Examining Seoul’s Smart City Development Through the Lens of Social Constructivism

This article applies social constructivism to decode Seoul’s smart city evolution, moving beyond the theoretical bottleneck of technocratic determinism to draw policy implications for Vietnam. Employing a qualitative research methodology, the study integrates process tracing, policy discourse analysis, and in-depth case studies of key strategic frameworks. The findings trace Seoul’s paradigm shift from a top-down, infrastructure-heavy “u-City” model to a human-centric “Smart Seoul” governance framework. This transition unfolds across three empirical pillars: smart urban management and enterprise innovation anchored by the integrated TOPIS platform; a sustainable digital environment integrating a 3D Digital Twin with green initiatives such as the Climate Card; and humanist governance leveraging public big data to protect marginalized communities through the late-night Owl Bus, an integrated Safety Center, and inclusive digital welfare programs. Furthermore, civic participation is operationalized through three critical constructivist variables: citizen participation depth, normative consensus, and institutional trust, backed by rigorous empirical metrics. The study demonstrates that a smart city is not a static technological artifact, but a continuous process of socio-technical co-creation between responsive municipal administration and civic actors. For rapidly urbanizing countries like Vietnam, Seoul’s trajectory underscores the need to transition from technocratic mandates to participatory governance, dismantle bureaucratic data silos to enable cross-sectoral analytics, partner with local research institutions for context-aware technology localization, and ground digital transformation firmly in social equity.

smart Seoul, smart city, social constructivism, co-creation, digital welfare

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