State of deprivation of a social good. The shortage relates to individuals’ wellbeing and could include basic needs (e.g., feeding, housing or health care), other social questions (e.g., values or individuals’ development) or environmental concerns.
Published in Chapter:
Building Smarter Cities through Social Entrepreneurship
Susana Bernardino (Politécnico do Porto, Portugal) and J. Freitas Santos (Politécnico do Porto, Portugal & Universidade do Minho, Portugal)
Copyright: © 2017
|Pages: 36
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-1978-2.ch015
Abstract
The objective of the present study is to examine the extent to which social ventures are able to increase the “smartness” of cities. To achieve this goal, we adopt a qualitative approach using a case study method to obtain valuable insights about different characteristics and strategies of Cais (a non-profit association dedicated to helping disadvantaged people in urban areas). Through our analysis of Cais's activities, we assess whether its social interventions match the dimensions proposed by Giffinger et al. (2007) to rank smart cities' performance; specifically, it has smart: economy, people, governance, mobility, environment, and living. The research shows that the action pursued comprises elements from all the above-mentioned dimensions. Further, the analysis reveals that Cais reinforces the smartness of the city in which it acts (in terms of attributes such as living, economy, people, and environment).