results presented in this article are mainly based on observations and interviews, and secondary data in form of previously made evaluations and studies, job descriptions, statues and judiciary documents.

Findings - This study illustrates an example of how different coordination mechanisms have been used in complex principal-agent relations to achieve alignment of know-how and know-what in a nascent occupation. These mechanisms have been of both structure and process character, and most importantly they are intertwined. However, the main contribution of this article lies in the illustration of the importance of using coordination mechanisms to create an incentive structure that overarches potential conflicts of interests between the competing principals. Such incentive structure also contributes to a common perception of on main principal, which is vital in order to create alignment of know-how and know-what.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore if and how a professional identity can be formed in the wake of the foundation of a new public service. In the article we focus on how different forces, regulative and emergent, interact and contribute to a development of a coherent understanding of a professional identity in a decentralized service. The case of local authority energy and climate consultancy is an illustrative example of a nascent service occupation in Sweden where the individuals holding the job title are geographically dispersed.

Design/methodology/approach: This paper has a qualitative approach and relies on three different data sources: participatory observations, written documents, and in-depth interviews with energy and climate advisers working in a particular region in Sweden. The study covers the years 2005 to 2010.

Findings: Our findings suggest that identity formation among geographically dispersed individuals in a nascent service occupation is possible. The development of collective understanding of the professional identity is influenced both by regulative and emergent forces, where regulative and autonomous forces seem to concur.

Research limitations/implications: This paper is limited to one particular service occupation in Sweden from which generalizations are limited.

Practical implications: The findings may serve as useful input for management in order to understand facilitation of identity building among professionals in decentralized functions.

Originality/value: The value of this study lies in the comprehensive approach of how different pertinent forces interact with each other in order for a cohesive understanding of a work-related identity to develop in newly established service occupations.

This paper explores the concept of communities of practice and networks of practice. Special focus lies on networking technologies as tools for fostering emerging network/s. More specifically, the purpose of this articel is to frame and analyse the case of local authority energy consultancy from a community perspective as well as a concept of ba perspective to judge if, and how, a network is forming among the dispersed individuals holding the energy advisor job title. The contribution of this article lies in furthering the understanding of the problems faced in establishing national networks of practice, in environments where work and social interaction is geographically dispersed. Key findings are that there are several smaller communities of local energy advisors emerging rather than one unified network holding the whole professional body together. A reason for this development is probably that it is easier to build relations in smaller groups. Further, fostering of a larger network is important to get networking started, but it is the local initiatives that have viability. Finally, as assumed, dominating means of communication are uncontroversial technologies such as e-mail and telephone.