Title: Participatory networks for place safety and livability: organisational success factors

Authors: Francesca Ricciardi; Cecilia Rossignoli; Marco De Marco

Addresses: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli 1 – 20123 Milan, Italy ' Università di Verona, Via dell'Artigliere 19 – 20129 Verona, Italy ' Università Marconi, Via Plinio 44 – 00193 Rome, Italy

Abstract: This theory-building paper focuses on a specific type of ICT-enabled participatory network, where citizens actively cooperate with an organisation (typically but not necessarily a public administration) to enhance the livability of their urban or rural environment. We have called these systems 'citizens to problem-solving organisation (C2PSO) networks' and argue that they are set to play a role of growing importance in some of the emerging urban and rural livability challenges. The authors present three different explorative case studies that focus on health, safety, independent living for the elderly, and mobility as indicators of place livability. The recurrent organisational factors identified in the case studies translate into key elements of success, the analysis of which highlighted three novel constructs as possible antecedents of improved livability in the living settings of C2PSO networks. The proposed constructs describe the organisational effectiveness of the network and the sustainability of the cooperative processes involved, and, in the authors' opinion, are a useful complement to the extant literature. For each novel construct, a quantitative measurement scale for survey questionnaires is developed and then discussed with experts for face validity. The paper closes with the description and discussion of a testable cause-effect model before presenting the authors' conclusions.

Keywords: livability; e-health; e-government; e-participation; smart cities; urban indicators; population ageing; participatory networking; virtual organisations; organisational success factors; smart communities; electronic government; electronic participation; online participation; health; safety; independent living; elderly; old people; mobility; cooperation; ICT.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2013.058439

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2013 Vol.13 No.1, pp.42 - 65

Received: 18 Jul 2013
Accepted: 28 Sep 2013
Published online: 19 Jul 2014 *

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