The Consumer as a Linchpin in Sustainable and Smart Urban Innovation Ecosystems

Against the backdrop of the literature on technological innovation systems and innovation ecosystems, the paper analyses the sustainability transition in Smart Cities from an angle which we argue has not received enough attention so far, the central role of the consumer. The consumer is centrally positioned at the crossroads of Circular economy sectors making him a linchpin for sustainability transitions in which ICT figures prominently as a core technology and enabler of processes of consumption and production in industrial symbiosis. The recycling industry, the mobility sector and Green ICT - industries pertinent to the sustainability transition of Smart Cities - serve to illustrate and further flesh out this new role of the consumer. Current Smart City projects from around the globe are then mapped out with an interest in how the consumer (citizen) is involved in the process beyond being addressed as a service customer and beyond e-participation. The paper combines two hitherto separate but really closely intertwined areas: the technical sphere (industrial symbiosis and industry 4.0) and the management sphere (the Smart City) to reconcile the economic, ecological and social sustainability dimensions as envisioned in the industry 5.0 concept of the European Commission. Bringing the consumer to the forefront of sustainability analyses of Smart Cities can leverage the extent to which Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are actually met.