SMART CITIES IN JAPAN AND THE EU: IN SEARCH OF STRUCTURAL FOCAL POINTS IN RESPECTIVE POLICY DEVELOPMENT

Recently, the EU and Japan have taken international cooperation measures to join hands in their smart city initiatives. From the perspective of smart cities as a matter of political governance, this article highlights the characteristics of smart city initiatives in Japan and the EU in terms of their policy development. On this basis, the author seeks to identify focal points where their policy interests converge. What becomes apparent are differences in their original policy concerns and envisioned social innovations, as well as similarities in policy development to promote citizen participation through community building. They share a policy process structure that involves decentralized administration and competitive financial distribution through regional policy schemes. The conclusion argues that this structure may contribute to widening the existing domestic spatial injustice, justified with the neoliberal rhetoric of competence and concealed with a global sustainability narrative.