The importance of ICT for cities: E-governance and cyber perceptions

This paper offers a critical review of current debates on the importance and the potential of ICT for modern cities. Much attention is given to the opportunities offered by local e-governance, as a systematic strategy to exploit the potential of ICT for the public domain in European cities. Since the views of many experts and elected policy-makers in cities (so-called ‘urban frontliners’) is coloured by subjective expectations and perceptions, we examine in particular the extent to which the expected influences of ICT, as perceived by urban frontliners, affect their perceptions of the relevance of ICT to mitigate contemporary urban challenges. The final (empirical) part of the paper addresses the issue of the systematic study of cyber perceptions of cities in Europe.